alliance together. there are flashpoints, points of tension. try to keep them unified against russia and a united front against vladimir putin's aggression in ukraine. we'll hear from the president around 3:00 eastern at his news conference. live coverage of that all day long. thank you for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. a jam-packed "morning joe" starts right now. blashging news. president biden and 29 other world leaders are meeting behind closed doors right now for an emergency nato summit. exactly one month after the russian invasion of ukraine. president biden is set to speak. ukraine's volodymyr zelenskyy also expected to deliver a virtual address. it follows the formal declaration from the united states accusing russia of committing war crimes, but not vladimir putin directly. the evidence against russian forces continues to pile up with

new attacks on civilians. however, there are signs that a counteroffensive from ukraine is working with the u.s. saying russian forces have been pushed back outside the capital. all of this as we remember a trailblazer on the global stage. madeleine albright, the first woman to serve as secretary of state predicted one day before vladimir putin's invasion, "should he invade, it will be an historic error." good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 24th. with us, u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay. associate editor for the "washington post" david ignatius and former national security adviser in the obama administration, tom donilon with us here this morning. dive right in. this nato summit is just the beginning of an unprecedented

day for world leaders with meetings of the g7 and european union as well as leaders work to present a united front against russia. there are some divisions on how to respond to vladimir putin. the "washington post" reports on one of the major questioning -- do you keep him guessing? or do you outline precisely what it could take to draw nato into the conflict? willie? >> and while moscow, mika, hasn't publicly disclosed the be in of russian troops killed in action, nato estimates, between 7,000 and 15,000 russian soldiers have died in the past four weeks of this invasion. the number of troops injured, captured or missing in action reportedly also could be as high as 30,000 to 40,000. with those losses piling up, ukraine forces are moving to take back territory russians have gained in recent days. u.s. intelligence officials say the russian military struggling to supply soldiers with food,

fuel and weapons. some suffered frostbite because they lack appropriate cold weather gear. rages on in the capital of kyiv. significant efforts made to retake territory from the russians. according to a senior u.s. official, ukrainian officials pushed back russian troops east of the capital by at least 15 miles. he said the russians are now about 34 miles away from the east side of the capitol. after this counterattack. meanwhile, the city's mayor says ukrainian forces were also able to take back most of irpin, a suburb of kyiv. joe, the ukrainians are resilient, and they just won't back down. >> well, they won't. there's extraordinary footage we'll show throughout the show and reports from the "times," "washington post" and other newspapers and media outlets they're actually outside of kyiv, actually don a pincer

movement encircling. those russians troops are trying to encircle kyiv. again, we've been talking about a stalemate the past several weeks. the ukrainians now pushing and moving a bit more aggressively. i'm wondering, though, david ignatius, this is all just a backdrop to nato meeting. looking, seeing that ukrainians are doing very well in parts of the country, and yet they're, of course, bombing and human misery in others. what do you expect joe biden and the rett of nato leaders to be trying to accomplish this weekend? >> joe, i think first they'll try to reinforce solidarity crucial. nato's unity has been a factor in this war, anded by been want to make sure that continues. they're going to double, reports are, the number of nato troops on the eastern flank of nato facing russia. in the baltic states and

romania, in those other eastern countries. that will add to the nato deterrent posture. i think nato will be encouraged by the reports from the battlefield that the ukrainians are making some advances, but one should be careful with so much russian military power gathered to not overstate those. the toll by pentagon officials that the ukrainians advances are in part their ability to use what military figures say combined arms. artillery, ground forces in a coordinated way. the kind of thing russians have simply not been able to do in this conflict. i'm told further at every level of the russian military, dissension. messages we're able to read that tell us at the enlisted level, at the middle command level, at the senior command level, people are asking, what's this mission for? how does this mission end?

what are we doing here? so that kind of demoralization in an army is significant. it contrasts with the intensely motivated ukrainians and really the x factor in this war. a russian army that is bogged down and unhappy. ukrainian army feeling its holding its own. listening to president volodymyr zelenskyy, they'll be talking about this today. >> and working, pushing back russian troops around kyiv and intercepted phone messages that the "new york times" played last night after analyzing them. many people are analyzing these phone messages, but it's troops who, again, as david said, are complaining bitterly about what they're going through. complaining bitterly about how they're not prepared. how they don't have leadership. how they're -- they're basically just left to die in ukraine. >> yeah. joe, the summit comes exactly at the right moment.

putin and the russian military are under tremendous pressure. they have been one of the surprises of this war so far, the underperformance of the russian military. the numbers that willie talked about top of the show here today are really important, and i think pretty stunning. put them in perspective. if, in fact, nato numbers are right and russians lost between 7,000 and 15,000 troops, by the way, other numbers nato put out showing lost maybe 10% of their combat equipment as well. that's extraordinary. put in perspective, as i said, russians lost around 15,000 troops in the entire war of afghanistan. the united states, 20 years of iraq and in afghanistan lost far less. maybe half of what the russians may have lost thus far. so that the pressure on putin i think is tremendous right now. the pressure on the military, the sources of pressure, resistant, by the ukrainian military and the ukrainian population and this flow of arms into ukraine to support these

efforts. the summit comes at exactly the right time. points on that to add to what david said. focused on expanding and extending supplies and military support into ukraine. there will be as the secretary-general said yesterday, stoltenberg, more forward-facing on frontline states particularly concentrating the southeast of ukraine by nato. they'll be discussing expanding sanctions. really importantly today i think, and tomorrow, what the president will be talking about and nato will be talking about is moving into a long-term mindset as well. yes, there are central things that have to be done now to keep the pressure on to putin, to support the ukrainians in their effort. to keep the sanctions up. to keep unity together. both, by the way, at nato and at home. also, to understand that this is likely to be at the end of the day a long-term effort. a long-term standoff by the west against russia.

>> yeah. and, you know, willie, we showed the -- the pictures of madeleine off the top and the former secretary of state, and her prediction before the war. that this would be a disaster of historic proportions. well, she's right. she was right, as always. and it's a disaster not only in the battlefield, it's a disaster at home for putin, too. seems like he's beginning the purge as you have his intel leader put under house arrest reportedly. reports of his top military leader disappearing from public view for at least the past week or so. obviously, he's striking out, trying to blame the traitors, the scum as he calls it, as he calls them, talking very much like stalin in the middle of purges. looks, again, like disarray on the battlefield matched by disarray in russia? >> yeah. disarray among his leadership, as you said. also within the people now.

quietly sometimes but getting louder as the economy collapsed. the value of the ruble is almost nil. inflation is through the roof. these western sanctions have take an heavy toll. as you said, now we're hearing critics of vladimir putin speak up a little louder. growing dissent against russian military. intel chief stepping aside. take that for what it's worth. you don't step aside in putin's government, you're pushed out. a blame game has begun against some russian supporters of the war. a former colonel in the intelligence agency said in a video interview posted online russia made a "catastrophically incorrect assessment of ukraine's forces." ukraine says it killed at least six russian generals while russia acknowledges only one of

those deaths. as joe mentioned, other leaders in putin's circle have been put under house arrest. katty kay, taking all of this into this nato summit today, look a little at the european view. talked a lot about the united states and what joe biden intends to do. it's a little bit of a different question for the uk, for example, for nation whose can't so easily and quickly cut off the flow of russian oil? >> all of the west is united in sending supplies to ukraine, but there is a sense, some feeling in europe that europe is bearing the brunt, the frontline brunt of a war that is the west's broader war. they are taking in far more refugees. every pol you speak to is helping in the refugee effort. they are housing refugees, and not getting that much support for doing so. and they're really feeling the brunt of the economic cost of this war, too, in terms of inflation and energy. a lot of european countries, ordinary european families,

working-class families, dependent on russian gas for the moment to keep their houses warm, and their housing bills, gas bills, have shot through the roof during the course of this war. so part of this nato summit, as tom said, what does this mean long term? there's a short-term question for the nato summit. what happens if chemical or nuclear weapons are used in ukraine and what would the nato response be and potentially the impact. stoltenberg said yesterday it is possible this could have ramifications for nato countries. if the wind is blowing the wrong way could those clouds roll into poland, and what would the nato response be? that's short term. long term, how does the continent of europe manage the humanitarian crisis happening on its border and inflation crisis happening in terms of energy? that's why the germans have said, look, any sanctions imposed have to be viable long term. we have to be able to maintain

them. at the moment they don't feel they can maintain those energy sanctions. >> and entitled a month into the war, "putin's mind-set is complex and dangerous." in it you write "putin's mind-set was on display at a stadium concert last week as he invoked a russian orthodox warrior saint who said it would glorify russia." reminder his personality is more complex and perhaps more dangerous than the usual stereotype of him as an ex kgb officer who wants to revive the soviet union. putin is something different. a russian orthodox christian believer rather than atheist, and penetrating the riddle of putin's psyche is a life or death matter these days.

as the ukraine war grinds on and danger putin will escalate with chemical and even nuclear weapons, and, david, i guess, what more do we need to see to conclude that putin is on a tear that won't end at ukraine? even if it stays within participators of ukraine is destabilizing europe and the world? >> so what i've discovered in doing some research into putin's biography is that the ukraine war isn't simply the ex kgb thugs attempt to bully his neighbor. that's part of it, but there is a deeper almost mystical idea about reuniting the russian nation. he feels that there's a kind of spiritual obligation for him, and i think that makes him more dangerous. harder to dissuade. >> if i could jump in and let you continue, sources very close to the very top of the white house say there is something different about him. in conversations that have been

heard with him. something's different upstairs. >> so we don't want to diagnose anybody psychologically, least of all a russian president, but he does -- i've heard the same thing. part of it is this quasi-misting's sense of obligation. obsessed with ukraine, angry, bitter. feels humiliated. furious at his generals. so he's brooding in a way that leaders sometimes do, and the worry, obviously is that in this sense of being cornered he may strike out and escalate in different ways, but we do need to understand that a picture of him as the ex kgb man misses this strange religious dimension. >> right. which teams to be propelling a part of this war and makes it so hard to stop. >> and the, tom, though, he also put in there, he is a strong

man. he -- he loves his image as a strong man, and he loves preying on weak inside, and he has seen america and the west as weak for good reason. we didn't respond the way we should have responded in georgia in 2008 and ukraine 2014 and syria 2015 when war crimes were being committed before. so this is a guy who has thought he could go in once again into ukraine and the western world would let him take whatever he wanted. well, the western world has stood up, and actually, again, at albright and others predicted, it's become his worst nightmare. we're talking about nato troops now doubling on the border, on the eastern-most border of the nato frontier? the question is, how does he respond to this now that he's cornered? >> joe, you're exactly right.

