the u.s. list. then we're going to do asia. then europe, middle east, and africa. go to forbes.com or knowyourvalue.com to nominate deserving women who are finding great success after the age of 50. chief content officer of forbes media and editor of forbes, randall lane, thank you, nice working with you. look forward to working with you more. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. good morning, i'm chris jansing, live at msnbc headquarters in new york. it is wednesday, march 30th. this morning, the leaders of the u.s. and ukraine are expressing deep skepticism about the latest negotiations are russia after what seemed to be progress following a day of peace talks. a reality check on any optimism because there are serious questions about whether russia is making a sincere bid for peace or if it's an empty exercise meant to buy time for

russia's military to regroup. ukraine's offer is extensive, promising to remain neutral by dropping its bid to join nato, and offering to discuss the thorny issue of controlling territory, including crimea and the eastern donbas region. russian negotiators say they will bring the proposal fo vladimir putin, but they did not say when he might respond. it was 24 hours ago, when the russian military promised to curb military operations around kyiv and chernihiv to boost trust in the talks. the governor of chernihiv says that has not happened. he says the city was shelled all night long, hitting shopping centers and houses. another ukrainian official says several rockets were shot down over the capital. and attacks haven't stopped in the rest of the country either. in fact, the ukrainian military says assaults have intensified in kharkiv and mariupol where the situation gets worse by the day. listen to my colleague, ali

arouzi describing the reality of life now in mariupol. >> reporter: after account you hear from mariupol is a horror story. one young lady escaped last week, she said, you know, they didn't have any food left there, and they didn't want to starve to death, so she made a suicide pact with her sister in case they were going to starve to death, and it's unimaginable in the 21st century. >> a suicide pact. overnight president zelenskyy summed up the feelings of his people by saying quote, we see no reason to trust the words of certain representatives of a state that continues to fight for our destruction. ukrainians are not naive. president biden and secretary of state antony blinken sharing zelenskyy's skepticism when asked about the negotiations on tuesday. >> we'll see. i don't read anything into it until i see what their actions are. we'll see if they follow through on what they're suggesting. >> there is what russia, and there's what russia does. we're focused on the latter.

and what russia is doing is they continue brutalization of ukraine and its people. >> i want to bring in nbc's cara lee covering the white house. keir simmons is in turkey where negotiations were held. evelyn, and senior adviser to nato's supreme allied commander in europe. keir, let's talk about these negotiations. 24 hours ago, we broke into programming during this hour to say there was some, little bit of hope, and in these negotiations it seemed like ukraine had the upper hand, but when you look at this peace proposal, it seems like ukraine is offering a lot. russia not so much. can you talk about that and how the two sides see these negotiations right now? >> reporter: chris, let's start with this hour, some more developing news, 24 hours, as you say, after we got that breaking news about the outcome of those talks in the building

behind me here. we're just hearing this news now. the ukrainian chief negotiator is this hour describing himself as optimistic about the talks, but then going on to say that a peace deal with russia will be put to a national ukrainian referendum after russia withdraws troops to the february 23rd positions and at the same time, over in moscow, we're hearing from the kremlin's spokesperson, dmitry peskov who is talking specifically, for example, about that proposal from the ukrainians of a kind of 15-year plan for crimea. he is saying we can't negotiate over crimea because crimea is part of the russian constitution. they changed the law, they changed the constitution after they annexed it in crimea. you can see there. neither side were treating on the backfield, and both sides

retreating at the same time into their uncompromising positions which i don't think frankly 24 hours later reflects particularly well on how the talks in that building behind me went. there is some positivity expressed by the ukrainians there, but to be honest, as you point out, most of the proposals were made by the ukrainians. there was that crimea proposal. they also talked about agreeing to neutrality. they talked about they wanted a new strategic framework for ukraine, where the west would guarantee ukraine's safety burks it's notable that the russians did not appear to make any political proposals and the proposal they did make, which is for that reduction in conflict around the capital kyiv, well, there are questions this morning about that even. >> so evelyn, when you hear about young women considering a suicide pact, it crystallizes the challenge for zelenskyy, right, how much are you and the

