if vladimir putin does settle with the ukrainians and move forward, he's going to have to blame a lot of people domestically. we're starting to see that. he's blaming the traders in the west, the oligarchs in the west, blaming his intel community, he's putting them under house arrest. it sounds a bit like he's trying to clean up things to find other people to blame if he does, in fact, settle with the ukrainians. >> we'll be back tomorrow morning. that does it for us for now. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. good morning. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york. it is thursday, march 17th. and we begin with the horrific toll of the war in ukraine reaching a new level this morning along with the ruthlessness of the scorched-earth russian assault. this is the wreckage of a theater in mariupol hit by a russian air strike. more than 1,000 civilians were sheltering inside when it struck, including women and

children. what makes this attack even more egregious is the theater grounds were clearly marked with the russian word for children front and back. ukrainian officials are still trying to assess the number of casualties, but they say the shelter under the theater was not destroyed. there are survivors, and rescue operations are under way. the top ukrainian official in the region says the nearby swimming complex was also bombed. it was also being used as a shelter for women and children. a ukrainian lawmaker said global officials report between 80% and 90% structures in mariupol have been damaged or destroyed. it's those kind of attacks that led president biden to use some of his strongest language yet against vladimir putin, branding him a war criminal. and while putin hasn't been charged with war crimes, every day seems to bring more evidence. in the northern city, ten people killed by russian forces waiting

for bread. more than 50 people have been kimmed in that city in just the past 24 hours. and in kyiv, where bombs hit residential buildings again overnight, richard engel has one example of how civilians continue to take the brunt of it. >> reporter: on the edge of kyiv in a hospital, katerina, who sold yogurt and milk at the market, said she came out of her basement for a moment to wash the blankets when the missile exploded. it blew off her leg and sent shrapnel through her back, piercing her lung. "before i had a house and a job. fou i'm disabled anl have no home. why? for what?" she cursed russia. one city is bearing the brunt of the assault, mariupol in the south. many of the images from a hospital here are too graphic to broadcast. but one medic's account from the ukrainian news outlet paints a mental picture of the horror.

"every shelling means torn-apart hands and legs and entrails falling from bodies. it is unpleasant to hear about this, but you have to listen. now we cannot bury the bodies. we can't get people with wounds and broken bones out of their houses because they're trapped in basements." >> these pictures from one of the few hospitals still operating in mariupol. it acts as an emergency center, a morgue, and a maternity ward all in one. not far from where the doctors are operating, these babies have to be covered with blankets to protect them from broken glass in case bombs shatter the windows. more than 2,500 people have died, but many bodies are left in the street because it's too dangerous to collect them, let alone hold funerals, and the morgue has run out of room. it's these kinds of pictures that ukrainian president zelenskyy showed to the u.s. congress during his extraordinary speech on wednesday. lester holt spoke with him

through a ukrainian government-provided interpreter asking him if there was a red line that he thought needed to be crossed before the u.s. would help impose a no-fly zone. >> russians have already crossed all the lines when they started shelling civilians. they killed over 100 children. while should we wait for letting russians kill 200, 300, or 400 children? >> president biden has ruled out a deal that would send more planes to ukraine, but the u.s. is sending a ton of new weaponry, including anti-aircraft systems and armed drones. for ukrainians, the weapons can't come soon enough. western countries say the russian advance is stuck and is no longer making progress on the ground. ukraine trying to take advantage of that by launching counteroffensives around kyiv and in southern ukraine. ukrainian officials say this is

the aftermath of a ukrainian air strike on russian helicopters, destroyed while sitting on the tarmac. "the new york times" says conservativest malt estimates s 7,000 russian soldiers have been killed. kyiv officials tell the "wall street journal" four of russia's top generals have died on the battlefield. but putin remains defiant. on wednesday he said the west is trying to defy the russian people and insisted anyone who isn't a true patriot should be purged from society. we have so much to talk about. bill taylor is the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine currently with the u.s. institute of peace. angela consistent is director of the center for eurasian, russian, and east european studies at georgetown university. she wrote "putin's world." brendan keir knee served 31 years in the marine corps and was the branch's chief of staff to europe. thanks for being here. ambassador taylor, i want first to get your reaction to those