almost everything in terms it of security that putin said he was concerned about he's actually exacerbated, you pointed out. you have a ukraine much more oriented to the west now economically and politically. you have a ukraine that's going to receive unprecedented amounts of military supplies into the resistance against russia. you have a unity at, entire nato, which would only have been achieved under the kind of pressure that putin has put on nato and you now have, as you said, the determination to forward base additional troops and infrastructure and weaponry on the frontline states. almost everything that he said he was concerned about in terms of security he's actually exacerbated, actually caused to be worse for him from a security perspective. on dave's point, very interesting. look at the july essay that putin wrote, really pre-staging a lot of this, he did talk about the historical and spiritual

entity of ukraine and russia. he has seen, in my interactions with him, seen himself, now a while back, leading an international effort against the decadents of the west. he understood the nation as where it should be. as joe said, he's a strong man. all that may be true, but also will not take the blame for this. although the decision is his. just putin makes the decisions and he will seek to blame others. he won't take the blame for the failures even though the decision, of course, was solely is. he's a strong man, as joe said. >> you've been in the room with vladimir putin. sat with him for hours after being elected. negotiated the s.t.a.r.t. treaty. my question, a guy branded as a strategist, military master

mind, proving that not to be true over the last month or so, how did he calculate this so poorly, so underestimate ukraine, so underestimate rallying of the west and the strength of nato? all the things you just laid out, if he is such a smart guy, how did he get this so wrong? >> i don't know he's ever been -- kind of a geostrategic genius or anything. i will tell you this. disease of the autocrat. as these guys stay in office over extended periods of time, as their rule becomes more absolute, the quality of the decision-making deteriorates. he had a smaller and smaller group of people advising him. the people advising him all of a specific type. former sfb and kgb officers. think how you survuv during the soviet period and russia as arn intelligence officer. i think during covid became increasingly isolated the last two years. you get low input. right? you don't get a lot of dissent, and the system it doesn't pay to go in and disagree with the leader. just a, i think you have a, the

disease of autocrats. right? significant deterioration in quality of decision-making, quality of advice he gets and he's made here a horrible set of strategical decisions. >> and katty how nato has changed. so many things on the battlefield, but looking from britain across europe. talk about how radically things have changed over the past month and what we're going to be seeing today and tomorrow because of that? >> yeah. talking about some of the tensions that there may be in this western alliance, a month into this operation, but the real story is how extraordinarily united nato has been giving what it went through during the trump era, almost gone by the end of the trump administration and certainly under pressure from trump lost a

lot of its force. we've seen this extraordinary revival in terms of unity, but just as importantly in terms of military clout. they really have moved forces to the eastern flank. they have supplied in big numbers weapons to ukraine. we've eve hadn't, you know, sweden and switzerland step up in terms of abandoning their neutrality to join this effort. there are some questions about whether the germans and the italians have actually delivered what they said they were going to deliver and there's some frustration, i'm hearing. that the germans in particular said they would send more and haven't sent more, but the turnaround in germany has been the real european story of the last month. it's backing away from nord stream 2. the commitment to spend 2% of their gdp or more on defense. a realization from the quite open public realization from

chancellor schulz they made a mistake in allowing themselves to become so dependent on russian energy. a mistake they want to correct but it's going to take some time, but this is revived and unified europe and, also, we shouldn't understate this. the humanitarian crisis that europe is feeling with this flow of refugees, the biggest refugee exodus since the second world war is being felt in every single european country, and it is a discussion in every single european family at the moment. >> all right. still ahead on "morning joe" -- on a day of extraordinary diplomacy for nato, we remember a ground-breaking diplomat. former secretary of state madeleine albright who died yesterday. a look back at her impact and life. plus former president clinton will weigh in on her lasting impact on the world and her wonderful sense of humor. we'll be right back.

former secretary of state maslin albright, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> it's great to have you on. thank you so much, madam secretary. >> great to honor her on the -- >> i actually know how to spell brzezinski. >> unlike many others! >> you are in the minority on that one. >> thank you very much.

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this is xfinity rewards. most common side-effects are headache and eye redness. our way of showing our appreciation. with rewards of all shapes and sizes. [ cheers ] are we actually going? yes!! and once in a lifetime moments. two tickets to nascar! yes! find rewards like these and so many more in the xfinity app. world is facing a transatlantic crisis, we celebrate the life of really a force on the foreign stage. the life of madeleine albright. the first woman to become u.s. secretary of state, and a force in global affairs died

yesterday. president biden said secretary albright was a "force for goodness, grace and decency and for freedom." "hers were the hands that turned the tide of history." she was that, and so much more. >> at a time when the world faces a transatlantic crisis, we lost a giant in foreign policy. madeleine albright was the first female secretary of state in american history, and her legacy does not stop there. born in prague, marie jena kov loaf virginia in 1937 her father may have lit the spark in her brilliant mind serving as a member of the czechoslovakia for foreign service and later ambassador to yugoslavia. after czech overflew them in 1948 the family immigrated to

america where madeleine age 11 became madeleine. at the age of 20, madeleine albright became a u.s. citizen in 1957, and would earn a degree in political science with honors from wellesley college in 1959. she would go on to earn a ph.d. in public law and government from columbia where she studied under another fellow refugee from poland. my father, mr. brzezinski. in 1976 works for senator musky of maine and two years later found herself in a windowless cubbyhole in the west wing as a staffer in the white house. brought there by my father then national security adviser for president jimmy carter. he brought her in for her knowledge, her skills, and her ability to bluntly tell him what he needed to hear. >> he did more than anyone, apart from my father, to shape

my view of the world and my understanding of foreign policy through a relationship that spanned six decades. >> with their similar backgrounds and shared ideals, my father and mother and madeleine quickly became the closest of friends. from that point on our families would be intertwined forever. from the west wing dr. albright would go on to georgetown university of school of foreign service as director of its women and foreign service program. then in 1993 she was appointed ambassador to the united nations by president bill clinton. on december 5th, 1996, madeleine korbel albright was nominated to be the 64th and first woman secretary of state by president clinton. >> i, madeleine korbel albright. >> confirmed just over a month later in the u.s. senate with a vote of 99-0 she served in the position for four years. a transatlantic groundbreaker,

albright promoted expansion of nato eastward into former soviet bloc nations. supported the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons from the former soviet republicans to rogue nations, and championed america's alliances. she successfully pressed for nato to intervene militarily during the humanitarian crisis in kosovo in 1999. furthered the normalization of relations with vietnam and favored the ratification of the kyoto protocol on global climate change. she tirelessly and fiercely advocated for democracy and human rights. in 2012, dr. albright received the presidential medal of freedom. the nation's highest civilian honor from president barack obama. >> once at a naturalization ceremony an ethiopian man said only in america can i meet the secretary of state. she said only in america can a

refugee become the secretary of state. >> she never forgot. young madeleine, a child war refugee, who along with her family was forced by the nazis to flee her homeland, came to america, where democracy, rule of law and peace enabled her talents to be leveraged at the highest levels of public service. she never took freedom for granted. >> the great lesson of this century is that when aggression and brutality go unopposed like a cancer they spread and what begins as a treatable sickness in one part of the body can rapidly endanger the whole. >> reporter: albright's life and legacy is testimony to what is at stake in europe today. the accession of central european democracies into nato, were they not only flourished but add value to community of democracies and that finds itself under threat today. her passing should inspires all to recognize what is once again

at stake in europe and the world. i will miss her deeply. i've known dr. albright since i was a little girl. she tried to get me to call her madeleine in later years. it never worked. >> from what has been reported, mika has decided to take joe's name. as a former student and devoted colleague of her father's, i don't understand why she would do this, because scarborough is so hard to spell. >> she had a quick wit, a loving heart and a knowledge that cut deep about the precious nbc news of freedom. she did not suffer fools and as loving as supportive as she was to me growing up, it was how fiercely protective she was of freedom. that's what i'll always remember about madeleine albright. and more on a personal note. when my father, when we all moved to washington here for his service in the white house, he

didn't do anything without madeleine's stamp of approval. he bought a wild pony in mclean, virginia, for my mom. madeleine found it for him and she found our house for us, old farm house. and on my dad's birthday every year would call me to remind me to tell him happy birthday, and when he passed, she would call me on joe's birthday. so joe's birthday's coming up, and i'm really going to miss that phone call, because we always would have such a great conversation. joe? >> yeah. you actually, mika, started -- by the way, we were at the, at cias for a remembrance event for your dad after his funeral. she leaned over in the middle of it. some people saying glowing things about your father. leaned over goes, when's your birthday? i told her. she said, all right. i'm going -- okay. i'm going to have to call mika.

brzezinski women are very bad with birthdays. mika, you started calling her a month ago pretty regularly. why did you do that? >> about six weeks ago i gave her a call. actually going to talk to her about a women's event i was having and she told me she was sick. she said, you know, i think i'm going to be okay, but i don't know how this is going to end. and something about her voice and how she said that, that made me feel like i needed to call every week, and so i did, and she would get me off the phone quickly. she'd be like, i'm fine. and thank you for calling. and -- so -- it just was something i started doing everything week just to check on her, and -- to hear her voice. >> you know, willie, maybe it was last week. maybe two weeks ago, but on the last call she made, you know, mika would have her on speaker

foreign. hi, madeleine. how you doing, joe and i are you. i'm fine. >> how are you feeling? i'm doing well, i'm going well. we'd love to get -- okay. hang up. i said, mika, maybe -- maybe you should stop calling her and asking how she's doing? she doesn't sound like she -- she's, like appreciates it. mika goes, ah, that's how we eastern european women talk to each other. sure enough, when mika got the call yesterday from someone who had worked with madeleine for a long time, one of the first things he said to her was, she sure did enjoy mika's phone kaums. she really appreciated them over the past month. so i guess that is how eastern european women talked to each other. it was -- but she was incredible. she also loved, willie, telling

stories about dr. brzezinski, especially stories in which she sort of tugged on dr. brzezinski and punctuated that big person agent of his and would just laugh and laugh about it. incredible, incredible friend to the brzezinskis, but what an unbelievable force for freedom. what a trailblazer in america's foreign policy. >> yeah. i love hearing those stories about the personal relationship and then on big global issues like ukraine, one of those guests when she came on the show everybody kind of stopped, leaned in to listen. because you knew she had been there, had talked to the right people and you really valued her insight. you know, mika touched on her personal story, too. it's just when you dig into the details of how she even got to america, to ascend to become at that time the highest ranking woman in the history of american government as the first secretary of state. >> yes. >> her family fled czechoslovakia from the nazis.

