close on april 3rd. go to forbes.com to nominate women who are finding great success after 50, after 60, after 70, 80, and 90. that does it for us this morning. kristen welker picks up the coverage right now. good morning. i am kristen welker live in warsaw, poland. it is friday, march 25th, and we start with breaking news this morning. president biden on his way to poland right now after meeting this morning with the european commission before departing brussels. he's set to arrive in just a few minutes where he'll visit u.s. troops helping to bolster nato defenses. poland is the epicenter of the humanitarian crisis triggered by russia's war in ukraine. taking in more than 2 million refugees in the last four weeks, more than any other country.

many polish cities along the border with ukraine completely overwhelmed including the capital of warsaw, where i am. president biden is set to get a firsthand view of the situation when he's greeted by poland's president. the visit comes after a crucial day of high-stakes meetings of nato meetings in brussels, and there are several key take-aways including a short time ago the u.s. and eu announcing a joint task force, increasing supplies of liquefied natural gas to reduce european dependence on russian gas. that's in addition to sending war troops to the eastern flank, more sanctions on russia, and additional aid from ukraine. president biden issuing a stern warning if russia uses chemical weapons in ukraine. >> we would respond, we would respond if he uses it. the nature of the response would respond on the nature of the use. >> i've got an incredible team following all of the late-breaking developments. nbc's kelly o'donnell and kelly cobiella are here in poland with

me. ambassador john herbst is the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine and senior director of the atlantic council's eurasia center. and hagar chemali is the former spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the u.n. kelly cobiella, i want to start with you. you are in southeastern poland, not far from where the president will make his first stop when he arrives in the country. we just learned the president is going to meet with refugees tomorrow. we also learned that he's going to make a major address. kelly cobiella, tell us what it is like where you are right now. >> reporter: i think what really strikes you when you come to these parts of poland is just the scale of the crisis and the scale of the response on the part of poland and all of the different aid groups who have been trying to accommodate and help these refugees as they've been coming to poland over the past four weeks. the numbers have slowed down. today at this train station just across the border from ukraine

here in poland, about 30,000 people are arriving daily, essentially, across the border into poland. so those numbers have dropped considerably from a high of well over 100,000 over a week ago, but it's still 30,000 people coming into this country. at these border towns, we're being told there's just no more space. they have temporary shelters set up. but there's no place for longer-term accommodation. a lot of the people arriving now don't have friends and family here, they don't have resources, and they're finding it hard to think even beyond -- >> we just lost kelly cobiella, but we do want to go to our senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell, who is here with me in warsaw. kelly, i just want to underscore the news that we just got moments ago, jake sullivan announcing that president biden

will meet with refugees and will deliver a major address. talk about the president's agenda here in poland, kelly. >> reporter: this is very significant, kristen, because it will give president biden an opportunity to have a personal connection with ukrainians who have fled this war, to be able to see and meet some of the people who have been personally and directly affected by it. he'll be visiting near a border town and he'll also be meeting with some of the people who have come to the aid of those refugees. think of the people who have put together some of the facilities and care, those who have been preparing the meals, those who have been providing services, helping to facilitate the transport of refugees to find a temporary home and so help them shape a new future. the president will also be delivering a major address that will be an important part of the next phase of this, which really deals with a number of things -- trying to have an ongoing effort

to stop vladimir putin, a new effort that is really emerging to try to address the needs of these refugees and the countries that are taking them in, mainly here in poland. we also expect there will be an ongoing effort to try to support and help ukraine in a military way. one of the things that sullivan talked about today is answering some of the questions of our colleagues, reporters who are traveling on air force one with the president still in the air, not here yet, but we were able to hear that conversation through their communications. what we learned is that the leaders who have been meeting with the president have been talking about this issue of chemical weapons and if that were to be used by russia. and what sullivan said is that he sees some convergence among those allies about how they would respond. now, he's not saying what they would do, but convergence suggests there is more agreement about what steps they would take. that is significant. that's something we'll be following as we report this over

