house of representatives, once that passes as a formal recommendation for criminal prosecution. >> sahil kapur on capitol hill for us. thank you so much. and thank you as well. that's going to do it for me on this busy monday. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. good day, this is "andrea mitchell reports" back in washington. russia claiming to be shifting its assault against ukraine to the east. that claim has been contradicted by its strike on the western city of lviv on saturday while the president was 45 miles away on the border of poland. this is a top ukrainian official says russia is now trying to split ukraine in two, potentially slicing off more territory in the east, including donbas. in his first interview with

russian independent media, president zelenskyy saying he is willing to compromise, promising russia that ukraine will remain neutral and not try to join nato, but insisting russian forces must first withdraw entirely from ukraine. zelenskyy in his first interview with those independent russian journalists also criticizing the west. he says for lacking the courage to fully arm ukraine, and in a moment i'll be speaking to one of those russian journalists who is already under fire from the kremlin, all of this as president biden is still trying to walk back his unscripted remarks in poland saying putin must go. >> for god sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> reporter: mr. president, were you calling for a regime change? >> no. >> and joining me now from ukraine, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel near the russian border in the city of kharkiv. richard, what indications are you seeing that russia is shifting its operation east as it claimed from the defense

ministry on friday? is that an admission of failure of sorts after what happened to lviv on saturday do we not believe any of this? >> reporter: well, it's, i think, the latter answer, we can't believe anything. i think the russians in this case have proven that nothing they say is reliable. russian officials from vladimir putin on down were swearing that they were never going to invade this country, even when they were 130,000 some troops on the border. now they claim they're going to be focusing on the east, and they claim they're not interested in regime change. of course they're interested in regime change. if you listen to vladimir putin, every time he talks about ukraine, he talks about them as a bunch of fascists and nazis, and they're a threat, developing biological weapons, nuclear weapons, of course if you're describing your enemy in such a dehumanized dangerous terms, you want to get rid of them, but why, then, did the russian

military make this announcement, very publicly, very officially, that it is shifting its focus to the east? although by the way, in the ukrainian military see they are seeing no difference in russian military posture around kyiv, and in other places that are not in the east. so was this just a way for the russian military to save face? was it to -- and that's what it seems like from here, anyway, that it was a way for the russian military to explain way its failings. the russian military has only had some limited in the east, and the russian military came out and said it's real objective was to make gains in the east. it's not at all clear they have given up on the west. they haven't had as much success on the west. their supply lines were abysmal. particularly that supply route coming down from belarus. so i think we're now in a phase where the russians are consolidating in the area where they have had some limited success. primarily in the east and in the

southeast around mariupol in particular. but not at all clear that they've lost their or lost the appetite for regime change, and lost the appetite for the capital. >> and do things seem calm where you are in kharkiv? >> reporter: so it's important to visit these places. especially when communications are disrupted and you get images coming from around the country, so kharkiv is not as destroyed as i had anticipated. there are -- there's a lot of damage right in the heart of downtown, there's a lot of damage around some of the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. this is still a functioning city. supermarkets are open. there is one restaurant that is open. water and power are still working. there's a curfew in place that starts at 6:00 in the evening and runs until 6:00 in the morning, but people are coming out of their homes. you see people on the streets.

it is not mariupol. it was not brought to its knees. it is not surrounded. this is still a city that has a lot of fight left in it. we were at the front lines, which are on the outskirts of the city earlier today, and there are front lines, and they don't take very long to get to, so the russians are still close by, and they're still attacking but the front lines were full of ukrainian soldiers and volunteers. they were manning their positions. so this is not a city in any way that is falling or fallen. it is still a city that is resisting. what they are bracing for now is the long haul. and we went down to a shelter earlier today where children and families have been there in an underground station, a subway station for over a month now, and some entertainers went down to lift their spirits so here we're in a mode where they're bracing for a long conflict, and trying to come to terms with what a long conflict means for a