endured the blitz as a child. war ends. go back to czechoslovakia and the soviet-backed government over topples the government there. they flee again and go back to london, eventually end up in the united states and she goes on to become the secretary of state. it's truly, truly an extraordinary family story. it's an extraordinary american story, and david ignatius, i know you had a close relationship as well with secretary albright. what are your thoughts this morning about the woman but also the diplomat? >> hmm. >> well, as mika's wonderful evocation of her tells us, she was just a remarkable person. she had the gift of life. she had that ability to go into a room, very serious people talking about big subjects and just bring a sense of humanity and often levity. it was impossible not to have a good time when you were talking to secretary albright. she was a centered person through her whole life. >> yes. >> i think that's one reason she

did things so well, mika. was that she knew exactly where she sued. a remarkable experience. known nazism as a young girl and then communism. she knew what her values were and an amazing american success story. last thing i'd say about her which i think is so important, and i hope you feel and, what mika said and all of us, she was a person who was generous to her friends and who was a mentor to really a generation of people who cared about foreign policy. so many people leave behind their works, their achievements. madeleine albright left behind a whole, it's like an army of people who she helped to train, who she cared about, who she talked to, who she laughed with. so she was special in all of these ways, and somebody who truly will be missed in washington and around the world. >> joe -- >> tom, we -- we talked about,

of course, the events that shaped her life. her world view. >> yeah. >> being chased out of her home country, just like dr. brzezinski and actually mika's mom, mrs. brzezinski, and how that shaped their lives. of course, for dr. brzezinski, a cold warrior his entire life. for madeleine albright we have that famous standoff that she had with colin powell, a dear friend of hers as well. in the clinton white house, where she asked why troops couldn't be used in the balkans conflict, if we have troops, why don't we use them for this, for this humanitarian purpose? colin powell said he was angry as if they were nothing more than toy soldiers, and what, i got out of that story, and what

was so extraordinary is that colin powell's world view was shaped by vietnam. he knew the risks of sending troops in. he knew the consequences when you got it wrong. he saw it firsthand and it haunted him and his comrades of rest of their lives. madeleine albright, she talked about how her world view was shaped by hitler. by. whatted -- what happened when you didn't respond to fascism, communism, aggressive states. and how two worlds can come together in making decisions. >> i think that's right and shaped by hitler, also stalin. she had a deep appreciation of the meaning of freedom. i first went, first started working with madeleine in 1977, 1978. both worked in the white house together. >> wow. >> i worked in congressional

relations office in the white house and madeleine, of course, dr. brzezinski's -- she had history in her veins. a deep, deep appreciation of history and gifts that were extraordinary. gifts for analysis and high politics. had a gift for being a public person. and she had a gift for friendship. and so she was an unusual, unusual person and i think joe's exactly right, that people's histories do frame, do form them and inform their, form their professional lives, but in her it was especially true, i think. because she really did have a deep, deep sense of history and, of course, that sense of history's never more relevant than what we're facing today. >> written many books. i think today she would want people to read her book "fascism: a warning." she would want them to take note of everything she had to say in that book.

coming up, we'll be talking to andrea mitchell, who covered madeleine albright extensively and knew her well, revisiting this topic. she'll be missed tremendously. and in the news, which her legacy has everything to do with today, the russian market partially reopened today following its longest shutdown since fall of the soviet union. steve rattner joins us with charts on trading and what it spells for the future of russia's economy. "morning joe" is back in a moment. it took me a long time to develop a public voice, and now that i have it i'm not going to be quiet, because i have something to say, and i have my to-do list and i hope others will join me. (music throughout)

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's 47 past the hour. a live look at the white house. the lights are on. the president is in brussels for an incredibly important private nato summit. emergency meeting. we'll be following that and also the stock market in russia rising after it partially reopened for limited trading this morning. this after closing down for nearly a month. longest shutdown since fall of the soviet union. joining us now, former treasury official steve rattner. steve, walk us through the latest in russia's stock market, the overall economy and how it's handling the sanctions. >> yes, mika. the stock market did reopen today. it did reopen a little bit, but to put that in perspective, you can take a look at the chart showing you what's happened in the stock market over a longer

period of time. the russian stock market interestingly actually tracked our stock market for quite a while until they started talking about invasion of ukraine and it literally plummeted and down more than 50% at its worst and then they halted trading. today it's up a, you can see that little tiny upward thing. the very small amount it's up today. even so, the russians took pains to try to minimize the damage. they banned short selling. banned foreigners from selling. rumors the russian banks, state-controlled banks, are buying, and so it's kind of a tie for russia today in a sense of how their stock market reopened. not great, but not terrible. behind all of that, the economy continues to deteriorate and so you can take a look at what's been happening to inflation and gdp and what the banks are forecasting is likely to happen. on the left you can see inflation which is estimated this year to be a stunning 15%.

we think our 8% is obviously very, very unfortunate. their 15% is a heck of a lot worse. they've been having widespread short shortages. price of shearing went up 14% . and you can see that even in coe have i had -- covid which is the red bar to the left, the economy only went down by about 2%. so the question, though, is how bad an effect is this likely to have on russia, all of the sanctions that we've put on, and the answers we have not put on the full array of sanctions that

could be put on. and the reason for that is simply because russia is a major exporter of a lot of things that the west needs. obviously you've heard a lot about oil and gas. that is the turquoise bar, the turquoise pie chart to your left, but they also export a number of commodities that are central to things that get made outside of russia, for example, the world's largest exporter of palladium, 40% comes from russia. you might say what is so important about palladium. it's in the catalytic converters that go into cars that allows them to meet the emissions requirement. without that, you have a hard time making catalytic converters and then cars. and fertilizers, wheat and platinum, all important commodities to the west in which they are major exporters, and so we have not, what's unusual about the sanctions that have been imposed is they're not your

average sanctions. when we impose sanctions, we typically ban or try to ban much if not all of the country's exports. here because of the likely impact on the west, we have not been able to do all of that. and the last point i'd lake is that even absolutely full sanctions, and we have put very very robust sanctions on russia's financial sector. we have tried to strangle their financial sector, and i think a very very good at that. but we have to be mindful and somewhat humble about the history of sanctions. we have had sanctions on north korea since 1950, sanctions on cuba since 1960. sanctions on iran for almost 50 years, over 50 years now, and none of those have obviously brought those countries to heal. the record of countries being able to withstand even the toughest sanctions is not a completely successful one from the standpoint of the west and putting on those sanctions and especially in a situation like this where we are not putting

sanctions on all or at the moment, really, any of their exports for the reasons that i outlined. so we have to be both happy at what we have accomplished vis-a-vis the existing sanctions, the russian economy and the straight jacket we've put it in but i wouldn't be overly optimistic about the likelihood it's going to bring russia quickly to heal. >> and also of course china and the other major economies outside of the west still willing to trade with russia. i'm curious, the bigger question that has to do much more with the united states than russia has to do with our dependence on countries like china and russia for critical needs. i remember jeff venmelt about a decade ago, because of turbulence on the global stage, he expected that all of the offshoring we'd be reducing it and building more things in the

united states. we saw a need for that during covid. we found ourselves time and time again dependent on china and other countries for medical supplies, for masks. even for medication, for pills. i'm wondering, steve, is there a growing sense of a need to stop depending on these totalitarian countries for vital goods and services that we need in the united states. >> yeah, so that's an important point. there's certainly in the wake of what went on with china and the trade conflicts we've had with china over the last few years, there has been increasing talk about deglobalization and rearranging supply lines. it's almost a national security issue if you think about it that way, in order to be able to have it home and make it home, the kinds of things that we need. there are really two issues with that that we need to be mindful

of. one, the reason why this globalization occurred was because trade in general is a good thing for economies. it reduces prices for consumers, when we import lower costs goods from china rather than making it at home with higher cost of labor, and higher costs in general, we're increasing costs of consumers. the natural evolution is to find the lowest source of supply, and if you don't, prices go up for consumers, we have to be mindful of that. there has been some pulling back. also let's be realistic. we import massive amounts of things from china and other places, things that may not be critical goods. 90% of our toys come from china and so on. the second point i would make on this issue, there are certain raw materials that we need that either don't exist here at all, for example, neon gas. you may think, neon gas. why do we care about neon gas. 90% comes from ukraine, and you need neon gas in order to make

semiconductors, and those are the famous chips we've heard so much about over the last year or so. there are some things we can replace at great cost or significant cost. there are other things we're not going to be able to replace very easily at all. it is a problem going forward. the lesson learned from this experience is that we are as a world highly -- somewhat dependent on totalitarian companies for what we need. >> all right. steve rattner, thank you very much. still ahead, we have a lot to cover with the crisis in ukraine, and the emergency summit, nato summit, highlights, though, from another marathon session in front of senators for judge ketanji brown jackson. a big day yesterday here in washington. "morning joe" is coming right back. ington "morning joe" is coming right back every year we try to be more social,