attacks on civilians, which richard engel described as scorched earth. >> chris, it's horrible to watch. it's even worse to be there. this is clearly war criminal activity. this is disgusting, horrifying. it will continue to unify the world. it's unified ukrainians. ukrainians are bearing the brunt, but president zelenskyy, as he did yesterday and today, is making the case for continued support. so these war crimes will not go unpunished, chris. >> colonel, combine the attacks on civilians with the news that russia's advance has basically ground to a halt. what's your assessment of that right now? >> i think it reflects that russia truly is having a real problem with trying to regain its momentum. the logistics problems clearly continue. the ukrainian resistance is clearly effective, if not

getting more so with these localized counterattacks. so it's not quite a stalemate. in fact, if anything, i would think that the initiative has swung to the ukrainians from the russians, which is a very, very good thing for us to be seeing happening. >> and angela, it makes no -- it's no surprise to anybody that the disinformation campaign is being amped up by president putin, that he's keeping folks in russia from hearing what is being reported throughout the rest of the world. but he used some specific words that i want to ask you about. he said, "when russia must undergo a, quote, self-cleansing to get rid of bastards and traitors." what does that mean to you? >> well, it reminds me of both hitler and stalin. hitler used phrases like self-purification. putin also used the word national traitors. that's straight out of a speech from 1933. but it's also like stalin, who talked about purges and purged

millions of soviet citizens during his reign of terror. so putin is really harking back to the worst elements of the 20th century and it's chilling to hear him say that and look at his affect when he says that too. i think russian civil society, the russian people are in for an extremely difficult time going forward. >> so, ambassador, there have been increasing comparisons to hitler, to stalin, to the great -- great being the most infamous leaders of the 20th century. and you mentioned that putin is going to have to pay a price. we heard president biden for the first time using the phrase war criminal, something that they had really been careful not to use, and later white house officials said that was something personal that he was reacting to. but explain the significance of those e words. explain what paying a price for

war crimes might mean. >> so, chris, angela is exactly right. putin now goes into the category like hitler, stalin, mussolini, milosevic. this is a category in history that will condemn him forever. so he has brought himself into that group. and we're not talking about right now any effect of this war criminal designation. that takes investigations exactly like the u.s. government has said. however, what this does, it brands president putin as the perpetrator of these horrible crimes. it will sooner or later -- angela is right, it will sooner or later get to the russian people, what is actually happening in ukraine, and they will be horrified. president putin is trying to shield the news, the facts, the

horror that's going on in ukraine at his direction from the russian people. that can't last. so he is in that category, and he will go down in history in that way. >> colonel, that's how history judgings him. for right now, the u.s., president biden announcing yesterday a lot more weapons for ukraine. in fact, they're going to dig into the specifics of that later in this hour. but the biden administration still won't facilitate fighter jets. and one member of the ukrainian parliament was on msnbc last night with joy reed and gave wa i thought was a clear explanation of their position, why ukraine believes they're urgently needed. so, let me play that. >> we can stop putin on the ground, so we have been very good at fighting their tanks, their vehicles, their army. but unfortunately, the biggest problem for us is the sky. to stop the bombs, we have to stop the jets. jets can be stopped with the jets. you cannot stop a jet with a javelin or stinger or drone.