large city like this one. >> we're watching some of these wonderful pictures your team got of spiderman and other characters playing with the children. what a wonderful break, and also, richard, these remarkable photos of the people of kharkiv filling sandbags, and protecting the statue of a cultural hero, a famous ukrainian poet, as i understand it, to try to protect their culture from these aerial bombardments. it's just inspiring, as is your reporting, richard. thank you so very much for everything you're doing, for all of us! >> reporter: thank you. and president zelenskyy's latest criticism of the west came during that interview we spoke of with russian independent media, including tv rain, russia's last independent television station which was shut down earlier this month. a short time after that interview on sunday, the kremlin ordered them not to publish it, but our next guest, the editor and chief of tv rain has been operating from georgia, and has put out the interview on you tube. joining me now is tecon zetko,

the editor and chief of tv rain. it's a privilege to have you with us. thank you so much. >> thank you so much for having me. >> you're safely in georgia. you posted the zelenskyy interview so obviously this is a longer term threat as the kremlin cracks down. let's start with the 90-minute zelenskyy interview, what your take is, what he accepts in the compromises when he talks about neutrality? >> first of all, i must say it was not published by tv rain, because it does not exist anymore. it was published on my and my wife's own you tube channel. it's very unfortunate it doesn't exist. i think it was a really interesting conversation, and mr. zelenskyy, he was absolutely -- at the same time he was how much tired he is, and how much tired of conversation he is, and he was critical to

the west, and he was critical to the nato, but at the same time, when we were talking about discussions with russia, he said he is ready to compromise on non-membership in nato, but only if it will then be supporting some sort of agreement with some other concerns, which will provide security guarantees to ukraine. >> and he has said in the past that he needs to negotiate with vladimir putin because clearly i assume he has the same impression that we have, that lavrov does not speak for putin, that putin is his own decision maker as to anything that's going to happen in this war. lavrov reported he didn't know the invasion was happening until shortly before. where do you think zelenskyy stands in terms of the negotiations if ukraine is still dealing with intermediaries and

not with the man himself? >> well, that's what zelenskyy has been telling since the beginning of his presidency, that he has to sit with vladimir putin and that's the only way to stop the war. the war which started eight years ago, and you are right that everyone is sure that no one knew about the start of the invasion, except for vladimir putin, and maybe some people who are surrounding him and not mr. lavrov or not some other high ranking russian officials. in this interview, zelenskyy said that he's ready -- he confirmed, again, that he's ready to sit down with vladimir putin and to talk with him, to stop this war. we see that the answer of the kremlin is that it is too early to talk about such meeting, and kremlin is insistent that all the questions should be decided between the talks of russia and

ukraine delegations, and only after this meeting could be possible. >> how poorly -- what is the situation for free media in russia? how poorly is the communication now where most russians don't even know the truth? >> we could say that independent media does not exist in russia. a few hours ago, one of the best independent, not one of the best, but the best independent newspaper, whose editor and chief is the owner of nobel peace prize last year, so this newspaper announced that it's temporarily closed because it's impossible to work in such conditions like now. over last four weeks, tons of russian intermediate outlets were blocked by the government

or shut down. facebook is blocked, twitter is blocked, instagram is blocked. if you spread information about what is happening in ukraine, not based on the statings of russian ministry of defense, you could face up to 15 years in jail. it's hard to get real information there. still, defense services are working. you tube is working. a lot of social media is working, so and since people in russia are eager to get that information, fortunately, and luckily they have an opportunity to have it, but the situation is very difficult. vladimir putin, he has two wars. he has a war in ukraine, and at the same time, he has a war with independent journalists in russia, with independent civil society in russia, and independent mind of russia. >> one final thing, do you think there's more that the u.s. can do to get information through -- i know that all of our media as well have been severely

restricted with the threat of 15 years imprisonment. is there anything more we can do analogous to radio frequency in europe during the cold war? >> no, i think there's so many russian journalists who left the country, and they are working from abroad. they are given information for the russians, and the main problem now is how to reach to the people because we are afraid that these digital iron curtain will get stronger and stronger so the main problem now is technology problem, how to break this iron curtain, and to reach the audience. >> tikhon, thank you very much, thank you for all you have done and continue to do. we're all grateful to you. joining us now is nbc news senior white house kelly o'donnell, former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, and former secretary of