the next couple of days. here in poland, think of this as the heart of this trip, having a human connection as the president gets to see a lot of the real-world ramifications of this war. >> kelly, you're absolutely right. this is a chance for president biden to witness this humanitarian crisis first hand. as you were talking, kelly, air force one did touch down, so president biden now here in poland. he just landed. he will be meeting with and holding a briefing to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis here that we are seeing in poland but with the ukrainian refugees fleeing here. i do want to go to ambassador john herbst. look, we know that the president's going to be meeting with the president of poland. of course it's a nato member and has been witnessing and hearing russian bombs strike not far from their border inside ukraine. obviously, the optics of this

trip are important, ambassador, but talk about what is at stake here, what does president biden need to accomplish in the next 24, 48 hours? >> putin's aims go beyond ukraine. he made that clear in a speech he gave before we sent those 200,000 troops into ukraine. so what president biden needs to do is to reassure the poles, the government, the people, that the commitment, the nato commitment to poland, is ironclad. the russian media for the past two or three weeks have focused their vitriol on poland. medvedev, the former president and prime minister, has made a statement talking about how anti-russian poland is. the russians are unhappy that poland is sending weapons to ukraine. president biden stands with poe land and the united states

stands with poland, and russia better leave poland alone. that's the single most important thing he needs to do in poland. >> ambassador, i think you're absolutely right. and we heard president biden over and over again yesterday while he was at that emergency nato summit reiterate the unity of the nato allies, the european allies here. hagar, i want to turn to you and get you to talk about something that kelly o'donnell just referenced and of course it was a key headline from president biden's comments yesterday, and that is there would be a unified response. if putin were to use chemical weapons, he said we would respond in kind. he didn't give any specifics, though. how do you read that? >> i'm glad that you've stressed the unity question, kristen, because you can see that as a running theme since the beginning of the invasion where sanctions, the whole goal is the unity between the united states and europe. on the chemical weapons question, i have unfortunately a little bit of experience with this because i was at the white house when president obama made

that infamous red line comment against president assad of syria, if he were to use chemical weapons against his own people, and then as you know he did and that red line wasn't really enforced at all. and putin knows that. that's his experience. that's what he's living with is that he may not expect a tough response if he were to use chemical weapons, which i believe he would. however, president biden lived that. so did jake sullivan. they lived that experience. so i believe, while i have no insight into the military contingency planning, i believe they've learned from that and they are planning something that unity is critical but one last point is that the vagueness is critical, when president biden said we would respond in kind but declined to give details, that is the right way to approach a dictator because that unpredictability will put him at ease so he will question whether

or not he should pursue that kind of aggression. >> i'm glad you made that last point about the unpredictability as being an actual strategy, certainly not something we've drilled down on with the white house. ambassador, back to you, we're getting this news that president biden is, in fact, going to meet with refugees while he is here in poland. why is that so significant? and what message does he need to send here? >> look, the russian invasion of ukraine has unsettled almost a quarter of ukraine's population. 3.6 million refugees. so it demonstrates u.s. concern for the humanitarian tragedy that they are living through, and u.s. willingness to help make their plight easier. and it would be useful if we use

this occasion to send the necessary equipment and weapons. >> as we have this conversation, we are looking at air force one, again, which just touched down moments ago here in poland. president biden set to meet with refugees, set to meet with those who are helping refugees as well as the president of poland. and then he is going to deliver a major address tomorrow. it is all unfolding right now. his trip here to poland beginning right now. kelly o'donnell, kelly cobiella, who had some technical difficulties, we'll try to get back to her later in the show, ambassador john herbst and hagar chemali, thank you all so much for starting us off on a very busy friday. coming up, we'll take you on the ground in ukraine with the latest troop movements as the russian invasion stretches into yet another month. stay with us.