you need another plane to shoot the plane. we need migs or us-25 to put down their planes so they don't bomb our children and women. >> is she right about the migs? >> i believe she is. i really do. to be honest with you, i grew up in a marine corps that if the commander on the ground, this case the commander being the ukrainian people, wants something, needs something baldly, it's not up to some bureaucrat somewhere to second-guess their decision. i think it's high time we go ahead and facilitate in whatever way we can getting those migs into the hands of the ukrainian air force. >> angela, throughout all of this on the nonmilitary side, negotiations still ongoing between russia and ukraine, in fact, the "financial times" reports they're working on a cease-fire plan that would include ukraine renouncing any hopes to join nato, but in the

end, how realistic is that knowing putin and the psychology of putin the way you do? is there a point where he looks at the battlefield and it makes some kind of negotiated settlement more plausible? >> it's very hard to see that at the moment. again, if you go back to the speech yesterday, it was belligerent and he gave no sign of a peace deal. >> so take him at his word. if he says that in a speech, he means it? >> oh, yeah. whatever putin says, you have to listen to it. he means it. he warned us about what he was going to do before and he's done it. i hope they can come to some arrangement, that there can be a cease-fire, that there can be a plan going forward where russian troops withdraw, but i won't anticipate that's going to happen anytime soon. >> ambassador, we're out of time but i need your thoughts on that

right now and the possibility of any negotiated settlement. >> a negotiated settlement will come when the russian forces have to retreat or are ground to a halt l. and that could happen. that could happen, chris. we're seeing the ukrainian military push back hard on the russians, and they are stalled. and with that stall turns into something that the russians can't handle and can't countenance, president putin then, at that point, can go to the negotiating table. >> i wish we had more time. i saw colonel keir knee was nodding when you were saying that, that it could happen. thank you, bill taylor, angela consistent, and bill keir knee. coming up, jerome powell signing off on the first interest rate hike in three years. the impact on our economy and of course your wall elts straight ahead. and with president biden signing off on that $800 million in military aid for ukraine, he still stops short of what the

ukrainian president said he wants most. how much the latest could actually hem. but first, kids who fled ukraine drawing as therapy with vivid images and descriptions of all they've been through.

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this morning, more pressure on president biden to continue ramping up aid to ukraine even after signing that package yesterday afternoon. the package does include many items that president zelenskyy pressed congress for in his speech, including 800 stinger anti-aircraft systems, 900 anti-tank weapons, 100 drones and several thousand smaller arms, such as shotguns and grenade launchers. there are plenty of folks in congress, democrats and top republicans, calling on president biden to give zelenskyy what he's asking for. >> ukrainians want to carry the fight. let them. if they need these weapons e systems, then we ought to make

it possible for them to help defend the air space there over ukraine. >> that's why getting these migs in immediately is so critical. the longer president biden waits, trying to figure out excuses to not offend putin, it's costing lives in ukraine. >> he was asked by kristen welker about providing fighter jets. >> what will get you to send the aid president zelenskyy is asking for? >> i'm not going to comment on that right now. >> peter alexander joins us and nbc's national security analyst clint watts. good to see both of you. peter, the crux of president zelenskyy's speech to congress was about what they need in the air and obviously he showed that moving video. we saw tears from members of congress. so i guess the question is all about that line, right.

is there a line that putin would cross that would make the president change his mind? talk to us about that pressure and what the discussions are like inside that building behind you. >> reporter: that pressure is clear. you're hearing it from lawmakers on both sides. there's no better evidence than that than just yesterday when volodymyr zelenskiy, ukraine's commander in chief, delivered that impassioned plea to the members of congress, that gripping and graphic video emphasizing what president biden himself acknowledges is the appalling devastation and horror that the u.s. is witnessing take place, the world is seeing take place in ukraine right now. while the white house isn't going to discuss hypotheticals and red lines and what could happen going forward, the president has made it clear that u.s. forces will not be fighting in ukraine and his desire, his reluctance, frankly, his opposition to enforcing a no-fly zone is because the president says that means putting u.s. pilots, u.s. fighter jets in planes over ukraine engaging

with russian fighter jets, and that that is, in effect, the start of world war iii. u.s. and european officials have said that ukraine doesn't need those mig fighter jets, the soviet-ra fighter jets they're asking for because they have enough planings right now. zelenskyy said yesterday alternatively, give us those jets so we can do the no-fly zone for ourselves or us longer-range missile systems, which the president said yesterday it's working with allies to acquire. those are missile systems that would be able to better target the russian planings flying at high altitude that have been successful targeting that military site closer to poland we reported on. those missile systems would be more effective at targeting those type ms of planes and the like. but the u.s. has made it clear that it wants to provide weapons as evidenced by that nearly billion dollars worth announced yesterday that are portable.