ukrainian people willing to give to vladimir putin to stop the bloodshed but to a man who has shown he has no trouble bombing schools and hospitals blocking food supplies so people starve to death. talk a little bit about that and if the idea, as keir just reported is to hold a national referendum. logistically, how would you even do that. >> i mean, chris, this is unbelievable because really what we're seeing is the ukrainians unfortunately negotiating with themselves, and president zelenskyy has gone as far as he can go given what's happening in his country, because, you know, the flip side of he wants to stop the fighting, and given that so many people have died and put so much of their blood, sweat, and tears, he's not in a position as a democratically elected leader of ukraine to give an inch of his territory away, just like that, the way the russians are demanding. we in the international community, it's on us to help us strengthen his hand, and

obviously that's being done by providing the military assistance and the more longer term economic sanctions, although, again if we can ratchet those up and accelerate, that's great. but fundamentally, what's missing is the humanitarian approach, and i think that's on the united nations, it's on the global community. it's not just up to nato and the united states. >> but to your point of ukraine kind of negotiating with itself, currently, you have some new reporting because one of the questions we've had all along is how much realtime information does vladimir putin have about what is really happening, what are you hearing from u.s. officials? >> well, chris, for weeks we've heard from u.s. officials that russian president vladimir putin is increasingly isolated. now a u.s. official tells our colleague peter alexander that the u.s. has intelligence that shows that putin is not getting accurate information, not just about what's happening on the battlefield in ukraine, but also about the impact of the economic sanctions that the u.s. and

allies have slapped on russia, so both of those things, and the reason this official says that this is happening is because putin's advisers are afraid in the words of this u.s. official to tell him the truth. the official goes on to say that putin didn't even know his military was using and losing conscripts in ukraine, showing a clear breakdown in the flow of accurate information to the russian president. so the u.s. has been saying that putin is increasingly isolated. now they're saying they have intelligence that backs this up, what we don't know, chris, is what this intelligence is. there's no explanation for how specifically they know this, this is taking a u.s. official's word that this is what they know based on intelligence they say they have. >> but evelyn farkas, if we are dealing with a negotiation between ukraine and a man who doesn't have any idea what's

going on, really, on the ground, whose people are potentially telling him what he wants to hear, how does that bode for these negotiations? >> well, not well, chris, and i would just add something to, you know, the comments by carol. our intelligence on russia is really good, and i'm glad our government is not revealing publicly how we're getting the information that we're getting. it was good when i was there, and it continues to be good from what we've seen in terms of predicting how this would unfold. i think just to get your question, this is why we need to have phone calls between president putin, and meetings perhaps in person and heads of state. all the meetings and phone calls with president macron, you know, according to the media reports, they have been difficult, but that's the opportunity for him to hear some hard truths and turn around to his people and see what they have to say. so it is important to try to get the truth to him, and to try to get the russian people motivated, and certainly the few

elites around him, the few security people around him to tell him the truth, but it is difficult, yes. >> you know russia well, keir, and i wonder if given sort of this balancing act if that's what we want to call it that vladimir putin is getting one story from the people around him who may be afraid to tell him the truth, who are again telling him what he wants to hear, versus emmanuel macron or any outside media information, anything he may hear from u.s. officials. i mean, who's he going to believe? >> well, fundamentally, he's going to believe a very small inner circle of advisers around him. some of them go back decades with him. there are those as well who are kind of just old friends, if you like, and what we have seen, this is no secret. what we've seen is that president putin isn't close to some of the people that he has been close to in the past,

simply because of coronavirus. we have seen, for example, russian security council meetings where he sits so far away, for example, from his defense minister, the pictures of him on vacation we've seen in the past, she's sitting next to him in the photographs. they vacation together and yet at a security council, you see his defense minister at a distance from him. the worry is there are now just a handful of people who can influence president putin. can world leaders influence him, the issue there, i suspect, is just how distrustful president putin is of anyone outside of his inner circle. >> cara lee, evelyn farkas, a u.s. official telling us vladimir putin is being misnfld -- misinformed.