state, richard engel. mr. mcfall, what do you think vladimir putin is doing in response to the interview and the mixed messaging over the weekend, oh, we're only going for eastern ukraine and dom ambassador, and exactly as the president -- donbas, and exactly as the president is appearing in poland. >> i encourage everyone to watch it, it's 90 minutes long. obviously it's in russian with sub titles. you get a real sense of president zelenskyy's thinking. he speaks very honestly and very candidly about everything, so please watch it. i congratulate the russian group that interviewed him, including tikhon, including somebody i have known for many years. with respect to the war, i would say two things, and i'm echoing something president zelenskyy said in that interview, remember, there's been lots of disinformation, trial balloons racing after hopeful messages,

and this is what it seems to me that what we're doing with the general's comments the other day, where he said we're limiting the operations to donbas, in one sense that's true in that they are concentrating their forces on mariupol. you can see it on the map there. they want to seize mariupol. they failed to seize mariupol through military means, so now they are destroying mariupol, literally destroying everybody that lives there. they are kidnapping children, as president zelenskyy said in his interview from there, and they are just destroying it because they want to unite that flank from crimea to donbas, and that is the focus of their war right now. but they haven't stopped their war anywhere else. i think that's the important thing to understand. as president biden himself witnessed. as he was speaking, just moments before then, they tackled -- they attacked the city of lviv, right close to the polish border, so i don't see a big change in tactics yet.

i hope i'm wrong, but i fear i'm right. >> kelly o'donnell, how is the white house still trying to clean up the president's ad-lib remarks, and a broader question is why. why try to take them back. >> well, i have some news for you, andrea. literal in the moments that i have been standing here waiting to connect with you. we have learned president biden will take a few questions at an event unrelated this afternoon in the 2:00 hour about his budget, which is an annual event in washington. that is significant because as we know this biden white house, they don't often forecast when the president wants to take questions, and so that in and of itself is an acknowledgment that there is a need for the president to address questions, and we presume and certainly i will be in that event as a pool reporter today, that we would ask about this issue of his remarks at the end of the speech, and what is the fallout of that, and what did he really mean, and there may be other questions related to the budget as well, but that is an implicit

acknowledgment that there's more that needs to be said. the president as you played at the top of the program was asked, when you were coming back from church if he intended to suggest regime change. he said no. this is a president who has called vladimir putin in the past a killer a war criminal, more recently saying he believes the law and the facts will support that, and in many ways, to the average listener it might sound like a logical extension that he should not remain in power, but typically for a speech of this magnitude in a traditional white house like the biden white house, and i'm is separating that from perhaps the trump white house conducted itself, a speech of this magnitude would be run through the interagency process, where there are eyes from the department of defense, the department of state, intelligence and so forth. look at the speech to make sure there aren't unintended consequences. more than looking at the rhetoric and the soaring images and the ways that the president

would try to offer support. they're looking for areas that could cause trouble. this was certainly one of them, and that's why this ad-lib at the end of the speech when the president was likely feeling the emotion of the crowd at the end of a trip, just before he was going to get back on air force one to return back. so the white house had quickly put out a statement saying it was not regime change, the president was only talking about he should not use his power, putin's power against his neighbors or in the region. the president said he should not remain in power. those are different things, and the president relies on vast foreign policy experience as one of the things he uses in times of critical leadership like this in the white house. we'll hear from him this afternoon. andrea. >> and rick, let's talk about the president's comments because the speech itself was really an extraordinarily eloquent commitment and enforcement of the western alliance of democracy against

authoritarianism. it was beautifully delivered, so for everyone to be focusing on this ad-lib at the end, certainly has heard his messaging. and some might say, you know, why fix it. we all had -- it was with ronald reagan, and calling the soviet union an evil empire, he joked one morning on a radio address, the bombs are going to begin in five minutes, and also importantly, very importantly, on the way to, when we were in berlin at the bran denburg gate, the state department was trying to take out the words, tear down that ball, mr. gorbachev, and he invised on leaving them in. what we all heard that morning, i was standing there watching him. >> so andrea, you'll remember michael kinsley's line about a scandal in washington, a gaffe is when a politician tells the