they're easy to use and easy to carry. an opportunity for the russians sort of resistance to fight the ukrainian, the russian -- excuse me, the ukrainian resistance to fight the russian tankings and artillery and then melt away for the next fight to come. >> let me let you pick up on that, clint. no no-fly zone, no migs, but what would that do on the battlefield? >> we're in an interesting spot, three weeks in where a lot of the aircraft the russians were losing flying at low altitudes, particularly around this area here, kharkiv. this is an area where the russians have not been able to encircle this town, intense battles but the fires are picking up, aircraft fire missiles coming in. i think that's where we start to look at the different weapons systems that have come available. so these are the two that you hear a lot about, the javelin for anti-armor. this is going after vehicles. ukrainians are destroying entire battalion tactical groups with

these weapons. the stinger is for aircraft at lower altitudes, these are what you're seeing shot down. >> americans see there's a building that's clearly marked children, a theater but marked children. and it is basically annihilated. and we don't even know what's happened below. the entire substructure didn't collapse, but we don't know how many kids, mothers might have died in this. would any of this stuff have been able to sop that? >> no. that's the next phase. this is the mig situation, essentially what poland was willing to give to ukraine. there are a few wrinkles to all of this that don't come out in the discussions, one logistically. this has been super tough. next in terms of cruise missiles, that's what's coming in a lot. that's what we saw in lviv and coming into cities. zelenskyy said in lieu of a no-fly zone, talking about how

to take down these missiles, he's asking for the s-300 and others like that. the big picture, much of the missiles and the aircraft that are launching missiles are still in russian air space, so i think part of the reason you see hesitation by president biden and nato allies is are we going to give aircraft to ukraine that will be flown into russia, would russia see that as offensive. if we were going to do a no-fly zone, the an aaircraft systems of russia engage western pilots, they would engage nato, they would engage the ukrainians. how would that be handled? i think over time you'll see more movement towards doing this, but the logistics and the red lines we're figuring out with vooun, if that escalation happens and his troops are doing terrible on the ground in the country, what might he resort to in order to do an asymmetric attack? that could be cyber, nuclear, could definitely be chemical weapons. >> thanks to both of you.

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we're watching wall street. the federal reserve announcing it will be raising interest rates for the first time since 2018 by a quarter of a percentage point. it's almost exactly two years after the fed slashed rates in an effort to offset the effects of the covid-19 pandemic. for more on what this move means to you, we're joined by nbc's tom costello and cnbc's steve liesman. steve, bottom line this for me. what are the short and long-term implications for consumers? >> for consumers we're talking about potentially higher rates for your credit cards. if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, that will go up. if you have an adjustable rate loan, it could be a private student loan, could be a private equity loan, those will go up as well. the bottom line is this is the first of many rate hikes to come. we expect as many as six this year alone. so if you are, in fact, one of those people who has heavy

credit card debt, pay that off as fast as you can, get rid of the credit card debt. if you've got an adjustable rate mortgage, this may be the time to think about locking in a fixed rate. if you've got those adjustable rate loans, for example, the private student loan, home equity loan, you either want to pay those off, pay them down or try to get -- or mitch mcconnell verlt that to a fixed rate as well. the bottom line is we are in an increasing interest rate environment, so all of them will trickle down to the typical consumer. >> explain, steve, what's behind this move, the relationship between interest rates and inflation. >> so the more it costs you to borrow the less you're going to borrow or the less you're likely to borrow. all the things that tom said will happen. your mortgage rate will be a little more expensive, your car loan. all of that depresses economic activity a little bit, not incredibly, because rates are