the supreme court nominee, ketanji brown jackson will get one republican vote for her confirmation. susan collins will vote to confirm jackson. democrats have the vote to secure without gop support, but leadership is eager for a bipartisan confirmation. nbc's garrett haake joins me from capitol hill. what's the latest? >> reporter: leadership wanted a bipartisan confirmation. judge jackson met are susan collins for a second time. they went over some of her testimony in the judiciary committee hearings. she had more questions for her, and she liked some of jackson's answers and she didn't like some of her answers but the way she views confirming judges is not that they agree with you on everything but that you think they are qualified and will do the job well. susan collins has determined judge ketanji brown jackson fits that ball. there's a small universe of

potential votes, lisa murkowski voted for confirmation, folks like mitt romney or bill cassidy who have crossed party lines on big votes in the past but a little bit more conservative. chris, i think while this is important to give this bipartisan character now in this final vote, it also provides a little bit of insurance for democrats. it's 2022, this gives just that tiniest bit of cushion on a 50-vote threshold, to have the one more vote that democrats need to get judge jackson across the finish line. >> thank you, garrett. despite russia's claims of pulling back, we're going live inside ukraine with what's actually happen as russia's invasion now stretches into day 35. and clint watts is here to break down what we're seeing in terms of troop movements.

plus, big news on the covid front here at home, after the fda signs off on another booster shot for people 50 and older. should you be rushing out to get it. it the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. ♪ ♪ so it was a happy ending... nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people are taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ e*trade now from morgan stanley.

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is likely just an attempt to

regroup. possibly gearing up for a larger assault until the east. here's john kirby on tuesday. >> nobody should be fooling ourselves by the kremlin's now recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near kyiv or any reports that it's going to withdraw all of its forces. >> we believe this is a repositioning, not a real withdrawal. and that we all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of ukraine. >> that offensive may be focused here. new pictures from donetsk. it may also be russia's best opportunity to claim victory in a war that so far has been pretty disastrous for them. jacob soboroff is in lviv, ukraine. clint watts is with me at the big board and retired marine colonel, mark, a senior adviser with the security program.

let me start with what carol lee reported a moment ago, his advisers may be afraid to tell him the truth. at the same time, our understanding is, and history would tell us, putin is the only one deciding anything, so how do you wage war under these circumstances? >>. >> that's right, the problem with authoritarian regime, there are no independent sources of information, no free press that would be providing an objective assessment. i think at some point the generals are going to go to putin and say, you know, we've taken terrible losses, we can't move forward anymore. we need to make a deal before our forces collapse from the losses they have been take sglg -- taking. >> when you understand that intelligence from u.s. officials it goes back to what the president has been saying all

along. it's not what russia says, it's what they're doing. what does what they're doing tell snus. >> -- tell snus. >> i think the big change, these are ukrainian counter offensives. this is the discussion yesterday. if nothing else a sign from the russians that they even made this announcement yesterday is that they are struggling, and that's very apparent. you can see here -- >> can we be clear. i'm not sure people have a chance to read all of this. this is the claimed ukrainian counter offensive. this is the russian controlled territory that belongs to ukraine, and all of this in the middle is assessed advances that they've made. >> that's right. so irpin, this is the area richard engel has been in on and off during the conflict, ukraine has pushed back, now they have pushed forward. over here out on this front towards the west, they're pushing against the russians, and i think this is the key question that everyone is asking, which is you're seeing the russians dig in to defensive

positions in places here while you're seeing other movements back. this is that corridor we're talking about with the convoy three weeks ago. the question is are these folks actually moving back in what is known as a retrograde operation. essentially they leave troops to maintain the lines and they are retreating. are they going back to belarus, and resupplying and will they return to this front in a week or two. the russians have been in battle for a month or so. they need resupply. is this a bigger move to essentially go to the east. will we see these troops in kyiv be repositioned and later show up in the most consequential battle going on right now, which is in and around isium. this is donetsk in this region here. they essentially want to go from kharkiv, build their corridor, link with their forces from luhansk and if there's anywhere to watch, it's this area around

luhansk, the russians are trying to bring these areas together and surround the towns in the northeast. >> what they're saying is they want to regroup, is that they're going back, but what they want to do is regroup. how does the ukrainian military respond? all four advances the russians have attacked on. kyiv is the most important objective and they need to maintain their forces there. they have to keep an eye on the east, they have large forces in the donbas, and russian forces may be trying to pinch the forces off. it could be difficult, withdrawal under pressure is extremely challenging military operation, some chance the forces could disintegrate. they're going to need to keep forces there also. >> given what we know about ukrainian forces right now, do you think they have the about to do what you're saying?