truth, and not a lie. he was telling the truth as he saw it. nobody doubts that that wasn't the case, and yes, if it confirms what vladimir putin already believes, so be it. during the cold war, a political scientist used to talk about escalation dominance theory, and that basically means when one country escalates their rhetoric and seems to be willing to actually execute on that, then they dominate the debate, and that's what putin has been doing from the beginning of his invasion of ukraine. with biden saying that in a way, he's upped the escalation dominance. putin has to wonder what really is going on there. so yes, if i were in that inter-agency process that kelly talked about, i would have said, yes, don't use that, but it may have positive implications if it shows the vigilance and the

strength of the west and it could have a positive effect. >> mike mcfaul, is one of the possible problems that it feeds russian propaganda that the u.s. is trying to topple russia and topple the regime. >> you know, andrea, yes and no. i used to travel with the vice president. he used to do these things on the trip. 2009 in georgia, he met with some refugees and said something emotional after that. 2011, right after he met with then prime minister putin, he said meeting with opposition figures, he didn't think putin should run for a third term. there's nothing new here. second, putin's propaganda has been saying this for years. i don't think it changes his talking points. and i think we're making way too much out of this that it merits, because number three, the

president did not say the united states has a policy of regime change. he just said that mr. putin should not be in power. millions of people agree with the president of the united states, including millions of russians. so therefore, you know, it was an emotional moment. it wasn't in his talking points. i used to participate in the processes of writing president speeches when i worked for president obama, and yet i think the sentiment was sincere, and i think the sentiment is shared by millions, and finally, let's not forget, every time we mention this moment, let's remember that vladimir putin is not just saying things like mr. zelenskyy shouldn't be in power, he's invaded ukraine to try to do regime change there. let's keep the focus on that and not so much just what the president said at the end of his speech. >> invaluable, your insights, you and rick from having been inside the diplomatic world as

well. thank you so much. kelly o'donnell, my traveling partner, thank you, it's good to see you somewhat rested since we last parted, i hope. and building the barricades, ukraine's major port city, the pearl of the black sea, preparing for a russian assault. we're live in odesa next. and later, comfort food, chef jose andres bringing his world center kitchen to the polish border and ukraine as millions flee the fighting. he joins us ahead. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. "andrea mitchl reports" on msnbc. doug? [ding] never settle with power e*trade. it has easy-to-use tools and some of the lowest prices. get e*trade and start trading today. (woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! get e*trade yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan? yes, from colonial penn.

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. after a round of shelling by russia last week, ukrainians in the port city of odesa are bracing for another potential attack. ready to defend the city on the black sea that's considered a key strategic point for the russians, a key strategic target for them. and a cultural jewel for ukraine. nbc news correspondent molly hunter joins us now from odesa. hi, molly, it's good to see you. tell us what you're seeing and hearing from the residents of odesa. >> reporter: andrea, residents here, a city of about a million, about the size of san francisco, and they estimate about half the people who live here have left. the other half are staying to fight, are staying to volunteer, and i just want to show you, we are in the city center, and you can see the heavily, the hedgehogs, the tires behind me, the sandbags, this is the cultural center of the city,

heavily fortified, military check points at every single intersection. we spoke with an analyst earlier today who said it's not just the strategic port. it's not just about it being the gate way to the black sea, for wheat, for grains, for the economic trade that happens, it's also the city of, it's a beautiful historical city that means a lot to the people who live here, and a lot to a lot of russians. take a quick listen to hannah, and i want to show you something around the corner. >> the center of odesa, what is in the downtown, that is very emotional part for the russians because of the russian historical connection, because of the plenty of movies, and holidays here. >> reporter: the steps, the opera house. >> it is more of the hour of the city, the city legends that they know about. >> reporter: so andrea, it's not just about the strategic port. there's a lot of nostalgia, so no one here actually thinks that the russian army, that putin

would dare to strike this city center. they are expecting more air strikes is more attacks from the air. the navy is expecting more attacks from the sea. we spoke with a naval officer who says russia is out of options. they only have the air or the sea, and the russian blockade runs around the port and the ukrainian navy, andrea, says they are ready, they are out there, they are ready to do battle. i want to just show you, this is the center of this city. this is the heart and soul of odesa, it is the opera house. it is 200 years old. we spoke to an opera singer who said she can not wait to get back and perform. we spoke with the lead choreographer. this opera house has lasted two world wards, certainly one of the most heavily fortified buildings in the country right now, and he says they cannot wait to get back inside and perform for this city when the war ends, andrea. >> and we know, molly, how important music is. we have seen that over this last month, that building, it's such a cultural icon.

