good evening. welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead -- messaging wars. right now i hope that president biden's advisers are able to capitalize on what's going right for them politically, starting with the u.s. response to russia's war in ukraine, where the russian military has started to draw some troops away from kyiv, a sign the world would love to interpret as a hopeful one, as we are getting word late this afternoon peace talks could be forth coming. but the white house has warned americans not to expect a russian retreat, just a

repositioning. of course, the message from republicans has been to insist that the nation's and the world's challenges are solely the fault of joe biden, but this week there were positives too big to ignore. last month's jobs numbers released yesterday, showing u.s. unemployment nearly back to the pre-pandemic low. a handful of key senators, including the first republican on record, came out publicly in support of biden's supreme court pick ketanji brown jackson after last week's bruising confirmation hearings. the historic final vote is expected next week. can the president turn the good economic news and potential history making into real momentum for his party ahead of the mid terms? that's the big question tonight.

we'll get to all of that in a moment, but, of course, we start with the late it's from ukraine. joining me is ali arouzi, any's in ukraine. the head of the ukrainian delegation to the peace negotiations said in an interview on ukraine tv that the draft peace treaty documents between ukraine and russia were at an advanced enough stage to allow for direct consultations between putin and zelenskyy, with a high degree of probability for meeting in turkey. is there a timeline for this probable meeting? >> reporter: good afternoon, reverend. there isn't a timeline as of yet. they're saying the talks may take place in ankara or istanbul. at this point it's a verbal agreement, but it's certainly

welcome news, saying these treaties are at an advanced enough stage for the russians to accept them. they say the russians have accepted many of the proposals put forward by the ukrainians, except for crimea, of course. they say that's still a sticking point the russians are not willing to negotiate with. but nonetheless it is a positive move that the two sites will immediate at a presidential level. so far the talks have been at a working level up to this stage. the only time other than that was at a foreign minister level. no rae traction had been made in any previous talks. expectations were very low, especially after the last two rounds of talks. the ukrainians seemed more flexible, more positive, and that could also be partly mind games. the ukrainians wanted to seem like they're the ones willing to advance talks, and it's the russians that don't want to

talk, but nonetheless it's good news the two will potential meet each other, but its still very early days. the situation here in ukraine is dire still on the ground. the russians have said many things in the past, but they haven't backed it up with action, so we have to see where they go. you talk to many ukrainians here and they're skeptical that even the talks will take place. they say the russians always make promises. they say they're going to honor humanitarian corridors, and they haven't. they haven't withdrawn troops en masse. so there's still a long way to go, and then divorce there's the issue of nato. one of the negotiatoring say they have the guarantees from the turks, iltannance, germans that they would give guarantees they're looking for as long as

the russian demands are met, then ukraine doesn't join nato, but that's still a long way off. referendums have to be held. there's a lot of negotiations, and the negotiator here that said any agreement between zelenskyy and putin would have to be put to a referendum here in ukraine. a referendum can't be hal when there's bombing, shell, and a curfew. there's a complicated path to wind down between these two countries, but we'll have to see what happens, when and if the two presidents actually meet in turkey, what they can hammer out. as i said, the situation here is still terrible, so we have to see exactly how this will pan out if that meeting does happen. complicated is correct, and skepticism by ukrainians are very understandable. thank you, ali arouzi.

joining me is senator tina smith. thank you for joining us tonight we talked about the recent positive headlines from the white house, strong employment numbers, and the expected select of the supreme court justice nommee. yet polling shows approval ratings hitting new lows. though he remains slightly more popular than president trump. what do you attribute that to? are you concerned that this wartime response is diverting democrats' priorities ahead of the mid terms? >> thank you, reverend sharpton.

i'm so glad to be with you. what i hear here in minnesota is people are rallying around the president in his strong stance against this author taken dictators where the savage despicable war crimes are just so heartbreaking. what the president has done has been to mobilize a global coalition in ways that are really unprecedented. just barely a year ago people were talking about how nato is in a shambles, and look at what he's done. i hear from my constituents here about what's happening in ukraine. i mean, i can't help but point out, while the president is marshaling this unity here at home and abroad, we have republicans in the united states senate who have been blocking the next round the sanctions to hold russia accountable. on the one hand you have democrats doing everything we can to support ukrainians.