>> the ukrainian forces have shown themselves to be formidable on defense, the antitank weapons we have given them have provided them with immense capabilities on the defensive. have all of these militia, so on the defense i think that they have an excellent chance of hanging on. i think their problems would be if they tried to maneuver their forces really aren't well structured for that. that's why they need to hold on there in the donbas, maybe even reinforce those fronts so they don't have to retreat. >> jacob you're on the ground. how does it seem to you maybe is there any optimism among people there that the situation could be improving? tell me what you're seeing and hearing. >> reporter: on the contrary, chris, i think there is a deep and profound distrust of anything that the russians say from people all across this country, whether it's here in the west where there has been relative peace to the east where there have been relentless

attacks. in the context of these negotiations, the russians have said we're going to pull out of kyiv and chernihiv, and the opposite happened overnight. it's deja vu for the people in lviv, as to what happened on saturday. i reported that a top russian general said they were going to move their focus to the east of the country, to the donbas, and within hours, miles of where i'm standing right now, there were two independent separate missile strikes in a city that was relatively peaceful, relatively secure, was a place of refuge and transit for the literally millions of internally displaced people that have come through this part of the country on their way to become refugees on nato's eastern flank, and so when you hear president zelenskyy today saying, and i'm paraphrasing here that the facts on the ground don't match the realities of what the russians are saying, you can't blame them. all you have to do is look around, talk to people here, and they will tell you that every time you hear the russians say one thing about peace, the

opposite happens. >> jacob soboroff, mark watts, thank you all. up next, the fdi -- the fda, i keep wanting to say the fbi, the fda, signing off on a booster sho for people 50 and older. should you get it? we've got answers, next. der. should you get it? we've got answers, next. that may help you see up close. i did. it's an innovative way to... so, wait. i don't always have to wear reading glasses? yeah! vuity™ helps you see up close. so, i can see up close with just my eyes? uh-huh. with one drop in each eye, once daily. in focus? yep. [laughs] like, really? really. vuity™ is a prescription eye drop to help you see up close. ow! wait, what? wait. wait? wait, what? see for yourself. use vuity™ with caution in night driving and hazardous activities in poor light. also, if your vision is not clear,

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what would you like the power to do? now for a check of the top stories we're following now. lynching is now a federal hate crime. president biden signing the emmett till anti-lynching act tuesday. after more than 120 years and 200 unsuccessful efforts to pass that legislation, the bill named after 14-year-old emmett till who was lynched in mississippi in 1955. president biden and other lawmakers paying tribute to late alaska congressman don young yesterday. the longest serving republican in congress as his body lies in state in the capitol sanctuary hall. he died earlier this month at 88. he was first elected to the house in 1973. we're also tracking several big covid headlines this morning. first, both the fda and cdc have signed off on a second booster shot of the pfizer or moderna

vaccine for people aged 50 and older. that decision as the highly contagious omicron sub variant accounts for 55% of new covid cases nationwide. health experts say it spreads about 75% faster than the original omicron variant. data suggests it does not cause more severe illness. and later today, president biden will announce the launch of covid.gov, a new web site to get the latest information on where americans can get vaccines, tests, treatments and masks. let's to right to dr. kavita patel, former obama white house policy, if i'm over 50 and happen to be, should i get another booster or a fourth shot. >> yeah, chris, this is i think the question i have been getting, you know, texts, phone calls, all sorts of e-mails, and here's what i'm telling my own patients and family including, if you're 65 and over, especially the data from israel and the uk looked at 65 and