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i ask you to stand against the war. starting from march 24th, exactly one month after the russian invasion. from this day and after then come from your offices, your homes, your schools and your universities, come in the name of peace. come with ukrainian symbols to support ukraine. to support freedom. to support life. come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard. say that people matter, freedom

matters, peace matters, ukraine matters. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy standing in the streets of kyiv yesterday, calling for worldwide protests against russia. he also wrapped his address to nato leaders just minutes ago. his office posted a clip to facebook with the caption never tell us that our army does not meet nato standards. we have shown what your standards are capable of and how much we can give to general security in europe and the world. it's really true. they are showing europe and the world so much, joe. >> mika, i've got to say, whoever made the decision, and made the straight face claim that ukraine did not -- did not meet standards for being nato's military, i think they probably

want a reassessment. it's the historical sort of -- the global version of the a and r person who told the beatles that bans with guitars were on the way out. ukraine has proven themselves to be extraordinary, extraordinary fighters with an extraordinary spirit. and nato, i'm sure would be so much stronger, actually with them in the organization. >> just moments ago, he made the plea for unlimited aid, and he continues to do so. and again, that moment in the streets of kyiv, david ignatius, just sort of saying to the russians and to the world, he's not afraid, you know. >> so much of what zelenskyy has done is to show the world raw physical courage. he's standing out there, he's

vulnerable, and he basically is saying to the russians, you know, i'm not afraid of you, we're not afraid of you. we're going to push you back. >> right. >> it's -- i think that inspiration had just ignited europe, when i travel in europe two weeks ago, i found ukrainian flags on almost every building, people saying this is what we want to be we're going to be strong and courageous like him. >> joe, he really is, he's becoming a symbol of peace and heroism. >> well, and freedom. freedom. like churchill, freedom. we have seen an extraordinary transformation before our very eyes and i was just thinking about him out in the street, willy, and how powerful that image was. do you remember the early days of the war, he was having press conferences underground in

bunkers, and then that electrifying moment that historians will record where somebody's filming him and he walks into his presidential office and sits down and says i'm here, from out in the streets at night with his cabinet members to walking straight in saying here i am. you know where i am and we're not going anywhere. out in the streets once again. it really does show how one man or one woman really can electrify and inspire an entire nation. i've said it before, one of the most remarkable things about churchill's leadership despite the fact that they were isolated on their island against the world, against nazi germany, at the lowest point in the battle against britain, only 3% of british people thought it was possible for the germans to

defeat them. it's extraordinary. and that's because they had a leader who told them they could win, and they had the grit and determination. we're seeing something like that right now, and the stories coming out every day, and i know david will warn us, it's a long war, and russia's a huge powerful army, but still, the determination, the grit that the ukrainians have shown is just nothing short of remarkable. >> even the pictures we're looking at here, president zelenskyy in combat gear, sure it's symbolic, but it's important symbolism for the people to see their leader in the streets with them as this massive adversary, this enemy rolls in and tries to change their way of life. that's the point, for the ukrainian people, this is existential. vladimir putin is trying to come in their country, killing civilians, and to change the way they live, to drive them out of their country and to take over,

and they have said very clearly and very loudly, no, we're not going to take that, and putin has been surprised by that, and he's grappling with that fact right now. we've got new voices to join our conversation, the president of the council on foreign relations, richard haass, jonathan lemire and staff writer at the atlantic, anne applebaum. we understand as mika mentioned that president zelenskyy has addressed nato. what do you expect to see coming out of this, to use the term deliverables from president biden, from the other european nations. what changes as a result of this gathering? >> i actually think the deliverables will be rather modest, you might have a slight increase in sanctions. they won't make an appreciable difference, hopefully more military supplies, maybe things that have been in short supply. antimissile systems, drones,

anti-ship systems to get at the russian vessels in the black sea. i think the most important thing may not be a deliverable but contingency planning. nato has got to basically prepare itself for the possibility of the war widening against poland or some other nato country. they have to prepare for cyber attacks and how to respond. they have to prepare themselves for such things as chemical, biological or nuclear weapons used in ukraine, and then they've got to figure out not just what they threatened, to deter it, not just how they would respond but what they signal, do they explicitly tell the russians, if you do x, here's our response. i think the contingency planning at this point is probably as important as anything else. >> you know, and anne, remember the famous quote from ronald reagan. they asked reagan what his strategy was toward the soviet union, and he said we win, they

lose. your column basically said as much here, russia must lose, and however that looks, it is critical for freedom. it is critical for western democracy. it is critical for the values we hold as a people. i speak for myself, and if anybody watching, if you don't really care about freedom, then fine, i'm not talking for you. i'm talking for myself and a lot of other westerners, americans, but if we do value freedom, then vladimir putin cannot win. he can not get away with this. >> yes, the goals of this war and the themes of this war have been universalized, both by zelenskyy through his repeated addresses to the world's parliaments in which he talks about ukraine as an open, tolerant, liberal society that would like to maintain its freedom and its sovereignty. but also by the russians, the russian foreign minister lavrov has described this as an epic

making war, as a war with global significance. and i think the russians themselves, or i should say the kremlin sees it that way. they see this as a conflict between an autocracy and democracy. for the russians, ukrainians represented an unacceptable, existential threat, a former colony who is now choosing an alternate political system. they're choosing to be integrated with europe. they're choosing a different system. they want democracy, a rule of law, for russian autocracy, and for russia's kleptocratic leadership, that's unacceptable, too great a challengement therefore it's incumbent on us, we who live in the safe and free western world to help the ukrainians win. both for themselves and because i think if we don't do that, then the next -- the next front line will be further to the west and it will be inside europe itself. >> yeah, and now, let's -- that

being said, and it's something that i'm sure most of us agree with, that being said, richard haass, you have expressed some concerns as have i in the past about american officials publicly, publicly declaring that vladimir putin is a war criminal because if he knows his future is in the hague, what incentive does he have to even crawl out of this space? he might as well fight to the bitter end. explain the fine art, the diplomatic fine art of going for the win without putting putin in such a corner that he will fight until, well, until his death and everybody else's. >> well, just to begin with, joe, what you and i would begin with by saying is of course vladimir putin is a war criminal, and what russia has done and is doing repeatedly violates more geneva conventions than i can count. they are purposely targeting

civilians. that goes against the fundamental laws of war. but, the question is does it make sense at this point in the struggle to focus on that? i would think our goals right now are how to prevail, and how to bring this to an end. the people of ukraine, the country of ukraine is playing an enormous price. what we want to do is persuade putin, it's less bad for him to stop than it is to continue. if he knows, war crimes are 100% certain, then why would he stop? why would he stop short of using chemicals or something else, anything in his desperation to turn things around, to intimidate nato or break the spirit of ukraine. so i think we ought to put those things in reserve, war crimes, reparations. there's time for that later. everything in its moment. let's get this war over on the terms we want. then we can deal with the question of russia's individual and collective responsibility for what has happened. >> well, the united states

government now has taken that big stop. formally accusing russian forces of committing war crimes in ukraine, but stopping short of calling vladimir putin himself a war criminal. in a statement yesterday, secretary of state antony blinken wrote in part, based on information currently available, the u.s. government assesses members of russia's forces have committed war crimes in ukraine. our assessment is based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources. as with any alleged crime a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime ultimately is responsible for determining guilt. ned price was asked about the decision to not individually label putin a war criminal. >> this is not the state department of the u.s. government calling putin a war crime. that still remains the personal opinions of the president and the secretary of state. is that something, though, that you rule out? is there a mechanism by which

the u.s. can, would grant him a war criminal? >> the united states government is not the only body that is investigating reports of potential war crimes. we are supporting investigative mechanisms around the world. it is not for us to say how any of these investigative efforts, whether our own or on the part of the international community, where and how they might end. we will all be watching very closely. >> so jonathan lemire, it was last week that president biden himself sort of casually called vladimir putin a war criminal. now we have this official declaration from the state department that russian soldiers have committed war crimes, which objectively they have. we see them before our eyes every day. what is the significance of that step yesterday by the state department. >> we heard from the president last week, it was an off the cuff remark from to a reporter's question, and jen psaki cleaned it up afterwards, the president is speaking from the heart.

he does believe that, but he was reacting to the images on television of the devastation in ukrainian cities. the state department has undergone the review and deemed that what some of the russian soldiers are doing war criminals but not vladimir putin yet in part for the reasons discussed how much that would ramp up the pressure on putin, and perhaps make a peace deal less likely since he knows what that potentially could bring to him. of course there's no real sense that putin would be apprehended and taken to the hague anytime soon. pivoting back to nato, to add to where we are now, we did see the president arrive a couple of hours ago. we likely will not hear from him until he holds a news conference at the end of the three summits today. there will be sanctions, administration officials previewed they hope to help europe begin to wean itself off russian and oil energy, gas and oil, to supplement that, but

they understand it can't be a clean break. it would send the continent spiraling into a real recession, which we heard from the german chancellor. it's not something they can do immediately, and there's a growing concern about weapons. administration official i have talked to said, you know, obviously there's been a flow of munitions from the u.s. and the west to ukraine, but it was done so with the belief that ukraine would be conducting an insurgency, that they would be trying to hold off russians. instead, the ukraine military is doing so well that they need more in order to conduct a full-fledged war, a resistance against russia. ukraine defense officials have conveyed to the united states that they're running out of antiair craft weapons, and other material so that is something that's high on the agenda today is trying to get more arms to ukraine as quickly as possible. also expect we might hear from the white house today or over this trip while the president is in europe some news about ukrainian refugees, and potentially the united states welcoming more of them in. >> david ignatius, i want to

circle back for a minute if we can to what we heard from steve ratner talking about the russian economy, how battered the economy is. i know you have been the voice of restraint, of prudence, when we start talking about ukrainian victories. when we start talking about how well they're doing, that the russians are obviously much larger, more powerful army. that said, time doesn't appear to be on russia's side. certainly not the momentum. wars of course, as you know, bring havoc to national treasuries. especially if you're talking about an economy as battered as russia, so i'm wondering, how long can putin, how long can russia afford to fight an

extraordinarily expensive war with their economy in tatters at home. >> so i think that's becoming the x factor here, joe. if the economic sanctions devastate the russian economy, they amount to economic war against russia that could force russian escalation, but it's also going to enfeeble the russian war machine. the reports that we have been getting, talking to pentagon officials last night, of widespread dissent, criticism, morale problems within the russian military, i think are increasingly mirrored at home. there are reports of growing disagreements among senior russian officials around putin. so that's one sign of the effect of the squeeze of this economic war that we're waging. i'd say one other thing relevant

to our earlier discussion of war crimes, i think saying that the russian military may be guilty of war crimes has a benefit unlike attacking putin specifically because it puts every russian soldier and commander on notice that his actions on the battlefield could result in future legal liability. we have seen after the balkan wars, the pursuit is real. if you're thinking about firing shells on a civilian location, you have to think, could i end up having to try to avoid legal prosecution. i think that's very beneficial. >> let's bring in white house bureau chief for the "washington post" and an msnbc political analyst, ashley parker. her new reporting is entitled "biden and europeans to announce major plan to redistrict gas to

europe." tell us about the plan, ashley. >> sure, this is something president biden is going to announce tomorrow morning, the last thing before he heads to poland, and one of the real issues that europe has been grappling with and the u.s. wants to help with is europe's dependence on russia for energy. about 70 to 80% of europe's energy does come from russia. that's a contrast to the united states. and so this is a major initiative between the u.s. and europe to take shipments of liquified natural gas and get them to europe, sort of as soon as possible in the short-term to help europe kind of have a little distance, and less dependence on russia when it comes to energy, which is of course something you want in the middle of a crisis like this. >> ashley, and stand by in case we want to go back. katty, you might want to go to