let's just pray that they keep it as beautiful as it is today. thank you. back here we have breaking news in the investigation into the attack on the u.s. capitol. a judge ordering trump's ally, attorney john eastman to hand over the e-mails he tried to withhold. nbc news chief justice correspondent pete williams joins us. pete. >> andrea, this is a long running effort by the january 6th committee to get these e-mails from john eastman to the president and other people in the white house, and mr. eastman had argued that there was privilege here, an attorney/client privilege, and the judge had to decide whether any of this material actually was privileged. he says some of it is, but there is an exception to the privilege for what is known as the crime fraud exception. if the e-mails could constitute evidence of a crime, and he says some of them could. what he says is that he finds it

more likely than not that's the phrase the judge uses here in this order, more likely than not that president trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the session on january 6th when congress counted the electoral votes. now, he says in his opinion here, the illegality of the plan was obvious, the nation was founded on the peaceful transition of power, epitomized by george washington laying down his sword to make way for democratic elections but the judge says ignoring history, president trump vigorously campaigned for the vice president to single handedly determine the results of the election. this was eastman's theory here was that vice president pence could simply refuse to count the votes from some of those battleground states where trump supporters claim there was fraud. the judge says more likely than not, the president attempted to obstruct the joint session.

what's the practical effect of this in terms of the justice department? probably not much. there are no facts here that the judge cites that the justice didn't isn't already aware of, and it's a different standard that this judge would apply than the justice department would apply in seeking to decide whether or not to file charges, criminal charges, so it's not a finding. it's not a criminal charge against the president, it's this judge's view that it's more likely than not that the president did try to obstruct congress, and of course eastman can appeal, so we're a long way from seeing the end of this, andrea. >> that's what i was going to ask you, and you just answered my question. unasked and answered, thank you very much, pete williams. >> you bet. in the latest nbc news poll, president biden's approval rating fell to the lowest level since the start of the presidency, amid growing fears of war and rising fear of inflation. that was taken before his latest trip to brussels and poland.

joining us now is steve kornacki to dig deeper into those numbers. thank you so much for being with us. what's the bad news? this doesn't sound so good. >> you got it, andrea. let's take you through it. the new number is a 40% approve. 55% disapprove. compare that to the last nbc poll, only a few months ago, down a few points there from 43 to 40, and his approval rating. what's driving this. what isn't driving this. start with what isn't, it seems, driving this anymore, necessarily is covid. look at this, when you ask about biden's handling of covid, he's actually had an uptick here. i can show you from january until now, his numbers are back above water. he's over 50%. we've seen the cases go down. we've seen masks coming off in a lot of places. biden's handling of covid, the assessment has gone up from january, and as we showed you, his overall numbers are down. what starts to explain that, number one, you look at his handling of russia. in ukraine.

there's a lot of consensus when it comes to attitudes towards that conflict, sympathy towards ukraine, public hostility towards putin and what he's doing, but in terms of how biden is handling it, you're seeing a 41% approval rating for him in this poll. then there is the question of the economy. this has been a long-term story. we have been tracking this question in the nbc polling his entire presidency. right now, look at this, by almost a 2-1 margin, 63 disapprove. 33% approve of how biden is handling the economy. that's down 5 points from january. that january number was down from last fall. the number last fall was down from last summer. there's been a pretty steady downward trajectory when it comes to how biden's handling the economy. that's the lowest it's been in our polling on that question since biden. when you ask people what their top issues are here, you see the russia/ukraine war getting a lot of attention. it is on a lot of people's minds.