going up but they won't go sky-high like our parents had to deal with back in the '70s, at least not in the official forecast here. so you pay a little more for interest rates, a little less economic activity in order to try to combat inflation. >> is there a tight rope here that the fed is walking or is this pretty much a sure thing, steve, they'll do a and b will happen? >> they're going to do a, they'll raise rates. b is going to happen. rates will become more expensive. the question is c, which is happens to the economy with all that. it is not a foregone conclusion that we continue to grow and have a great jobs market. sometimes when the fed hikings too much, the economy can plunge into recession. what the fed is trying to achieve is a soft landing, which means the economy is running holt, bring that plane down on the tarmac in a nice comfortable way. it doesn't always happen that way. sometimes l the fed hikes too

much, the economy goes down too much and you have a recession as a result. it's not a foregone conclusion. >> and the early opening, dow down 130 points. thanks to both of you. still ahead, congress gives ukrainian president zelenskyy a standing ovation. but will they ultimately push the white house to give him what he really wants without sparking a wider war? i'll talk with susan wild, who recently went to eastern europe herself, next. next. customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. [limu emu squawks] woo! thirty-four miles per hour! new personal record, limu! [limu emu squawks] he'll be back. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ >> tech: does your windshield have a crack? only pay for what you need. trust safelite. >> tech vo: this customer had auto glass damage,

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that the violent will only continue to escalate. >> putin, by being such a villain, being such a brutal, evil man, is not going to deter the ukrainians for sure and not the american people from helping ukraine. >> that means working with nato allies with urgency to get ukrainian pilots more aircraft and munitionings. and facilitating the weapons that ukrainians are most familiar with. >> our country has to do more, as well as other nations around the world. >> there are things we can do in addition to aircraft, in addition to drones and a variety of other weapons we can provide. >> joining me now, democratic congresswoman susan wild of pennsylvania, a member of the house foreign affairs committee who recently visited the ukraine/poland border. you were with us about a week ago and said you were determined to see that ukraine got the jets it needed.

obviously, the president said no yesterday. do you think president biden is simply being too timid now? >> good morning, chris. thanks for having me again. you know, this is a rare moment of bipartisan unity in congress. we don't see this for often. and we have come together, many of us, most of us, and you know, yesterday president zelenskyy in his very moving speech again reiterated his request for a no-fly zone. but he himself seemed to recognize that that was just not an option when he set forth that -- you know, he said if this is too much to ask, when he v we offer an alternative, then he talked about the defense systems and equipment they need. i think it's really important that we need that. i do understand and i do believe that a no-fly zone is not feasible. but i also believe that we absolutely must provide every type of weaponry and plane that president zelenskyy has asked for that is within our means. >> do you see president biden

coming over to that side? >> i think we are seeing a gradual evolution towards that. i don't think it's just the united states that makes that decision because it requires cooperation of our nato allies, requires poland to transfer the warplanes that are already in their transition they say to a u.s. air base. i think the administration has done a wonder job of coordinating and bringing our nato allies together in that way we haven't seen in at least four years. so i think it would be unfair to call the administration timid. remember, president biden has responsibility to all of us, the american people, just like president zelenskyy has an obligation to his people. these are not easy decisions to make. and he is well informed by top brass in the military,

particularly general milley and secretary austin, but many others in the diplomatic core. and i think that we really need to not be judgment about how the administration is acting. this is a very delicate, complicated situation. >> president zelenskyy, who gave an interview to our lester holt yesterday, invoked world war ii, saying the civilized war has to respond because the civilized war is at stake. you were born on a military base in germany. our father was in the air force in world war ii, i think in the korean war as well. >> right. >> what do you see as the stakes here beyond the very high price that we see every day the ukrainian people are paying? >> that's obviously first and foremost, the most extreme price that is being paid is by the ukrainian people. my heart grieves. i'm a mother with two children in their 20s, and when i see these mothers as i did at the