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the coming days. the clock is ticking." we are also learning more about that bombing of the theater in mariupol, doubling as a shelter. local officials say this morning at least 300 people were killed in that attack. it's just absolutely devastating. joining me now, nbc's jacob soboroff, who is on the ground in lviv, ukraine, clint watts, national security analyst and brendan kearney, former chief of staff to europe. jacob, i want to start with you. you are there lviv. what are you seeing on the ground there right now? >> reporter: well, kristen, here in the west of ukraine, actually things are eerily quiet, much more quiet than things have been over the course of the past couple weeks when we were having five air raid sirens a day for two days straight. people were sheltering regularly in the bomb shelters here. but people are paying keen attention to what's happening across the country, in particular the biggest news of

the day, word about perhaps the most notorious brutal strike by the russians in this entire campaign, that theater in mariupol, where now local officials have confirmed 300 people, at least 300 people have been killed. nbc news hasn't been able to confirm that, but that is one of the reasons secretary of state blinken cited what is happening in mariupol as calling vladimir putin and the russians, what they are doing in this country war crimes. of course overnight the battle has raged on. ukrainian forces continue to push back. outside of kyiv, a fuel depot was hitter, in kharkiv, an apartment building struck. there was a fawn ral for the 96-year-old holocaust survivor who was killed in russian attacks. then the ukrainian ministry of defense is saying that russia has been partly successful in creating a land corridor between crimea and those eastern occupied territories that it holds. here in the west of ukraine, you

don't feel it, you don't see it today, but it's certainly what drives the underlying tension that people have as they walk around here day in and day out. >> absolutely. and the horrors that you described in mariupol, it's unimaginable what they are enduring there. clint, walk us through the latest on the military moves. incredibly, it seems like ukrainian forces are having some success, particularly in kyiv. i guess people are wondering is it delaying the inevitable or is it possible that they could turn the tide here? >> it's always important whenever you're being attacked to be able to do a counteroffensive, particularly when your adversary is stalled. in places in and around kyiv, we were talking -- this is at the one-month mark -- talking about this convoy two weeks ago. the russians slowly were trying to move into the west, essentially to cut off kyiv from that western corridor out there from poland into ukraine, resupplying.

what we saw yesterday was here. essentially ukrainian counteroffensive. it's difficult to know how much ground they gained but rather than allowing the russians to essentially build up combat power, remember, they have struggled to do resupply logistics, the ukrainians are going on the offensive which forces the russians into a defensive position where they are struggling to keep resources moving and struggling to hold ground. it's remarkable. they did it on the east side of the city, brovary, that devastating artillery and drone strike, hit an armored convoy, destroyed it. this entire area, this would seal off chernihiv to the north. the russians can't do it. the ukrainians are doing counteroffensives, being very successful. where russia has had a little success, minor, is trying to link this area here, izyum from this northwestern direction from here in the southeast to create this sort of corridor where the

russians would then control the east, again, intense ukrainian counteroffensive. the russians have taken a few small pockets arndt donetsk, but small gains. this is what we were talking about is the russian success story. this is the land bridge that jacob was talking about trying to connect donetsk and essentially crimea, while they have done that in mariupol, this is an intense fight, russian soldiers going block by block fighting, a town under siege that will likely fall. but even when the cities fall, this was the naval port you see that ship on fire this morning you're showing footage of. even when the russians take places, they cannot hold them. they're taking losses in logistical train which is will stymie their advances. when we look forward in the south in particular, this is the big question. even if the russians take places, can they hold them?

while they are securing some places in the south, it doesn't look like russia can advance the way they initially set out to with this invasion. >> you lay it out so well, clint. i think the world continues to just be struck by the strength of the ukrainian resistance. colonel, i want you to get to weigh in on that. the british defense ministry saying ukraine has been able to regain ground around the capital city of kyiv, part of what clint was talking about, a city that months ago russians expected to fall in about three days. put this into a broader context for us, what do you make of that and what is the long-term outlook given what we're seeing right now? >> one of the key aspects of any military operation is your forces, if you're on the offense, you want to maintain the momentum. you want to be in charge. you want to be causing the defender to react. what we're seeing now and over