over, it's a no brainer. if it's been four months since the first booster, you should get it. you don't need to run. but you should try to schedule it. lots of vaccines available. in the 50 to 65 year age range, if you have chronic conditions, diabetes, liver disease, heart disease, a number of things that put you at higher risk, which unfortunately many of us have, i would go ahead and consider getting a second booster, again, four months, i want to reiterate that. it's different than first boosters. four months after the first booster, going and get that. i think the question is, you know, under 50 we have immunocompromised people that this clears the way for. do you fit that category. do you need it now, do you need a 5th shot, which is what immunocompromised people would need. >> i was shocked by this number. i hadn't looked in a while. fewer than 50% of those eligible having the first booster.

from a public health perspective, do we need a bigger focus on ensuring these people get the first booster and shot. unless it's j&j it's shot number two. it's all very confusing. >> it is, and yes, i do think we need to focus on whether it's your first booster or second booster, we need boosters. that's the bottom line. maybe that's the best take away, what we learned about omicron, we need the booster to give us protection for severe disease against omicron. i say this all the time. this does not mean that you won't get infected. boosters aren't going to protect you against infection, but they protect against all the severe disease and the outcomes, even with long covid, chris, we're seeing promising data. i think that's what's critical. call it what you want, first or second, get the booster and make sure you get it before we get this increase that we're starting to see around the country, especially in the northeast. >> let me squeeze this in in the last minute, the ba 2 sub

variant, shanghai has imposed new lock downs. how concerned should we be? >> we should be concerned if we have not been boosted. which again, as you point out, too many people in the united states. we should be concerned, and keep in mind, we have children under 5 that have no option for a vaccine. many children over 5 that have not been vaccinated and all the people that can't build that immunity. i do not like the idea of a more infectious, contagious variant, not more severe, but more infectious, when the country has pulled away protective measures. be smart. we're tired. i'm happy it's getting better. i would be worried in crowded spaces. good things, keep in mind, a mask can be helpful in the situation. >> dr. kavita patel as always, great to talk to you. thank you. still ahead, we're going to take you to the southern border where ukrainian refugees are struggling to get into the u.s. after fleeing the war. first, good news here at home.

12-year-old elizabeth kurvolka who lived part-time in a bomb shelter, had her first day of school in new jersey this week. she escaped ukraine after a harrowing train ride meeting her mother on the border, her mom said she was scared about not seeing her friends anymore, but she's made new friends already just on her second day of school, and her mom says she's happy. r mom says she's happy. merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list? digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? power e*trade gives you an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools, and interactive charts to give you an edge. 24/7 support when you need it the most. plus, zero-dollar commissions for online listed u.s. stocks.

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these moments may not seem remarkable. but at pfizer, protecting the regular routine, and everyday drives us to reach for exceptional. working to impact hundreds of millions of lives... young and old. it's what we call, the pursuit of normal. ♪ ♪ this morning an increasing number of refugees fleeing ukraine are making it here. not yet a final destination, but a major relief after what has been an exhausting and harrowing journey. nbc's antonia hilton spoke to one of those refugees named sophia. tell us about her journey, and she had three children with her, right? >> that's right. chris. sophia took her three children out of southern ukraine three

days into the war, and described to me spending almost all of her life savings to get to the boarder and ultimately to fly to mexico where they attempted to cross into california to meet distant relatives. they are starting their lives over in a town they have never seen with relatives they had never met. an experience many refugees are hoping to repeat. . this is home to sophia and her three children, adjusting to a new life in california with relatives they had never met until a few weeks ago. >> we all had lives, beautiful lives, full of happiness and friends. >> reporter: it feels like everything has changed in a matter of a couple of weeks. >> yes. >> reporter: they fled ukraine three days after the bombings began, heading for mexico. >> i have family and friends in usa. >> reporter: but sophia was turned away by border patrol twice. >> how did that leave you feeling? >> that moment i was really