two other issues loom larger, the most important issue is the cost of living, it's jobs, the economy, and when you put the question to them this way, let's stipulate, both of these things are important. what should joe biden's top priority as president be, work to go reduce inflation, improve the economy, working to end the russia, ukraine war, again, by more than a 2-1 margin, folks say it should be working to reduce inflation, and improve the economy. you can see it's the economy. inflation, cost of living. it seems to be those issues that are really getting front and center on folks' minds, and right now, biden, you look at the overall number and the economy, as i say, that's the lowest it's been for him since he's been president. >> steve kornacki thank you so much. and joining us now, yamiche alcindor, moderator of "washington week" and former republican chairman, michael

steele, one of the other poll questions is the generic ballot issue, and republicans are up two, and this is the first time they've been up over democrats in, which would you prefer, a republican or democratic congress, since 2014. we know what happens then. they're also up by double digits among independents, and they have a bigger lead among men than democrats have among women in terms of the gender gap. all of this is bad news for the midterms for democrats. >> it is. and it has been for a while. and what is interesting is how the administration has not been able to successfully navigate the narrative around the economy. the externalities that are beyond the president's control in one sense, like the impact of the war in europe having on gas prices here at home. inflation, which began before the biden administration came

into office but now of course has to manage, so narratively, the democrats find themselves once again flat footed when it comes to how the american people are seeing their resolution, not just their resolve, but their resolution to some of these issues, and we're about to end the first quarter of the year. you don't get another bite at this apple. once you start into the second quarter, primaries are underway. the narrative is getting set, andrea, this becomes harder and harder for the democrats to unpack. it doesn't mean it's going to be a massive blow out for republicans in the fall necessarily. there are other issues that are going to come forward, when the supreme court makes decisions on abortion and other cases in june, but the trajectory right now is for a solid republican pickup in november around the question of the economy and possibly the war, but the economy absolutely. >> and bill mcintyre, the republican partner with the

democratic partner of course in our poll, he's calling these catastrophic results for democrats. yamiche, how does the president now focus on the economy. he's coming off this european trip, which might give him some elevation in the polls for his show of strength. we don't know. we can't predict that. this doesn't reflect that. perhaps starting today we know he's going to take questions at 2:00 in the event with the budget. so today he can talk about gas prices, he can talk about inflation, and about what he's trying to do with the budget and focus more on the economy. >> what this poll essentially tells the president and democrat accounts they have to be messaging better, they have to be talking about the things that americans are listing as their priority. ukraine has meant the president didn't pick to be talking about but he had to deal with that, and when i talked to white house officials they understand that there is this real messaging issue that has to happen. especially when you look at this

poll, the number that jumped out to me was the fact that 38% of americans are blaming biden's policies for inflation and gas prices and 6% are blaming russia. remember that president biden wanted to call this putin's price hike. that was the sort of white house messaging. this goes to the idea that the president and the white house says they have always been focused on cost of living and the economy but this really knees to be in some ways a recentering of that while also having to deal with what's going on abroad. >> we're going to see their first attempt at this at 2:00 today. we'll of course be carrying it live. a big challenge for this white house, michael steele, and yamiche, thank yous to both of you. if we look at other top stories making headlines today, the biggest news is from the oscars, not about the awards but instead the slap seen around the world when will smith went on stage and struck comedian chris rock for joking about the appearance of smith's wife, jada pinkett smith who previously said she has alopecia, causing her to

suffer from hair loss. 40 minutes after that, this stunning moment, will smith winning his first oscar for his incredible portrayal of richard williams, the father of venus and serena. the coronavirus of course causing headaches in the white house. we know that days after a positive covid test, press secretary jen psaki, keeping her off the trip, her number two, karine jean-pierre has tested positive. the deputy press secretary was traveling with the president during his trip to europe because of psaki's illness. >> and neftali bennett testing positive as israel hosts a foreign visit of foreign ministers from arab nations, a follow up to the abraham accords signed during the trump

administration. >> and reliving the nightmares of war, survivors of the holocaust escaping their homes and living through the unimaginable, again, refugees escaping the horrors of war. their stories next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. is is "andreal reports" on msnbc.

ancestry's helped me really understand my family's immigration experience and what life must have been like for them. and as i pass it on to my daughter, it's an important part of understanding who we are.