ashley, but this distance and dependence is necessary. it's something the united states has sort of put off as well, and if there wasn't a dependence on russian oil and other different ways that we're sort of drawn in, it might be simpler to deal with vladimir putin. >> yeah, i mean, this is really revealed a weakness in the european commodity model that we cannot be this dependent on russia. the problem is it takes time to fix, and it was one thing for the u.s. and the uk to impose sanctions on russian energy. they don't use that much. it's only about 8% of their total energy imports but germany, hungary, italy, they all use a lot of russian oil and gas, and if they don't have it, they're going to have to find it from somewhere else. i'm hearing it's going to be june until we have other streams online that we can actually use. actually one of the other things, i think there is an urgency about this nato summit, beyond the oil and gas, which is going to take time, is this issue of weapons, the ukrainian

ambassador to the uk has just said that they could run out of weapons in the form of antitank and anti-aircraft missiles within a week. the only reason that the ukrainians have done as well as they have up until now in this war is because they have been supplied by foreign weapons. were they to run out of those foreign weapons, the russians would seize an advantage, particularly if they were backed up by belarusian forces. it's critical to the ukrainian war effort that they get those weapons as quickly as possible. is that something that we might be able to expect, do you think, out of this nato summit? >> potentially. i mean, this is one of those areas actually where there are some tensions between nato allies who are frustrated about the united states sort of saying what it won't do, drawing these red lines, saying it won't enforce a no fly zone. it doesn't want to get into world war iii with russia. there's an argument some are

making for strategic ambiguity. but one of the things the united states has been very much willing to do are to provide lethal assistance to ukraine in a defensive capacity. and the united states make the very nuanced distinction between defensive weapons like javelins, like stingers and offensive weapons like, for instance, the united states has said we will not help facilitate the transfer of polish mig fighter jets to ukraine. this is an area, something zelenskyy wants, as you point out, something the ukrainians need, and this is an area where the u.s. has shown a willingness. it's very possible that this is one of these things nato allies can agree on and would be happy to do to help. >> yeah. ashley parker, thank you so much for your reporting from the "washington post" this morning. and joe, while all this talking is going on, it's just hard not to bear in mind the unbelievable resistance and the casualties, the russian casualties that the ukrainians are taking on moment

by moment, and also on their own side. >> yeah, you know, richard, it's a tale of two wars, isn't it? you have the war crimes that the russians are committing against the ukrainian people. i mean, some of the images are stunning, a tank rolls around a corner, sees an elderly cupping, directs aim, blows him up, kills him. we heard intercepts yesterday of commanders sending the orders to destroy entire villages and kill the people there. that's one side of the war, and then you look at the ground war, and you see that the ukrainians are really pushing back hard on the russians. i'm just curious, you look across the landscape of this war, where do things seem to be going, and let's just, we look

at it from putin's position logically or illogically, what good comes from him continuing this war where his troops keep getting killed, their morale continues to collapse, they're turning on each other. at what point does he bring them back home and stop exposing to the world just how weak his military is? >> joe, you're right, there are two wars. there's russia's war against ukrainian cities and their society, against people, and there's the ukrainian war, which is their military against the russian military. my sense is that over time russia will begin to try to diminish their exposure to the ukrainian military. and you may see a reduction in russian soldiers because they're losing that war, and that's the biggest political vulnerability for vladimir putin back home. that, again, was what brought

his predecessors in the soviet union down in afghanistan. there's no reason the russians can't continue using standoff missiles, the war against ukraine's population. if their overall goal is to depopulate eastern ukraine, to keep ukraine from becoming a viable country, it's quite possible the ground war russia will pull back from it, the army, the war between the armies, they'll continue the war against the population, and that then becomes a conflict, rather than again, agree to a formal peace agreement where mr. putin would have to compromise and potentially look weak. it's quite possible he will continue the war against the ukrainian people for some time, particularly and this is where i slightly disagree with the previous conversation, if he could continue getting sufficient receipts from energy sales, and it's going to be very very hard for europe to turn off that spigot. it's a very gradual thing. we have liquified natural gas. they don't have the terminals to absorb significant amounts of

it. we're not talking weeks or months, we're potentially talking years there. vladimir putin is playing for time here, and that's what i think this is about. >> so we're going to continue this conversation. everyone stand by, but before we go to break, a quick look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. "new york times," new census data is showing 2021 was the slowest year of population growth in u.s. history. substantial population loss in some of the nation's largest cities was the primary reason. the pandemic played a role with a higher death rate and americans moving from urban centers to smaller places, willie. >> from the "washington post," jeff bezos is getting a second chance to build a spacecraft to land nasa astronauts on the moon. to build the first lunar landing since the apollo program. blue origin appealed to choose a

second provider which included an offer from bezos to cover $2 billion in costs on the project. nasa announcing this week it is creating a second competition that would allow another company to develop its lunar lander. and from the "wall street journal," rescuers have recovered one of the black boxes from the boeing 737 that crashed into a mountainous rural area of southern china. the discovery of what officials believe is the cockpit voice recorder may provide vital evidence for investigators probing why the plane operated by china eastern airlines and carrying 132 people plunged to the ground on monday. all on board are feared dead in what would be china's worst airplane disaster in nearly 20 years. still ahead on "morning joe," british ambassador to the u.s. karen pierce joins us to discuss a new round of sanctions against

russia and amid the political pandering and posturing, there were some emotional and moving moments during yesterday's supreme court confirmation hearing. also ahead on "morning joe," we'll talk to former president bill clinton about the life and amazing legacy of former secretary of state madeleine albright. we'll be right back. we'll be right back.

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. i was walking through harvard yard my freshman year. as i mentioned, i went to public school, and i didn't know anything about harvard until my debate coach took me there to enter a speech competition, and i thought this is a great university. it was basically one of the only ones i'd seen, and i said maybe i'll apply when i'm a senior, but i get there, and whoa, so

different. i'm from miami, florida. boston is very cold. it was rough. it was different from anything i'd known. there were lots of students there who were prep school kids like my husband who knew all about harvard and that was not me. and i think the first semester i was really home sick. i was really questioning do i belong here, can i -- can i make it in this environment. and i was walking through the yard in the evening, and a black woman i did not know was passing me on the sidewalk.

and she looked at me and i guess she knew how i was feeling. and she leaned over as we crossed and said persevere. i would tell them to persevere. >> and boy did she. after two marathon sessions, totaling more than 23 hours, senators now have concluded their questioning of supreme court nominee, judge ketanji brown jackson. joining me now attorney, democratic strategist, and cofounder of purple strategy, steve mcman and host of nbc's politics nation and the president of the national action network, the reverend al sharpton. gentlemen, good morning to you both, rev, as you watched the last couple of days, democrats say they want a full senate vote on judge jackson before the recess, which hits on april 9th so within the next couple of weeks.

did you see anything over the last couple of days that changed the calculation by democrats that she will go through? not perhaps with many republican votes but with enough to become a historic justice on the supreme court. >> i didn't see anything that would change the calculus. if anything, i saw things that should affirm it. i thought that she was very gracious, and very balanced under fire, some things totally unfair and unwarranted, yet she showed the even kind of personality, temperament and judgment of speech of what she was going to say that you would want on the supreme court, so i think that all they meant for bad turned out to her good, and then i think the emotional way she explained who she was sitting there as the first black woman to be nominated to the

court, and probably will be on the court put in perspective that this was a country that could grow and do that. her story about going -- walking through the yards of harvard, and the others seemed so petty and overreaching to try to make her something that she was not, that she was some kind of weak on crime and it's always an attempt to make blacks synonymous with we're criminals and hoodlums or soft sympathizers of them, and she handled it i thought very well, and i think she will be confirmed. i think what is the only downside about this story is the republicans had a chance to redeem themselves from looking so divisive and so race based and they did not. they missed a great opportunity here. >> yeah, steve mcman, so much of the sub text of the line of questioning for two days that we heard specifically from senators

hawley and cruz is that judge jackson is soft on crime. what this has become is to not take the debate on a lot of this grand standing question. and judge jackson certainly did not. she kept her composure, answered, wouldn't talk about her faith, for example, two days ago, specifically when lindsey graham asked her to rate her faith on a scale of 1 to 10. she sort of took a deep breath and passed that off and said my faith will not apply to my decisions. i'm a judge. what did you make of her performance. this was for most americans an introduction to the country for judge jackson. >> well, i thought she did an exceptional job, and if she is not a person, an american that everybody can and should be proud of, i don't know who is. you listen to her testimony, you hear her story, you hear that story about what happened in harvard yard that day. number one, your heart goes out to her. number two, you think this is exactly what america should be celebrating and not tearing down, and you have these despicable republicans up there who are basically running a

primary campaign for the next presidential election who are race baiting and doing everything the reverend just described in an effort to pander to their base, but what they're actually doing, i think, is further branding the republican party as an anti-minority party and an anti-black party, which frankly i don't understand the, you know, politics is about growing your vote, growing your vote share. i don't see what the strategy is here for republicans because they're not going to stop her. and they're only going to further cause problems with their brand. you know, as for whether or not she gets three or four or five republican votes, at this point i don't think it matters that much. she's going to get 50 plus one or she's going to get 50 plus 2 or something in that neighborhood, and she's going to be a supreme court justice. >> yeah, it really is shocking to me that republicans wouldn't use this opportunity to soften

some of their harder edges, you know, ruth bader ginsburg got 93, 94 votes. times have changed, not really if you're a united states senator. you still have to run statewide, and this week has been such a missed opportunity by so many republicans. i want to ask you, though, about democrats, and i'd say this as a former republican, you and i go way back, and you've known me for a long time, as a fire breathing republican and everything. i must say, though, looking at democrats now, they do have that sort of we don't deserve good things attitude. it's always a glass half empty. there's always infighting and squabbling. joe biden's not doing enough. and yet you look at these hearings, and then you look at what joe biden has done through

yesterday, the democratic senate has confirmed 56 biden appointees already to the federal bench. lifetime appointments. that's a pretty remarkable achievement, and yet i still hear from too many democrats about the glass being half full. isn't this something the party should really embrace and celebrate? >> you know, i completely agree with you, joe. what the biden administration is doing is they're putting 1 foot in front of the other, and they're quietly doing their job, and they're getting people approved not just judges but other federal appointees, they're using administrative law and executive orders to change things that they can't get through congress, and you know, they're doing exactly what joe biden said he was going to do when he ran for president. are they doing every single thing that the progressive left wants, no, it's a 50/50 senate. it's not possible to do those things. there's been an expectations

problem or challenge for democrats because some of the things that democrats would like to do, that i would like to do, that the reverend would like to do simply aren't possible in a 50/50 senate. and i don't think our progressive base always understands that as well. i used to work for a guy named ted kennedy, who was a progressive person himself, and his view was always, you go in and get what you can get and you come back for more later. i think democrats will be well advised to remember that lesson. that's what joe biden is doing every single day, and he's doing it in, you know, he's doing it in europe, he's doing it here at home, and i think there should be a greater appreciation on the left of what president biden is delivering for the entire country. >> so reverend sharpton, we had two days worth of questioning in the senate, two days, frankly, at times rather ugly. some of the questions inappropriate. cory booker cut through that with his emotional tribute to what this moment means for judge jackson to likely be placed on the supreme court. i wanted you to weigh in on that.