the last couple days really is a bit of a stalemate, which is a natural occurrence, when the momentum shifts. and what i see right now is that the momentum is shifted to the ukrainians. they are the ones that seem to be having the upper hand in a lot of these localized counterattacks that were just described, and that's good for from the ukrainian perspective. they take not only momentum, they take the initiative. they're the ones that are picking the places that they're going to counterattack and it's proving to be a good tactical move on the battlefield for them. >> i think it strikes a lot of people to hear you say the ukrainians now have the momentum. it is just remarkable. thank you for such an important conversation. jacob soboroff, clint watts, colonel brendan kearney, appreciate all of you. we'll have much more news from

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this morning, it's increasingly clear that the four days and more than 30 hours of hearings for judge ketanji brown jackson have exposed that the divide between democrats and republicans in congress is more like an ever-growing chasm. mitch mcconnell says he's made up his mind. >> nothing we saw this week convinced me that either president biden or judge jackson is deeply far-invested far-left fan club have judged her. i will vote against this nominee on the senate floor. >> the impact on judge jackson, as the associated press put it, democrats seem unlikely to confirm her with a robust

bipartisan vote, dashing joeb's hopes for a grand reset after partisan battles over other high-court nominees. leigh ann caldwell and erinn hayes. good to see both of you. senator mcconnell's decision wasn't a surprise but he also promised she would be treated with respect and, look, she's all but certain to get through the judiciary committee vote and the full senate before the easter recess, but what about biden's grand reset? well, chris, what mcconnell did was send a signal to republican colleagues that it was absolutely okay to pose judge jackson, but that was never in doubt. what was most illuminating in the confirmation hearings was how do republicans handle this confirmation. it was really the republican presidential primary of 2024 on

full display. you have people like senator josh hawley and ted cruz who were focusing on these child pornography cases and the sentencing in some of those cases, which the current white house tied to qanon conspiracies, as we know qanon has long said that democrats are tied with a child pornography ring. i asked senator hawley about that yesterday, and he had a sarcastic response, saying, yeah, and i'm also part of the illuminati also, but when i pressed him saying he didn't answer the question, he mumbled under his breath that it was absurd those allegations from the white house. so you have that wing of the party. then you have people like senator ben sasse, who has presidential ambitions, who tried to be the grown-up in the room. so, while many of the republicans on the committee really grilled judge jackson, it also not only showed the divide between republicans and democrats but the divide among

republicans as well and who is trying to pander to the far-right aspects of the base, chris. >> and erin, lindsey graham was criticized for how he treated judge jackson. ben sasse accused some of his colleagues of, hiss words, jack-assery. garrett haake asked him about his line of questioning. take a listen. >> i have to ask you about your questions in the hearing. everything you pressed her on, on the gitmo stuff, on the child porn stuff, that was all stuff you knew or could have known before you vote for her last time. >> i didn't even go to the hearing. i thought she was qualified to be on the circuit court. this is a different game. >> so, erin, in your view, how does what we saw over the past week inform us about what we're going to see potentially over the next nearly eight months before the midterms? >> yeah. well, i think lee ann is exactly right. you know, judge jackson despite

comporting herself with dignity and grace throughout the week, you know, had to contend with these attacks that were levied mostly by white men. but i think i would certainly point to some reporting that we had at the 19th, highlighting senator marshall blackburn. my colleague amanda becker noted interesting exchanges where he asked judge jackson to define woman and was asking about critical race theory, which would be a factor for voters this fall. there were no women on the committee a few years ago and republicans were really kind of caught flat-footed when christine ford was testifying accusing him of sexually assaulting her. obviously, he denied those allegations, but republicans were aware of potential blowback that could come with this panel of mostly white men levying ration attacks against this historic nominee, but