destroyed. >> reporter: the u.s. border is still officially closed to asylum seekers because of title 42, a public health policy put in place during the trump administration, that remains under president biden, denying entry due to covid. on her third attempt to enter, attorney blaine bookie, working with a haitian child saw sophia and helped her get an exemption. >> every day that passes, it becomes absurd to claim that title 42 has any basis whatsoever in public health. >> reporter: for months, the biden administration has been under pressure to end title 42. immigration advocates hope it will be lifted in early april, restoring the process for all refugees. >> what i'm worried about is all of the families like sophia, from haiti, cameroon, el salvador, that are languishing. >> reporter: officials expect an immediate uptick in refugees trying to enter. many are waiting in shelters along the border hoping to make an asylum claim as soon as the

policy ends. she is grateful he and her family are safe, but her heart in ukraine. >> i want them to stay safe, to stay alive. i feel sorry all the guys that are dying, for all the mothers that will not see their sons anymore. >> president biden has pledged to welcome about 100,000 ukrainian refugees here in the united states. sophia is now trying to get a work permit, trying to find a school for her kids so they can try to feel a sense of normalcy now, chris. >> yeah, reporting on that one young girl who just started school in new jersey, it makes you hopeful that maybe they can get that worked out, but my gosh. all they want to do is stay alive. antonia hilton, thank you so much for your great reporting, as always. and coming up, it's been less than two years since calls to defund the police swept the country. new nbc polling shows that rallying cry is turning voters away. we've got new numbers straight ahead. e got new numbers straight ahead.

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had the qualifications, the experience, and the credentials that we require of a supreme court justice, and warranted my support. >> in your statement, you said that there were some things you agree with her on, some things that you don't, in terms of the clarification you were seeking, what exactly did you ask her to clarify? >> we had an in-depth discussion of many of the cases that were brought up at the hearings, and she explained in more detail her careful, thoughtful reasoning. i didn't always agree with the results that she came up with, but i had no doubt that she applies the very careful approach to the facts of a case when she is judging. >> why did you decide to come out with your decision today ahead of the vote? >> well, the hearings have been

completed and i said from the start that i wanted to make sure that i listened to the hearings because you never know what issues are going to come up, and indeed, there were issues that were raised. and then yesterday i had another hour long one-on-one meeting with her, and at this point, i felt i had all the information that i needed to reach a decision. >> thank you, guys, so much. >> did you speak with republican leadership ahead of your announcement today? >> i informed the republican leaders this morning, so i did give them a little advance, but not a lot. >> do you expect any of your other republican colleagues to follow suit, and are you talking to any of them? >> i have no idea what my other republican colleagues will do. i have had discussions with some of them, but obviously that's an individual decision. and one that only they can make,

so i've not attempted to pressure anybody to come out in the same -- reach the same decision that i have reached, and you'll just have to ask them where they are. thank you. >> and so susan collins, the first yet vote on the republican side, something that the white house very much wanted to be able to say that ketanji brown jackson was confirmed with bipartisan support. we'll continue to follow that. that last question you heard, will any other republicans follow suit, also this morning we're getting important new insights into what's on the mind of voters as they cast their ballots in the coming months. new nbc news polling released last hour reveals that the most popular quality for voters is a candidate who wants to fund the police. a reflection of voter concerns about the increase in crime, especially in major cities. crime up 44% in new york city,

7% in los angeles, the least popular quality, a candidate who wants to defund the police, a term that once served as a rallying cry for some democrats. joining me to discuss the latest findings, mark murray, nbc news political editor, and matthew dowd, country over party, and chief strategist for bush's 2004 presidential campaign. great to see you guys, mark, break this down for us, funding the police as the top issue, although it isn't evenly split among the parties, right? >> yeah, chris, there's a really fascinating divide among democrats on this particular issue. democrats who ended up voting for joe biden in the 2020 democratic primaries overwhelmingly oppose a candidate who wants to defund the police. but that's compared with a plurality of democratic voters who backed bernie sanders or elizabeth warren in 2020, and they support a candidate who wants to defund the police, and, you know, there's also another tension between these voters when it comes to expanding oil