border, coming across with their children, holding them, with no men around for the most part, no husbands, fathers, sons, it's absolutely heartbreaking. but, you know, i can't emphasize enough the power and the strength that is felt the world around when europe and the united states stand as one as we have done in this case. and so, i think the important message aside from the fact that we have to stop the madness, we can't let this mad man control the entire world, is that we are all behind ukraine. it's not enough to just provide thoughts and prayers. let's face it, they need hard military power. we're not going to put troops on the ground. we are not going to put american troops at risk. but we need to do everything short of that. and at the end of this, i want history to judge us very favorably in terms of the way we came together with our nato allies and did absolutely

everything we could for ukraine. >> congressman susan wild, appreciate you coming back to talk to us. thank you. >> thank you, chris. coming up, with the number of refugees growing by the hour and now states here in the u.s. getting ready to step in and help, we'll take you to ohio, where that process is actually already under way. but first, another sign of how so much of the world has gotten behind ukraine. this time from a zoo in the czech republic, which just well comed an endangered eastern black baby rhino and named it after the ukrainian capital, kyiv. kyiv was born on march 4th, only the foufrlt of his species born around the world. the zoo's director says the name is, quote, another expression of our support for the ukrainian hero ps. ro ps. try. hope. fail. i felt defeated. the pain, the stares. no one should suffer like that. i said, enough. i started cosentyx®. five years clear.

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people from europe. and the refugee resettlement process can take years, although it's possible to speed things up. that said, there is a growing push from advocates and lawmakers to do more, especially for ukrainians with family members already here in u.s. a coalition of more than two dozen jewish american organizations put pressure on the biden administration noting, quote, our community knows painfully too well what happens when america shuts its doors to refugees. and in fact, some states are already preparing for an influx of ukrainian refugees. the governor of ohio holding a summit today focused on that very topic. nbc's shaquille brewster is in parma, ohio, for us. shaq, talk to us about this effort in ohio and the challenges these organizations could face. the summit is about education. they're prepared to start helping ukrainian refugees.

this is an area they've been settling refugees from ukraine from russia's first invasion into crimea. they say the process is there and they're calling on the federal government to expedite the cases that are already in the pipeline. that is the message you'll hear at the summit being held and hosted by the governor of ohio later today. listen to the president of one of these organizations that says they're ready to help right now, what he told me about their preparations. he said he's ready for the influx because he's seen it before and experienced it before with afghanistan refugees. listen here. >> and while we have resettled people from afghanistan, there's still hundreds of people we're trying to get from afghanistan to come to cleveland because they're related to the people who've come here. same with ukraine. so many people living here with those connections, we could make this work. we need clarity from the government.

>> reporter: they're providing ukraines for family members in the area. once those members get here, they're ready with job application, finding a doctor, learning the public transportation here. they say they've done this before and they've been doing this work and they're ready to scale if the federal government starts allowing more ukrainian refugees to the united states. >> the cleveland area has a t large population from ukraine. get some great food there. they have good food in that neighborhood. speaking of refugees, still ahead, the number of children fleeing the war in ukraine is staggering. it's about 75,000 kids being displaced every day. we'll talk to a couple of humanitarian workers who have been on the ground next.

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find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. coming in new to us this morning, moldova's prime minister says so many ukrainians have fled into her country, nearly 13% of children in moldova are refugees. as of this morning, more than 1.5 million children have fled ukraine translating to roughly 75,000 each day. in all nearly 3 million people have fled the country since russia launched its attack, so many rushing to escape, leaving almost everything they own, incluing their dreams behind.