nonetheless, you know, i think lindsey graham certainly trying to balance that with his, you know, kind of outrage, which we saw in the early days of this hearing around his supreme court pick, judge michelle childs, not being chosen, being upset about that and trying to get judge jackson to kind of weigh in on her treatment in this, you know, kind of supreme court nominee speculation process. so, you know, i think that this definitely is a preview of what we can expect to see headed into the fall. >> we've only got a minute left, but you co-wrote an article after talking to a group of black woman i thought was so interesting. i want to ask you about it. you asked them what they see in the nomination of judge jackson. one quote stroke me because it really speaks to the divide, what many republicans see as a negative is for many others a positive. here's that quote about judge jackson. "she is bringing her lived experience, a perspective that

we have never had in 233 years on the supreme court." talk about that. >> yeah, and thank you so much, chris, for highlighting that. i mean, there were -- you know, black women have been kind of on the front lines and preparing to go on offense for judge jackson since the day she was nominated and knew that as soon as president biden signaled he would have a black woman nominee that they would need to rally to that black woman's support. this hearing resonated deeply for many of the black women i interview and know personally. many have been qualified for jobs only to have those qualifications questioned by white men in power. they ooch had to keep their composure under certain circumstances. cory booker stated what a lot of black women feel this week, any attempts to disparage her or her record, they were going to continue to celebrate this milestone and focus on what is likely to be her imminent

confirmation. >> erinn haines, leigh ann caldwell, thanks to both of you. there is a bombshell developing overnight after the january 6th committee confirmed they have texts between a supreme court justice's wife and former president trump's chief of staff all about efforts to overturn the election. we'll dig into the fallout and possible consequences next.

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the election results. in one message, after news organizations called biden the winner, the post said she texted meadows. help this great president stand firm, mark. the majority knows biden and the left is attempting to greatest heist in our history. she wrote, sounds like sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. make a plan, release the cracken and save us from the left taking down america. she was referring to sidney powell. in the past, mrs. thomas said she and her husband are not involved in each other's work, but it's important to note justice thomas was the only one to vote against the national archives handing over records to the january 6th committee and he dissented when the supreme court rejected trump's election challenges. garrett haake, a lot to kind of unpack here, garrett. tell us more about these

explosive messages between ginni thomas and mark meld does and what the committee might do with them. >> reporter: chris, these texts are as reported by the post a combination of motivational and conspiratorial. the post reports thomas was sending texts to meadows with various different conspiracies related to the election and urged him to stay in the fight, to try to stop what they called a heist of the 2020 election. we're out to ginni thomas, mark meadows' attorney trying to get more comment from them. haven't had much luck. as for the committee itself, i don't think there's much of a nexus between these texts and the committee's investigation. ginni thomas is not someone they've been focused on based on our reportering, and i can tell you in terms of the volume of material they got from mark meadows last year, thousands of text messages, he was getting tons of incoming like this from folks urging him to stay involved in this effort. mark meadows' cell phone number was one of the most available in washington and a whole lot of

folks used it in and around the election. >> talk about where it might be relevant because there are now calls as you know, garrett, for justice thomas to recuse himself from cases related to 2020, but what do the supreme court rules say about circumstances like this one? >> reporter: this has been an issue for the thomases for some time. the supreme court rules are you're supposed to recuse if there's a conflict of interest, but nobody enforces that. it's entirely on the honor system. throughout his career, thomas has recused himself from certain cases, particularly ones that involved his previous employer or the school where his son was a student, but he's never recused himself from anything involving his wife's interests. ginni thomas is a conservative activist. that is her prerogative. but people say there needs to be a broader line drawn between these two. i think this incident will only continue to highlight those calls. again, there's no one to enforce them except for justice thomas himself. >> garrett haake, thank you so much. coming up, we've got an

update on an incredible story we showed you several weeks ago about a chicago woman who fled kyiv with her mother. their harrowing journey and where they're going next after a quick break.