and gas drilling, these democrats are aligned on other issues like the infrastructure law, and reducing health care and prescription drug cost, but there is this divide here, chris, and it's there are not a democrat candidates who are running on defunding the police in this cycle, but the sentiment is clear when it comes to bernie sanders and elizabeth warren voters. >> and the flip side of that, matt, is that republicans are right to paint judge jackson as soft on crime. one of their biggest talking points ahead of the midterms. so how did democrats combat this messaging? do you think it's going to be effective for republicans? >> well, it's only going to be effective if democrats let it be effective, because as mark just alluded to, the president of the united states doesn't support defunding the police. no u.s. senate candidate running in 2022 supports defunding the police. and not a single congressional

candidate running in a swing district with democrats supports defunding the police. this is something that the republicans want to do. i think in my view, the democrats should go at a list of other issues on that list, which is roe v. wade, overwhelmingly supported by swing voters and democrats, prescription drug relief, overwhelmingly, who won the election, overwhelmingly supported my all voters. and swing voters, and democrats, and one thing i will add that i hope we add in future polls, which is the issue that i would run on as a democrat, is who's going to protect democracy and voting rights? and that's the issue, if i were democrats, that's what i would run on. i would not go at a republican talking point on defunding police, because it has nothing to do with the establishment of the democratic party. i would go at the big issues that they have an advantage on. >> you know, it's interesting, mark, when you look at mitch mcconnell in this poll, right, fascinating part, his endorsement is considered a

bigger negative for voters than it is a positive. i mean, i wonder if that's part of what speaks to the whole trump has on the party still or something else. how do you read those numbers? >> yeah, chris. when we're talking about divides inside parties, there is one among republicans, and one of the ways our polls ends up breaking down republicans, republicans who can consider themselves trump first republicans or party-first republicans. in trump-first republicans, overwhelmingly dislike mitch mcconnell and see him as a really big problem. but party-first republicans actually support him. most of them are actually lukewarm or they say it doesn't end up mattering, but they are more open to mitch mcconnell than certainly these trump-first republicans are and that divide also goes into the infrastructure candidate quality in our poll, chris, where you end up having party-first republicans support candidates who back the infrastructure law and trump-first republicans don't. >> you touched on this, too,

matt. and, you know, expanding oil and gas production is important issue for voters, so is infrastructure law. supporting biden's call for lower health care, prescription drug costs. did they show an opening for democrats in the vein of, it's the economy, stupid. >> well, you know, to me is, and i remember this as you introed me as the chief strategist in 2004, the number one issue in 2004 was the economy. that's not what we talked about in the bush campaign. we talked about national security, because we knew it had a resonance with republicans, and it was very pivotal among swing voters. so that's what we focused on -- >> so can you not talk about the economy as a democrat, because of what's happening, for example, with inflation. >> if i were the democrats, i would answer the questions on the economy and pivot to the most powerful issues they have, which in my view, are culture issues like roe v. wade, and if we put that democracy as part of that, that's what i would do. i would pivot from the economy, say, we're doing all we can do,

and go to the issues, they have a huge advantage on, like roe v. wade and democracy. >> it's fascinating stuff. mark murray, you have your marching orders from matt dowd about what the question should be in the next poll. >> next time, thanks. >> thanks to both of you. we're going to stay on capitol hill, because there is new fallout this morning from that seven-hour gap in former president trump's phone records on the day of the january 6th insurrection, first reported by "the washington post," as the 1/6 committee investigates the possibility that trump might have used a burner phone, something the former president denied to the post, saying, quote, i have no idea what a burner phone is. to the best of any knowledge, i have never even heard the term. that fact quickly contradicted by his former national security adviser, john bolton, who told cbs news, he and the former president had spoken about them, several times, including how people have used burner phones to avoid having their calls scrutinized. joining me now, nicholas woo,