>> sorry. i love my city. it's very beautiful. sorry. we want to live our lives there. >> joining us now is britain buckner, catholic relief services manager based in moldova working on the refugee response there and the press officer for the polish humanitarian action, helping civilians suffering as a result of armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters. helena, you just got back from the border with ukraine. tell us about what you saw and the help your organization is seeing great need to provide. >> basically, what you can see on the border is uncertainly, a

lot of fear, also a sense of relief that you can get safely to poland. but also a lot of people are asking what next, what can we do? can we stay in this country? can we find a place to live? what about our children? can they study? these are the questions that poland has to answer in the long term. i know that already we are starting to help in long term refugees coming to poland, but a lot must be done more. we are helping on the border on the polish and ukrainian side as well as in ukraine itself. we are focusing, also, on the humanitarian aid inside of ukraine including psychosocial support as well. >> i'm wondering what you're hearing from your folks who are in lviv, who are in kyiv. what are they telling you? and the situation obviously growing more and more dire by the day. >> they're telling us about a lot of needs to need to be

addressed in the long term, lack of electricity, lack of access to water, to sanitation, to hygiene, to gas, a safe space to live. they're also telling us in some places there isn't even water, clean water, safe water to drink. some of the places like in eastern ukraine that we have been working for for 18 years are now without access. so we are trying to call with our psychologists to those places and check what are the needs, how do they final, the inhabitants. if it's possible we're trying to send there as well some food and hygiene packages. what we know is that the needs we're seeing now with multiply in the future months. a lot of funds will be needed to address those needs. >> that is the terrifying reality. britain, take us to where you in moldova, already the poorest

country in europe. yet they've tried to open their arms as much as possible. what's the situation like on the ground? >> that's exactly it. families are streaming through the borders in what is already a very resource-limited location. already 350,000 people have come into a country basically the size of maryland, and the needs are tremendous. families need basic support. food, water and shelter that you're seeing. they also need that emotional support to help stabilize, deal with the stresses and traumas that they faced on the way and to start thinking through next steps, whether that's in moldova or other locations. >> i know that catholic services reported a lot of the refugees are worried about staying there, frankly, because they think it could be putin's next target. are you hearing that? >> we're really focused on the situation now which is safe. it is a safe space and the

generosity of the moldovan people has been incredible. over 80% of the hop lags coming into moldova are being hosted by the citizens. there's also collective shelters that are helping people. it's been really impressive, the response in moldova. >> one of the things i heard, and this was early the first week, from the leader in moldova, she said many of my people struggle to take care of their own families, and even those folks are willing to open their doors to let someone who they see in need in. >> well, that's so true. i've actually been living in moldova for many years. we, as part of catholic relief services and our church met work have been here, and we've been meeting the needs of mole dove vans. in spite of those challenges they face, they're very much responding with food, hot meals. it's cold, and with housing,

that's so critical. >> helena, you talked about the psychosocial part of this and the strain is almost imaginable. we have talked a lot about the resilience of the ukrainian people. we have seen the mothers who at great risk have done everything they could to get their children to safety. talk to me about the people who you got to meet there, the folks who fled and their determination to keep their family safe and one day return to ukraine. >> so, basically, what you can see on the border and in many big cities in poland, you can see that the mothers are determined to bring the children to safety. they are thinking more about the children than themselves. if you offer them a place to stay, something warm to drink, then the adrenaline starts, and some of them are falling apart

because the stress, the trauma, a very long and hard way for ukraine. by the border it all accumulates in you and you just fall apart. what is very crucial in the next days is psychosocial support for those families, especially children, who just cannot cope with what just happened, they lost their home, they lost their toys, they lost everything they knew, and now they have to start in a new place with new language around, even similar, but new language around new cultural costs. >> helena, britton, our admiration and thanks is endless. so stay safe as you keep up the mamtz work that you're doing. that's going to wrap up this hour. i'm chris jansing, "jose diaz-balart reports" will pick up our