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millions of ukrainians have been uprooted from their homes since the start of the war. they're refugees in neighboring countries, many comforted when they arrive by a hot meal from the world central kitchen, also distributing food to hungry people throughout ukraine on dangerous runs through the war zone. the group led my world renowned chef jose andres has distributed 4 million meals to refugees during the past month alone. president biden thanked chef andres in poland on saturday. >> i also want to thank my friend the great american chef jose andres and his team for help feeding those who are yearning to be free. but helping these refugees is not something poland or any other nation should carry alone. all the world democracies have a responsibility to help. >> joining me now is chef jose

andres, founder of the world central kitchen and owner of think food group. jose, i mean, what you are doing is just remarkable. you've had an extraordinary month, the president and his meetings with the refugees. >> well, it was great to see obviously the president speaking directly to the ukrainian refugees. obviously he was all ears, he was full of empathy. he spoke to little girls in almost perfect english who are sharing with him what they are feeling, mothers asking for obviously his continued support, support of the american people, and quite frankly watching the president one on one with the people. i think he's been a great leader

but more important also, a great person, listening and showing the empathy that we all want to see in the leaders of the world. >> and you know, in watching it, and i was watching it live. we were on the air live on saturday watching every bit of that. when you think of the so-called mistake that he made, it was an ad-lib that they clearly were trying to fix at the end of the speech, i think of everything he had seen and heard that day. the mother who said to him, we ukrainian mothers would strangle putin with our bare hands, and seeing the children and having covered joe biden since the 1970s, i can only imagine how powerful that was in that context to try to explain what he said about putin later. you experienced it firsthand. you were right with him. >> i think we want leaders that lead, and understanding that politics are always complicated

but i do believe we want also leaders that we can all relate to. i think everybody around the world is very upset of what's going on. i know right now with this war that has no reasoning to exist, so i think he has been a great leader representing the most powerful country, which is the united states of america, where i think we are leading again, as everybody's expecting, and at the same time, he's showing the feeling that we all have inside that we are with ukraine, we are with ukrainians. >> and i can see that people there are speaking to you. let me just also ask you because it's so remarkable what you've done -- >> they are not only speak to go me. when they see me here in the middle of actually nowhere, people come and they check on

you that you are not spying, that you are not somebody maybe reporting. people come check in the moment we explain who we are, and it's very obvious, obviously we have ukrainian people with us, then they give us a hug, but you need to understand that almost it feels everybody in ukraine is in the business of defending their country, and they will stop you right here because they may think i am reporting information about this location. >> i understand. when you see something, say something. everybody is part of the civilian defense. jose, i was going to ask you, you distributed so many meals, more than 4 million meals this past month. an average of 250,000 meals a day, and not only to the refugees, which is remarkable, but i saw a reporting from our people inside ukraine. your people are distributing food. they've established a network inside ukraine. maybe with the exception of

mariupol. where it's, you know, surrounded by the russians. how have you done that? >> well, you know, today we've been sending trains, wagons, we have been working very closely with the railroad. obviously they've not stopped working. they have everything more or less, even on the war, organized, but they appreciate when you cooperate with them, and we have four warehouses inside ukraine, and those warehouses are allowing us to obviously bring a lot of food from poland and all over places and we keep filling them, but as they are filled, we keep sending them out. we have trucks, big ones, small ones, we have now being able to send to kyiv, today we send one wagon of potatoes, thousands of kilos of potatoes, this is what we need to be doing. feeding people, shelter by

shelter, train station, but at the same time, we need to be filling those cities that somehow they are going through a hard time. how you do it very simple, not being in an office, but being with the boots on the ground, we are all the team and the leader, the ceo, myself, the founder, all the top guys we have in the organization, all their volunteers. we are all here hands on working close with restaurants, why are we able to feed in kharkiv or kherson or odesa, because in the end, the army of cooks, the army of restaurants, we are food fighters. many chefs they decide to stay behind, to stay cooking for their people, and the least we can do is keep supporting them with money, keep supporting them with food. we know how with our organization, and right now we have an amazing army of good. >> well, it's just extraordinary, and i've seen you