i know we were talking about it before the break. you had said you had some thoughts about former secretary of state, madeleine albright who we have been remembering all morning. >> no, i think what senator booker did yesterday was important because he reset our focus on what this means to america. black americans, but to all of america, and he did it in a way that i thought was very compelling. it was emotional, but it was compelling, and he didn't match the hostility and rancor of some of the republicans which made them look more as they were. and i thought it was good. i thought it was healing, and i thought, again, that the republicans had an opportunity to heal the nation. in terms of madeleine albright, i think there was no one that fought harder for democracy around the world, including africa. i remember when she served as secretary of state, president clinton who's coming on the show had appointed reverend jesse jackson, who's one of my mentors

as the envoy around democracy to africa under madeleine albright, and they worked together there, and i was able, because of him, to see her up close work just as hard on african nations and doing things that she did as other secretaries of state did around the world. all of us are mourning the passing of a great woman. >> rev, can we just talk, can you just give us some perspective on what we've seen this week. it's been a very difficult five years. you've had somebody in the white house who's been openly hostile and used race from 2017 to the beginning of 2021. you have had others who have openly embraced white supremacy. the dog whistles have not -- have been put away, and now a lot of fog horns and again, in

the mainstream of the republican party, especially in the house and then of course the battle that you and so many others have been fighting for voting rights over the past several years, and boy, the difficulty in making progress and getting 50 democrats to vote, to stop some things that directly target people of color. and yet through all of that we have this week what an extraordinarily historic week with a woman who our children and grandchildren are going to be talking about obviously. >> no doubt about it, you know, it reminds me of we are in a struggle, and a struggle means you're going to lose some. you're going to take some hits. you're going to have some bad days, but then things come and breakthrough, and with the voting rights bill not passing because of two democrats not dealing with the filibuster,

with the criminal justice reform, george floyd bill not passing, yet we did get conviction in the ahmaud arbery case, convictions in george floyd, every once in a while something will breakthrough, but nothing exemplifies it to me more than to see this woman coming out of miami, florida, out of public schools sitting there as a supreme court nominee talking about how she felt walking around that yard at harvard. wondering if she fit, and now she's going to fit in the highest court in the land. that's where we can give hope to a lot of our children that even though we're going to take some, life for me has not been a crystal stair, but you keep climbing. this woman kept climbing, and all of us are going to keep climbing no matter what, and that's what she means when she puts her hand on that bible to become the first black woman on the supreme court from public schools in miami.

>> she persevered. reverend al sharpton, thank you. steve mcman thank you as well for coming on the show this morning. and coming up, several major airlines call on the white house to lift covid restrictions for travelers including mask mandates. plus, remembrances are pouring in for former secretary of state madeleine albright. former president bill clinton joins us ahead to weigh in on her lasting legacy, and impact on american and world diplomacy. "morning joe" is coming right back. d diplomacy. "morning joe" is coming right back [sound of helicopter blades] ugh... they found me. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend.

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it is 7:50 in the morning as we look at a rainy time's square. the chief executives of u.s. airlines are calling on the white house to lift covid-19

mask mandates for travelers. in a letter to president biden, the ceos write, we are requesting this action not only for the benefit of the traveling public, but also for the thousands of airline employees charged with enforcing a patchwork of now-outdated regulations implements in response to covid-19. the air mandates line it was extended to april 18th. the brooklyn mets are looking forward to the return of kyrie irving in home games as new york will grants exemptions today for athletes and entertainers in the private sector mandate. the expected rollback comes back days after mayor adam's says the city's pro sports teams will have to wait for the policy to be lifted. the new information means irving could be on the court if brooklyn as early as sunday ahead of next month's play-in tournament. unvaccinated members of the new

york yankees and mets would be able to play in the april home opener. there has been so much focus on kyrie irvison who has missed 35 home games, a lot is about opening day for baseball, let's be clear. >> no question, aaron judge perhaps the yankee's biggest star never said she is vaccinated. he wouldn't be able to play in 81 games. mayor adams expected to play at the home of the nets, he will announce he is carving up this exception for entertainers for those on stage and pro athletes. certainly, kyrie irving has been the face of this. this is well-timed for the mets, it impacts baseball as well. but the decision has gotten pushback. the deblasio administration, who put this in place have pushed back on it in the last 24 hours, suggesting it's ill-timed,

particularly as cases begin rising again in new york city. we know they are surging in europe, covid cases and the pandemic truism that what happens over there ends up here in a few weeks. the white house is also prepping for what could be another surge of the virus. secondly, it should also be noted this should just be entertainers, the vaccine mandate is in place for other employers, though kyrie irving doesn't need to be vaccinated. if you work in a mcdonald's or on office, you do, that double standard rubbed a lot of people the wrong way ahead of the mayor's expected announcement later today. >> that's the frustration we a hearing in the city if only our multi-million dollar athlete, i wouldn't have to have a vaccine. meanwhile, a senior prosecutor who investigated former president trump believes the former president is guilty of a football of felonies. the "new york times" says it has a copy of the resignation former

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1234r the ukrainian army has been standing firm for a month now in unequal conditions. i repeat, in order to save our people and our towns, ukraine needs unlimited military aid like russia is using all of its unlimited arsenal against us. >> that was the president of ukraine addressing the nato

summit earlier this morning pleading for more military aid. the emergency closed door meeting of nato allies is now running into its third hour. it comes exactly one month after the russian invasion of ukraine's began. the united states made a formal declaration yesterday, accusing russia of committing war crimes but does not name vladimir putin directly. at one point in his nato address, president zelenskyy claimed russia used a phosphorous bomb this morning that killed civilians, including children. he provide no evidence and the pentagon was unable confirm that a chemical weapon was used. welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 24th. a lot of fuse today. katty kay, david ignacious with us as well as jonathan lemire. in the besieged city of

mariupol, a human catastrophe is unfolding due to weeks of relentless russia bombardment. drone video released reveals the widespread deserve e tv station, the crucial port city endured. some still burning this as the city's council yesterday reported that russian airstrikes destroyed an art museum that housed around 2,000 exhibits. according to counsel, quote, the occupiers are deliberately killing the civilian population of mariupol and continuing to destroy critical infrastructure and its history. president zelenskyy says around 100,000 civilians are trapped in the city without food, water and medicine and face constant russian shelling. officials also say every attempt to evacuate civilians from the city has been thwarted by russian attacks. meanwhile, the fighting rages on

in the capital of kiev where ukrainian forces have made significant gains in their efforts to retake territory from the russians. according to a senior u.s. official, ukrainian forces have pushed back russian troops east of the capital by at least 15 miles. he says the russians are now about 34 miles away from the east side of the capital after this counter-attack. meanwhile, the city's mayor says ukrainian forces were also able to take back most of irpin, a suburb of kiev, willie. >> this last month is taking a toll on russian troops as well, moscow has not publicly disclosed the number of russian troops killed in action. nato estimates between 7,000 and 15,000 russian soldiers have died in the past four weeks of war. the number of troops injured, captured or missing in action could be as high as

30-to-40,000. with those losses adding up, ukrainian forces are moving to take back forces russians have gained. the russian military is struggling now to supply soldiers with food, fuel and weapons. some soldiers reportedly have suffered frost bite because they lack appropriate cold weather gear, meek california. ukraine's security service released an intersubject phone call between two russian soldiers who complain about miserable conditions they are facing and devastating loses to their ranks. here are the details of the call as reported last night by cnbc's shepp smith. >> reporter: the ukrainians say they intercepted and recorded a phone call of russian soldiers complaining about the invasion. it is extremely revealing and shows just how terrible thing are going for russia in ukraine. the audio, of course, is in russian. so we've translated what the russian soldiers said to each

other. here are some of the most telling quotes. this is f -- hell. it's bs here. 50% of the soldiers have frost bint feet. they fire at us from all direction. now we are stuck. pentagon officials say russian forces have been running out of food and running low on fuel for their tanks, their vehicles and warships at sea. now the ukrainians are, indeed, fighting back and regaining territory. >> joe, nato may be grapping with how to teal with vladimir putin. one thing is for sure, he did not expect to be in this position right now. >> nobody did. nobody saw this coming. the ukrainians knew they were determined to fight. most people expected this war to be over in a few days. nobody expected this i do, david, so much to talk about regarding the number of russian

deaths on the battlefield, the chaos at home, but i'm so struck by the drone footage of mariupol. and i do wonder. i understand the guidelines, i like you have been saying every day, we have to be careful that we aren't riding the next you know the next sequel to the guns of august. we don't want to trigger anything that starts a world war. that said, do i wonder whether our leaders are going to look back 20 years from now and look at the hell and the horror that has been visited upon mar poll and if we are going to be asking ourselves the questions that madeleine albright asked before her death about rwanda, should she have done more there? are the obama administration people who work in the obama administration as you know haunted by syria and the 500,000

plus deaths there, the chemical warfare there. they did not move. i am wondering at this death scape, is this something that's going to haunt america and our allies for years to come that we have the about to go in and we didn't do it out of fear of starting a world war. >> joe, it is a death scape and it haunts us now every time we see these pictures of the devastation of mariupol, of kharkiv. i think all of us feel a sense of anguish and inadequacy. i am sure senior officials in the biden administration feel that as well. from the beginning, the biden administration said two things that may be in conflict, that we want to help the ukrainian people defend their country against this lawless russian

invasion and we don't want to start world war iii. those two seem sensible at the outset and i think we all understand the dangers of the wider conflict. but the pressure on nato, on president biden to do more is growing. one thing i hear from the pentagon is doing more of what works, what's been shown to be successful is the beginning of good sense. more of the weapons that are killing these russians, in extraordinary numbers, these battlefield lossings, they have the experience, considerably more than we the united states lost in 20 years of fighting in afghanistan and the war in iraq in this first month of war. so more of what's been working makes sense. and then there is the question of whether additional weapons, additional pressure on russia will turn the tide. but the basic points you make, it's painful to watch this. it forces us to reexamine our