congressional reporter with politico, and barbara mcquade, a former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst. so, barbara, what would it mean if somehow it comes out that the former president, even though he's never heard of them, did use a burner phone. or what do you make of all of this? >> i think this statement that he doesn't know what it is, contradicted by john bolton, is one of those things that people call consciousness of guilt. it suggests that he's trying to distance himself from this concept, not enough to say, i didn't use one that day, but to say, i don't even know what it is. the fact he's lying about that suggests to me, i want to look a little harder as to whether he did. burner phone is a phone that can't be traced to anybody. we know he made calls to at least three members of congress that day. he was using somebody's phone. and i think this suggests that not only was he on the phone, but he knew he was on the phone in a way that could cause him trouble. >> what do you think, realistically, barbara, are the chances that we get to the bottom of this, what really happened in those seven-plus hours, and what happened in those records? >> i think we're going to get

there. i think it might take a long time. it might take past the midterms. but eventually, all of those people will be forced to testify one way or another, and we'll find out who made those phone calls and who made the decision not to record them in those ledgers. the accounting will come, but it may take some time. >> and nicholas, you closely follow all the ins and outs of this committee, the 1/6 committee. pretty fascinating development last night regarding mo brooks. he said last week trump repeatedly raised the idea of reinstalling himself as president, and you tweeted about this last night. he all but dared the committee to call him. >> that's right. you know, the committee in recent weeks had kind of almost signaled that it might not want to pursue testimony republican lawmakers, because the fight might not necessarily be worth it. and the people that they had asked come and testify had all but declined to do so so. but congressman brooks cracked open the door to do it. he said that they would take it

under advisement. >> so it seems like every week, there is new threads, there is a new thread for the committee to chase. in fact, chairman thompson had said, they hoped to have a report issued by june. is that still a realistic timeline? >> the thing about congress is that timelines are always fluid. at one point, they're supposed to start hearings in january. and move their report on a little bit after that. the thing is, you know, the chairman is now saying that they'll start their hearings in may and do the report some time before the midterm elections. it's certainly a timeline that they accept, but they keep on finding out more and more here, so we'll see what happens once they do finally move into the public phase. >> and so the idea that the midterms are coming may or may not ultimately influence how quickly they're able to move. >> in a way, it's almost a

stopping point for the committee. the house looks like it's going to flip this fall and republicans have made no secret of the fact that they want to dismantle this committee. so they do have somewhat of a natural stopping point here. >> so, barbara, there is also an interview published by a right-wing news outlet yesterday, and former president trump asks russian president putin to dig up dirt, essentially, on president biden's son, hunter. comment, if you will, on a former president making such a request. and by the way, making a disparaging remark about our relationship with russia, at a time when putin is, as we speak, killing and destroying in ukraine a country that is our ally. >> asking for help in an election from a hostile foreign adversary is an incredible betrayal of loyalty to america. i don't know that it is a crime. there is a crime to solicit a thing of value from a foreign national. i don't know that we've reached that level when it's done publicly.

i think there are a lot of defenses to willfulness. but i think it's abhorrent and it's something that any loyal american should find to be revolting. >> so abhorrent, but nothing to be done about it. it's just more of the same from donald trump. >> i would say, awful, but lawful. >> awful, but lawful. a new phrase that we will all continue to remember. barbara mcquade, nicholas wu, thank you both. i'll see you back here 9:00 a.m. eastern thunderstorm. yasmin vassoughian picks up breaking news coverage right now. good morning, everybody. it is 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm yasmin vassoughian in for jose diaz-balart. we're going to begin this wednesday morning in ukraine, with officials reporting new attacks near kyiv and in chernihiv, places where russia pledged to scale back its military. we're going to bring you the very latest from there. plus, we're going to talk with senator jacky rosen from the armed services committee to

discuss the u.s. role inside this conflict. and breaking this morning, a big announcement on capitol hill. senator susan collins is the first republican to say that she will vote to confirm judge ketanji brown jackson to the supreme court. and in just a few hours, president biden set to deliver remarks on the covid pandemic, as an omicron subvariant triggers an uptick in new cases. and we'll have what you need to know about that second booster shot. we want to begin with day 35 of russia's war in ukraine. local officials in the outskirts of kyiv and chernihiv reporting new russian attacks today, one day after russia said that it would drastically reduce military operations there. an adviser to ukraine's president saying in an interview on ukrainian television that the russians are not removing troops

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