in haiti, in puerto rico, it started with the homeless shelters in washington, d.c. a block or two from here. thank you, and we will put everything up on our web site as well so that we spread the word of jose andres and the world central of jose andres. and joke on soboroff talking to several elderly people who have been rescued from a war zone for a second time. >> it was a 400-year-old jewish temple destroyed by the nazis in 1942. the nazis killed tens of thousands of jews during the second world war. others survived, just to

experience it again. >> nat alia is 82 with her daughter, veronica. next boris, 87, and his daughter-in-law also named natalia. both spend their childhoods evading nazis. boris's father killed by them. they set off on the 350 mile drive to lviv. david and a team from their organization was waiting for them. you came during the war to rescue holocaust survivors? >> yeah, during the war. >> reporter: when they finally arrived, a warm welcome. inside the lobby i met survivor natalia. it was a long journey, she tells me, but thank god it's good. we came back the next morning and asked about her past. did you have to hide from the nazis? >> reporter: her daughter, veronica, said she did and that her mother carried her to a shelter. just hearing your daughter tell

the story of your life as a child here, it made you cry. "it's not just about remembering the stories, it's about what's happening now. it's really stressing me out," natalia said. what do you want the world to know? >> live. you have to live. we had to abandon our whole life and on the way to lviv, we were driving past these huge field and i told my daughter this was the battlefield from world war ii. what does russia want from us? i don't understand this. downstairs we saw boris waiting to start his journey to meet family in israel. for so many people the holocaust is something you read about in history books but you lived

through it. "i just a child," he said. it's disgusting, he said, having to flee again. the russians attacked several other holocaust memorials like this. they are both so very, very grateful for the work of the aid workers that rescued them from kyiv. >> thanks to jake soboroff for that beautiful story. we'll be right back, brief message. we'll be right back, brief message.

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you can count on fast, effective relief with motrin. we have breaking news from florida where governor ron desantis is preparing to sign the rights and education bill, better known by critics as the don't say gay bill. what do we know about the plans for this legislation? >> reporter: andrea, we know he has been talking about it for the better part of the last half hour or so. he made it very clear he plans to sign it into law and looks like he's going to do it any moment now. this is something that will go into effect july the 1st, and boiling down this entire bill, it's a controversial bill, something a lot of people have spoken out against and supporters have been very strong in it, too.

essentially this is something that would ban classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through the third grade. his point boils down to paints parents have the right to be involved and should be involved in what their children are learning in the schools. he said curriculums that do not hear from this try to sew doubt in our kids about gender identity. those who are against it, the critics have been very loud and strong. they say this rolls back decades of progress when it comes to lgbtq rights and could have reverberations not just there in florida but in school systems across the country. we're seeing similar legislation being considered in the state louisiana. it's something that has become a flash point beyond the state of florida. it was talked about on the oscars last night, protested

against on the oscars. certainly snl has spoken about it. the biggest flash point, just last week hundreds of disney employees walked off the jobs. on the west coast, disney studios, california, people walking off the job in protest saying the ceo didn't do enough to speak out against that bill. since then we've seen a number of ceos say we're going to be strong against legislation like this in the future because they're seeing more and more employees essentially speak out and say this is something they feel tramples on their rights. >> and it changes the way school counseling can be done as well, the curriculum. beyond the curriculum. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us online and on twitter and garrett haake is in for chuck todd on "mpt daily."

president biden returns from europe to face the lowest numbers of his presidency at home. as the white house continues to clean up the president's comments about regime change in russia, new comments from both sides suggest a potential road map for de-escalation. and the latest signs that the political environment is getting even worse for democrats as the white house unveils a budget blueprint to potentially refocus the party's mid-term messaging. welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm garrett haake in for chuck todd. president biden is back from europe but as he tries to steer the u.s. and allies away from an escalating conflict on the continent, his standing at home is in