views i think is right. >> it's everything they are talking about at the nato summit under way this morning. the uk by way is imposing a new wave of sanctions against russia for its invasion of ukraine. the british foreign secretary announced 65 new sanctions against several russian industries, banks and billionaires. those sanctions also targets the wagner group, which the british government says was tasked with attempting to assassinate ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. katty kay has the first question for you. >> so we're heading into this nato summit in what seems to be a critical time the war has gone on for a month. it is clear we have to go on longer and keep nato unified. but there is also a pressing question that is comings out of the white house and we are hearing in european capitals,

what does nato do were vladimir putin to use some kind of weapon of mass destruction inside ukraine? you heard stoltenberg said say it's possible a tactical nuclear weapon inside ukraine could also impact nato. what is the discussion taking place and what's the clarity in the thinking in london and other capitals how nato would respond to that. >> well, thanks very much, catty. can i start by sending my condolences on the death of madeleine albright, who was a towering figure and i had the honor to meme meet in washington. she'd have a lot to say about this very topic. nato needs to discuss these as yen stoltenberg was staying. it's not a straight forward due to the reasons david laid out. nato doesn't want to escalate. but if putin escalates by using

weapons of mass destruction, the president and boris johnson said there will need to be severe consequence. i don't want to speculate on who those might be. that in itself might be escalationary. it's something the leaders are bound to discuss. though the primary objective of today is to discuss more military aid to ukraine. more humanitarian and how we can tighten the vice on the russian economy. >> madam ambassador. good morning. certainly, you are right. u.s. officials tell me the weapons top a list for discussions this weekend, this summit. but it's not just that. obviously, russia is supplied by energy and gas, looking to import/export to other countries. the u.s. and uk have abandoned that. the less are releent far more on moscow than the other nations. but what can be done to help europe start to ween itself off of russian energy, which will

depriefb putin of his economic lifeline? >> that's a very good question and for the brits as you say, it's a slightly easier question, because we don't depend on russian-fuel supplies more than about 3 or 4%. we've said we will be divested and all of that by the end of the year and probably sooner. for the rest of you, if it's harder, there is a bigger dchtcy, so we need to start the transition. we are working with the americans to get more lng into uniform we have a port of battle mar terminal in battle mar will ship more lng to uk. we will ship it on to europe. we can take measures like that, transition measures, the europe and u.k. have to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. that's very difficult at the

moment. but we need to find a way to do that. >> david ignacious. >> madam ambassador, the pentagon is saying privately that they are picking up signs at every level of the russian command of unhappiness, frustration, increasingly dissent, questioning of this mission. british intelligence and ability to analyze evince is extraordinary. what are officials in london hearing? and what's your judgment about the state of the russian military? >> i think we saw an astounding account of incompetence just now on the program. they haven't got their supply lines. they've gotten bumped down. they haven't got proper command structures. we know the conscripts are unhappy. we also know that the russian military hasn't felt great about a full-scale invasion from the start. it's something to watch very

carefully. not clear, david, if putin actually gets direct military advice or whether it's filtered for him. we know he relies very heavily on the intelligence agencies. it's not the intelligence agencies who are on the ground fighting and brought down by the cran ukrainians. it can get a lot worse for the russians. >> ambassador, good morning, the leadership of president zelenskyy over the last month or so led many to believe that ukraine should, in fact, be a member of nato when this is all said and done or maybe sooner. what is your view on that? >> it seems a wholly inadequate answer for the moment. both the eu around nato have strict criteria for joining and ukraine does not qualify. this is one reason why ukraine has not joined to date. were we to now, that would bring

nato directly into conflict with russia. and that would be very dangerous and escalatory for everybody and fundamentally that will be even worse for citizens of ukraine. so what we are doing is increasing the measures and the meanspy which ukraine can defend herself. ukrainians doing a great job on that certainly better than any of us expected. so it's our job to keep supplying them so they can go on defending their country. >> british ambassador to the united states, karen pierce, thank you so much for coming back on the show this morning. she mentioned the loss of madeleine albright. that's something heavy on all of our minds here, joining us from brussels chief foreign afares correspondent and host of andrea mitchell reports. andrea, if you can talk about the lasting legacy of the former secretary of state you know,

meek car, i know how much she meant to you and she meant so much for all of us that covered her for years, as u.n. ambassador, professor at georgetown, she was beloved. she was an icon. to think she came here from war-torn europe as a refugee, a month ago, the day be every the inveck -- invasion, rather, she was writing about president putin. she was first u.s. official to meet him when he became acting president in 2000 you know, she was a trail blazer, a worrier for democracy against her totalitarianism. she died so quickly and surrounded by family. once a refugee from communist rule, madeleine albright's journey is a uniquely american story. born the daughter of a czech

diplomat, albright arrived in the u.s. at age 11, after earning a ph.d., she went on to advise three presidential candidates, became a first female secretary of state. >> how significant is it that a woman is now secretary of state for the united states of america? >> well, i think it's very important that that glass ceiling has been smashed. a lot of the issues people don't think are usually foreign policy issues, i will make sure that people understand that they are. >> that same year she learned after spending her life as a christian that her grandparents were jewish and had been victims of the holocaust. >> they were such amazingly good people. who i think were trying very hard to put a very, very painful past behind them. >> reporter: an experience that informed her work in genocide in

kosovo. >> there is a whole generation of little girls whose first name is madeleine. >> in recent years ago she spoke out forcefully, recalling in an op-ed, that when she first met him more than 20 years ago, she wrote in her notes, putin is embarrassed by what happened to his country and determined to restore its greatness. albright was awarded a presidential medal of freedom. a friend to many, including colin powell, albright speaking at his funeral last year. >> we can almost hear a familiar voice asking us no, commanding us, to stop feeling sad, to turn our gaze once again from the past to the future and to get on with the nation's business, while making the through the absolute most of our own days on earth one step at a time. >> and the president has ordered all flags at all public

buildings, at military base, consulates around the world at half-staff as a tribute to this beloved diplomat who never forgot her or jirns as a refugee. meek car, she certainly never forgot her chief mentor, your father, the person she looked to for guidance throughout her career. >> he looked to her as well for her blunt assessment of her ideas. they were close and trusted each other deeper. thank you so much for that report. still ahead on "morning joe", a new report out of moscow concerning one of the wnba's best players, brittney griner. she has been detained for weeks. plus a conversation with former president bill clinton. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. u are watch. we'll be right back.

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now to an update involving one of the biggest names in women's basketball, brittney griner is being held in russia on alleged drug smuggling charges. nbc news senior correspondent halle jackson has new details on her detainment. >> reporter: for weeks, these are the only images we've seen of wnba superstar brittney griner, currently held in russia accused of importing hash oil. now after more than a month in detention, the state department has finally been able meet in person. >> the consular officer was able to verify she is doing as well

as can be expected under these very difficult circumstances. >> reporter: the state department says it's pushing for more access to griner and other americans detained. griner who plays center is a seven-time all star and two-time olympic gold medallist. for several years, she's played in russia, a common saying by wnba players who can learn a lot more money overseas. big name players can bring in four times the salary. russian authorities stopped her in an airport near moscow. accused her of having cannabis oil vape cigars in her luggage. >> we don't know if she brought these hash vaping items into russia or not. the russians are notorious for planting drugs and other things on americans. >> reporter: news of her aleft surfaced days after they launched this violent invasion and as the u.s. is working to free two former marines from

custody. paul whelan is serving a 15-year sentence after being accused of spying and trevor reserves after a fight with a police officer. both men denied those charges. >> china has a human rights record. they are in a boggs to release a lot of people held against their will. >> we are hurting, we await the day to love on you as a family. >> that was nbc news' halle jackson reporting. coming up, former president bill clinton joins us to remember former secretary of state madeleine albright. that conversation is next on "morning joe." ight that conversation is next on "morning joe." first psoriasis, then psoriatic arthritis. 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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but now, out of state corporations are coming to california. their online sports betting initiative would break the promise between us. it's bad for tribes and all californians. join us. protect the promise. i'm very pleased to preside at madeleine albright's swearing in today. i thank the senate for its swift

and unanimous approval of her nomination. that reflects the confidence that all of us have in this remarkable american. america must continue to be the world's greatest force for peace and freedom and prosperity. pad lynn albright has the strength and wisdom to help ensure america remains the indispensable nation. >> as the nato summit is under way right now, that was former president bill clinton presiding over an historic moment back if 1997 the swearing in of madeleine albright as u.s. secretary of state the first woman to hold that position. and the 42nd president of the united states joins us now to help us remember her. joe. >>. >> mr. president, thank you so much for taking your valuable time to talk about madeleine albright. when she was sworn in, you said of her, that her story is the

best of america's story and you said from the moment you met her, you liked her. and you few she was the right person to be your secretary of state. talk about what you are thinking about madeleine albright right now. >> well, first of all, she became a very close friends of hillary's and mine. so i'm missing her. but i had the great good fortune to be her friend for more than 30 years and to eventually have her u.s. ambassador. she did represent the best of america. her family basically was run out of chechoslovakia twice first by hitler and stalin. they came to america as

refugees. they found a home. her father found work at the university of denver as a professor. she finished her education and went on to a great career first as a professor at george town and later in the government. she always believed that the first priority was to maintain your freedom and then democracy and to, you know, she was perfect for coming in at the end of the cold war. she knew there was a chance that just because hitler and nazi-ism had been defeated, the impulse to dictatorship was still strong. there were a lot of people who believe that the best government was being able to control your neighbors and on people's lives and tell them what to do.

she didn't believe that. she decided that she wanted to give her life to trying to give people like the people she came from a chance to breathe free air where they live. so they wouldn't have to come to another country to do it. >> you chose her to be your secretary of state, the first woman to hold that position and at that time the highest female in your administration. i am wondering what was behind your choice? my father hired her many years before that because of her knowledge, his wit. her strategic mind. but also her ability to be very blunt with him. what was in your mind and your thoughts when you were choosing her for that position? >> well, i will tell you, first of all, i was impressed that she has worked for your father in the carter white house and she

had apparently held her own. shelves i thought shed a been twice voted the best professor by the students at george town, i wanted someone who understood the world that we were, that we had left and the one we were moving into it. what the real meaning of the end of the cold war will be. keep in mind, i had the first opportunity to spend all four of my fears in my first term and the second term after the fall of the berlin wall and after the, in effect, dissolution of the former soviet union. so i wanted someone that understand that and understood the problems were not of that not living in a bipolar world contained great promise but also the parallel living.

the old religion could rise up against people who didn't believe in democracy and freedom and wanted to reestablish empierce. that was going to be a big debate if russia. how do you define your greatness in the 21st century? is it a great country that relies on your incredible information technology capacity? or are you going to try to restore the imperialism of the czars. i think we all know what decision russia made. madeleine like me believed we should work for the best and reach out to everybody but plan for the worst, so that we could preserve the gains that had been won in world war ii and afterwards. i think she was the pernext person to have that job.