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this morning, aid organizations and government officials here in the u.s. are working to get ready now that the president has said he will allow up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees into the united states. now, the complexities of doing that can be seen in the incredible story of one woman's journey out of ukraine that we brought you first three weeks ago. we spoke to olga after she and her mother arrived in poland after fleeing kyiv. olga has lived in chicago for the past decade but was in her homeland visiting family when russia launched its invasion. olga told us about the perilous journey out of ukraine along side her mother, seeking refuge in a subway in a school basement bomb shelter before crossing the border into poland and documenting it all on her instagram page. olga joins us from krakow, poland. how are you doing? how is your mom? how has your life been these past three weeks since we last

talked to you? >> hi, thanks for having me again. honestly, ybl it has been three weeks. ill still feels like one whole long day. since the invasion. my mom is doing fine. we're in krakow trying to figure out a way to bring her to the united states. yesterday there was the announcement that 100,000 people will be able to get to the united states, but so far there are no real details or what the process will be. i immediately emailed an attorney to see what the best way would be, but we're still on standby and hopefully those details will be worked out pretty fast. >> yeah. the plan was to get to the u.s. embassy in warsaw so your mother could seek asylum and come back to chicago with you. in your conversation with the lawyer, and we should point out, not everyone has that resource, not everybody has a family member with them who kind of knows how things work in the

united states, right, but are you feeling hopeful this morning? >> i am. i think it's great that we have this, you know, little bit of hope because before that, the only way to bring somebody to the united states was through a visitor's visa, and i was hearing that they were getting denied left and right because the reason to go, you know, is to visit the country for travel and stuff like that. so now that it is -- there is at least a hope of a path, we're really hopeful and looking forward to, like i said, hearing the details and moving on from there. but so far we're just like i said waiting and waiting to see what happens in the next couple weeks. thoo you told us your father and other family members were still in southern ukraine when we talked three weeks ago. have you been in contact with them? do you know how they're doing? >> yes. i talk to them daily. i know that some of my family

members, you know, are ready to leetch as soon as the green corridor opens, but that hasn't happened yet. the city is pretty much locked in still. nothing has really changed in the past three weeks, unfortunately, and, you know, i talk to my family daily. everybody is just waiting for something to happen because, like i said, the city is locked in and the food supplies are getting more scarce, and in the past three weeks nothing really has happened. everybody is just waiting to either leave and hopefully get out to western ukraine or make it across the border or people -- like my dad, he decided to stay because he doesn't want to leave. this is his territory, this is his house. he really doesn't want to get up and go because he's being forced out. so the situation is pretty much the same like it was, unfortunately, and we're just

hoping and praying every day that something will happen and at least there will be a chance to bring food and medical aid and other supplies to the city of kherson, but so far, unfortunately, nothing has happened. >> a lot of people hoping and praying with you. we look forward to talking to you again as your process moves forward. our best to you and your mom and your entire family. thank you so much, olga. >> thank you. >> let me bring in melanie azar with a nonprofit contracted by the government to receive refugees. melanie, i'm so glad you could find time to talk to us. you've been a huge advocate for ukrainian refugees coming to the u.s., and as we said, the u.s. will soon begin accepting 100,000 of them. but olga's story is an example of how much complicated things can be. first, tell us what you think the president's announcement will actually mean. >> well, first thanks for having me. we're very pleased by the

president's announcement. it lays out a vision for a real humanitarian response partly by resettling refugees here but also by providing humanitarian assistance to refugees in the region and also getting aid to people who are stuck in ukraine and are displaced. so it's a comprehensive vision, but as olganoted it's short on details. >> the hebrew immigrant organization has a history. how is your organization preparing to help ukrainian who is want to come and are able to come to the u.s.? we know a lot of folks want to stay in europe near ukraine. they're hope topg go back. tell us what sort of you can get in place. >> well, first of all, we're urging the biden administration to admit refugees in a permanent status. these are people who have lost everything, who have fled to neighboring countries, who are very uncertain about their futures. so by providing a permanent