>> president clinton, i know in your last conversations, she was talking about the urgency and the need of american nato to stand up for ukraine and russia in this moment because what is at stake. for freedom and democracy. can you shed a little more light on those conversations? i imagine your view of the state's lineup with those of secretary albright. >> yes, first of all, im it came about because i few she had been feeling not well. but i didn't know how seriously ill shelves. she wouldn't talk to anybody about it either. we had gone if 2019 to kosovo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the kosovo's winning their independence and then becoming you know a new country.

we had a wonderful trip and we stayed in touch on a regular basis. but i called her. i could tell, she said, look, i haven't been well. i think i'm going to get better. i got a good doctor i am doing what i can. the only thing that really matters is what kind of world we're going to leave to our greene children and so she went into a whole rift on ukraine. she knew, of course, i agreed with her. we talked about how important it was to keep europe united and strong and into sanctions and to keep everybody supplying both the military and the humanitarian needs of ukraine as much as we could and that we thought president biden had done a good job of uniting the united states and our that to allies

and supporting the european union, but we wanted to be, we both agreed whatever they decided to do we would support because we had to give ukrainians a chance to prevail. as he thought, they could eventually prevail if we would just stay with them. i thought it was great. she was always feisty and upbeat about things. but, of course, heart sick about what they have been through. >> you know, mr. president, it was so inspiring to see you and president bush a few weeks ago if chicago laying the wreath at the ukrainian church, much like you did with his father, george h.w. bush. that shows bipartisan. really, it was -- it really electrified a lot of americans

seeing republicans and democrats standing shoulder-to-shoulder. you can talk about how important that is right now for this country and why you decided to do that when you did? >> well, first of all, you know, we had a longstanding agreement, president bush and i did to appear in chicago together at a meeting of motorola's international leaders. there were i don't know 80 or 100 of them there. and i knew that illinois and chicago in particular had a big ukrainian population. the governor of illinois is america's ukrainian governor. his family migrated there in the early 1880s and created a hotel

business empire and then there have been a lot of ukrainians since. and you know, so we just decided it would be a good thing to go to the mother church there and chicago, which is in ukraine village and there is an art center there. there is a culture center across the street and there is this breathtakingly beautiful church. so we went in and laid flowers there, to show our support. not just for the nation, but for the people and what they're going through. and i thought it was important, too, that, you know, george bush and i still don't agree on everything. we're friends. we don't think you have to hate each other to disagree and we believe that america has a unique responsibility and we, i told them, i said, you know, i

was so grateful that you supported the expansion of nato and they brought in the baltic states after i left because they hadn't quite qualified yet. but i tell you this. nobody who has really look at what happened can believe that we made a mistake. nato was always at defensible odds. we always wanted nato to be just that, to defend, not to attack. and there was a column i think tom rose in the local new york post the other day which simply detailed all the things that russia had done with nato when boris yeltsin was president and when i was there. and they had a chance, if they had decided to stay a democracy to become a member of nato and

to join the fight against global terrorism and they took a pass because mr. putin wanted to do just what he is doing. but to pretend this is some reaction to an aggressive nato. all those little countries who join nato have raised their taxes, built up their military to do it are breathing a sigh of relief that they're in now. and so i believe that the lessons of this are clear. but we need to do this together as a nation. it doesn't need to be a partisan issue. we need to unite and stand up for our freedom. >> so many important messages in your comments, former president bill clinton, thank you so much for coming on the show to talk about the world today and the incredible legacy of former secretary of state madeleine albright. thank you for being on with us. >> thank you. >> she was a national treasure. we'll all miss her and we just need to be giepded by her.

thank you. >> we do. >> we really do. >> thank you so much, bill clinton and david ignacious he was talking there about nato and madeleine albright was so behind the obsession of these countries into nato. that was a part of her life's work. >> madeleine albright believed in america, believed in a europe that is joined with america as the collective west. her book about fascism is a powerful description of what happens when democracy begins to slip away. she meant it as much as a message to americans to protect our democracy. >> yes. >> so to anyone else. she is somebody who today with this terrible war in ukraine, the need for unity and purpose that we treasure. we're just lucky to have someone like mad len albright to think about celebrate and emulate. >> and be guided by.

>> yeah. what a visionary choice by president clinton. david, i just listening to president clinton talk there, i am reminded once again. i remember tom brokaw taking us to task in new hampshire in 2008 when everybody declared hillary clinton basically finished in new hampshire and brokaw came on the set and said, perhaps we should let the voters speak first. of course, the next day, hillary had won, tom brokaw was right. we were appropriately chasing. i listened to bill clinton talk about what happened during his presidency. it's a great reminder, we should also wait and let history speak to us before assessing how presidents are. i remember when bill clinton left office, you know, there are all those stories about how he was obsessed with his legacy and

there weren't wars, so how could he be a great president? if you think about it, the high watermark of american power was in 2000, 2001. and we looked back over those eight years and it strikes me almost like eisenhower's eight years, he always knocked around for not moving. the further we get away from eisenhower, the more we recognize the peace and prosperity in that time. it was actually -- it was, as president clinton himself said in one of his quotes, if you see a turtle on the fence post, it didn't get there by accident. peace and prosperity didn't just happen. it didn't happen with ike. or with clinton. think about the last tumultuous 20 years. compare that where we were when bill clinton left office in january, 2001.

>> well, as warren buffet likes to say, it's historically always been a mistake to bet against america. this is a period where we are seeing the power of unity between america and its allies and at home in supporting a strong sense against russia in the ukraine war. it's week two, where we watched ketanji brown jackson express the very best that's in the american spirit. so i found myself oddly with all the terrible news this week feeling more hopeful about the future and listening to president clinton talk about the need to work together to be together to be one country. reenforce that. >> david ignacious, thank you for being on. i appreciate it this morning. coming up, the human cost of the war in ukraine continues to grow as the fighting there stretches into a second month. but a simple phone app is

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and so many more in the xfinity app. as the violence in ukraine continues, a phone app is helping to keep thousands of ukrainians alive every day. jacob soboroff joins us from lviv with that exclusive story. jacob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. i want to show you this. this is one of those cold war-era air raid sirens. these things are everywhere, all over this country and they've become the background noise to life in ukraine during this war. but now young people have developed as you said an app for phones like this and they're beating the alerts out of those things and they say they're saving lives. as russia's bombardment of

ukraine continues, across the country, a familiar noise. this is four times a day that the air raid sirens go off. yesterday they went off five different times. address earlie playing the blaring siren, encouraging ukrainians to get used to it, including valentine. the 32-year-old works for ajax systems, one of ukraine's largest tech companies. inside a building he asked us not to identify, we found his colleagues bringing ukraine's air raid alert system into the 21st century. in the days after the invasion started they developed the app alarm, a siren in your hand that sounds like the one of on the streets. this is what it looks like on our producer's phone. this is not a couple of college kids sitting in a dorm putting this together. >> no. very senior developers. >> reporter: old-school air raid

alerts are sent to the streets by an official pushing a button. the same official pushes a button to use the app. it's in ural ukraine. how many people have downloaded the app? >> 4348. >> reporter: that day the russians released footage of what was an an attack on a military base. valentine got word of it too. >> army guys, they heard the alert from our app and they went to shelter. >> reporter: and you guys saved their lives. >> yes. >> reporter: at least eight, he told us. how does that feel? >> i'm proud of our company and of our team. >> reporter: the sirens the app sounds the all clear and they'll keep updating it. >> different types of alerts, like chemical, nuclear. >> reporter: that's terrifying to hear. >> yeah. >> reporter: but it could be a

reality. >> so it's best to be prepared. >> reporter: i asked valentine about russia's notorious cyberwarfare and capability to conduct a cyberattack on their app. he said that is top of mind but ultimately cybersecurity is literally what his company does and they're ready. >> all hands on deck. everyone bringing their specific expertise to this war effort in ukraine. fascinating. jacob soboroff in lviv. thanks, jacob. some people have minor joint pain, plus have high blood pressure. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol®. it won't raise blood pressure the way that advil®, aleve®, or motrin® sometimes can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol®.

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welcome to our audience in philly. time for final thoughts. well, i'll tell you what, willie, final thoughts. what's your take-away today? what did we learn today? >> first of all, philly is a tough crowd so you know they meant it shouting for secretary albright. >> they booed santa claus. >> they had a jail in the stadium. my final thoughts are about two extraordinary american stories, mat lin albright fleeing the nazis and fleeing the soviet, going to become the first woman to be secretary of state, and judge ketanji brown jackson, coming up through miami, telling us yesterday she felt out of place at harvard, graduating and on the brink of becoming the first black woman to ever since on the united states supreme court. >> katty, final thoughts. >> madeleine albright believed we were better off when we were

together. she would be heartbroken with the images coming out of ukraine but we are seeing a testament to her conviction that we need america. europe stands stronger and better with america by its side. >> absolutely. >> jonathan lemire, what's happening today in nato? >> certainly the occasion of marking madeleine albright's passing is fitting with president biden doing international diplomacy. three summits trying to from protect a unified front with russia. we've heard from president zelenskyy saying the military needs help and look for more sanctions to be unveiled as well as america reaches out a helping hand to accept more refugees from ukraine. details of that coming today as well. >> mika, final thoughts on your remarkable friend? >> there are so many funny stories. i mean, she, like my dad, had an incredible intellect and wit,

but i have this, like, blank moment when i remember this flash of fear and anger in her eyes when she and i were discussing the rise of trump on the streets of georgetown one day. she knew the dangers. she lived the dangers. she devoted her life to freedom and democratic values. and she will be missed. as president clinton said in our show today, we should let her guide us. that does it for us this morning. kristen welker picks up the coverage right now. good morning. i am kristen welker live in brussels where the emergency nato summit is now under way. it's thursday, march 24th, and we're following several late-breaking developments unfolding right now in ukraine has a critical day on the world stage plays out here in europe. president biden meeting