refugee status to people who come here as opposed to some kind of temporary parole, you're giving people options and some control over their lives. that's one thing we would urge the government to do. in terms of preparing, we've heard that 67% of americans ame refugees, there is a huge support in the country, highest geared up and our community is ready to welcome refugees. if we can welcome these refugees, we should be able to welcome all refugees. there are people from all over the world. before this crisis, we were in the largest refugee crisis before a month ago. we are hoping of this outpouring of generosity and support, can help others around the world as well. >> a woman wrote understand that

you were not just offering your spare room but your time, chances your guests will need a lot of hel integrating into society even if their english is good. while the woman said she will do it again in a heartbeat but there is a complexity people do not understand. this trauma many refugees suffered and they lost loved ones or left people behind. what would you say to someone who wants to open their homes to ukrainian refugees? >> we have a long history of resettling refugees, for over 40 years we have our programs working with across the to welcome refugees, they need a lot of support and a lot of help, our agency and partnership with volunteers across the country can provide that. we are also working with european communities to welcome ukrainian refugees sharing our knowledge and expertise and our

long history with people new to the refugee settlement and learning more of the needs they have and how to support them. >> we wish you and your organization a lot of luck. i know you have a lot of work ahead. we appreciate all you do. thank you very much. i want to send it back to kristen welker with the latest overseas. i believe the president's plane has landed. >> reporter: he has, we are waiting for him to deboard the plane. we'll bring it to you. president biden as we said just landed in poland after meeting with world leaders. after the war in ukraine stretches into another month, what role does the u.s. play? i will ask our ambassador to the u.s., that's next. ask our ambae u.s., that's next. o severe psor, are rethinking the choices they make like the splash they create the entrance they make, the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently.

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the air. president biden has just deplaned here in poland. his plane was delayed. we reached out to white house official to get there. it comes just today after a high stake diplomacy unfolded in belgium yesterday. the president meets with world leaders rallying support for ukraine and decide how to proceed as russia continues its attacks into the second month. joining me now to discuss everything, our ambassador to the u.s., thank you so much for joining us on a busy and historic day here in europe. ukrainian president zelenskyy spoke to nato yesterday, another impassion speech demanding more military aid and support, he was quite critical. he said nato is not doing enough to help the people of ukraine. is he right? what more can nato do right now? >> nato already decided to send

more groups to our border to the east to reassure our own allies. we are also doing a lot in terms of economic sanctions. partnership with nato and the european union to inflict as much damage as possible on the russian economy to make sure russia will not be able to rage a war for a long time. leveling solidarity among all eu members and our alliance. >> we heard president biden said yesterday the u.s. and nato will respond if putin were to use chemical weapons. do you know what it means and should there be a military response if putin uses nuclear weapons? >> i do not know what it means but second it may be good to

leave the uncertainty of what the exact answer would be. when you take in action, you do not announce what you are going to do. high level of uncertainty is good but also clear not to just stay on the side. >> ambassador, let's talk about what has been the crisis here in poland. more than 2 million refugees and belgium has taken refugees as well. i know you are anticipating on taking more. does belgium have more needs to help these refugees? >> well, i think that we are all prepared first to show solidarity with the member states alongside with ukraine.

we are doing the same in belgium. we have 200,000 people that we can welcome. right now we have about 22,000 and we are ready to welcome many more of them. it is also tl regional government and we feel also a great feeling of solidarity among our own people. the people want to help and for sure. the public also want to help. >> ambassador, just finally what do you want to hear from president biden when he delivers his address tomorrow? >> i am sorry, i didn't get it. >> i am sorry if you are having trouble hearing me. what would you like to hear from president biden tomorrow when he speaks? >> well, actually we are hearing

what we are wanting. expression of solidarity, also economic solidarity between the european union and the united states and also in term of energy. that's central to us and we are looking forward to continue this good partnership. it is vital to us. thank you so much for being here on a busy day, ambassador regibeau. really appreciate it. i want to say a special thanks to chris jansing. i am kristen welker reporting. jose diaz-balart reports pick up our coverage. >> good morning, on a busy friday morning. moments ago president biden arrived to poland where he'll be meeting with service members,