on the other hand you have republicans saying one thing and doing another. people have to see that difference between what people are saying and what they're doing. as you say, i just have to thank you for also saying, the economic growth people are seeing and feeling here in minnesota, too. >> "the washington post" is reporting that the department of justice is expanding its criminal probe into the events of january 6th. let's go there. federal prosecutors are issuing grand jury subpoenas to the planners, organizers of donald trump's save america rally, which preceded the attack on the capitol. what does the development say to you about the breadth and depth of this investigation now? >> we have known that the justice department has been very aggressive in prosecuting those that were present for the insurrection and attack on our

elections on january 6th. now we know they're also looking at those what planned, paid for, did the logistics of this attack is very, very important. i think the justice department has a vital role to play, as does the january 6th commission, bringing all this information out. so i'm encouraged to see this work for the justice department, for sure. >> now, talking about the january 6th committee, they are also seeking the interview, ginni thomas, wife of the supreme court justice thomas, about her activities on that day, including leaning on mark meadows to overturn the 2020 election, and attending the stop the steal rally. given all of that, should her husband recuse himself from cases related to january 6th, in your opinion? >> absolutely. justice thomas should have

recused himself for the first kay case, where he did not. he was the one lone supreme court juices voting againsting releasing trump administration documents, and he should recuse himself now. he understands this. he recused himself when there was a case in the supreme court surrounding a school where his son was attending, here we have a family member, his wife, actively lobbying the executive branch to overturn our free elections. it is absolutely essential that he recuse himself. let me also say, chief jurisdiction roberts has an important role to play here, holding justice tom mass accountable. we have to move to some clear ethical standards on the supreme court to stop this kind of behavior. i think what justice thomas is doing is blatantly unethical. >> i have to ask about the possible history in the works this week. the senate judiciary committee

is meeting on monday to review ketanji brown jackson's nomination. at least one republican, senator susan collins, on the record saying she'll vote to confirm jackson. will history be made this week, senator? and your thoughts about it. >> i believe history will be made. this is a breakthrough moment, the first black woman to be nominated and i expect to go confirmed to the supreme court. a brilliant legal mind, and also somebody who had to withstand just malicious and unfair attacks on her record, that she withstood with such grace and honor. i think it is a joyful moment, as we see this important step. she deserves broad bipartisan support from the members of the senate, despite the fact that mitch mcconnell is actively

lobbying against her. >> this week i was honored to sit in the rose garden as they signed the emmett till anti-lynching bill into law, something we have struggled to get into law for years. what are your thoughts about the president signing that bill into law? >> well, i think it is another step in the long march toward justice. the fact that president biden made a moment of this is really remarkable, but i think also, you have to ask yourself, think about this, that we have to be in this day and age signing into law an antilynching bill, a bill that was blocked ohm a year or so ago, is just sort of incredible. itch to say i see this as a send of real progress, but a sense of the long road ahead as we continue this march toward

justice. >> i had mixed emotion about why it took so long, but i appreciate the president biden bringing it up. senator tina smith, thank you for being with us. next in this week's "gotcha" i'll explain why i'm not ready to stop talking about former president donald trump. later, far-right republicans reported the emergency meeting as they speak out against us aid to ukraine. they could be playing into putin's hand. my political panel weighs in. first, my colleague richard lui with today's top news stories. >> good saturday to you. covid-19 cases in the uk have reached record level highs, one in 13 people now infected in the past week, according to the u.s. government estimates. the more transmissible ohm cran variant now the dominant variant in the u.s.

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for this week's "gotcha" i'm calling out republicans who claim democrats and the media are fixated on former president donald trump. i can't speak for everyone, but personally i would love to stop thinking about the former guy. unfortunately, he makes it very, very difficult. let's review trump's wild week, which seemed to contain more scandal and controversy than all of our other former presidents'

retirements combined. we start with the missing 7 hours and 30 minutes that just happens to coincide with the hours that our capitol was under siege by a violent mob of trump supporters. we don't know exactly what we'll find when the january 6th committee finally gets ahold of the logs, but you can be sure it's far more comps quenchal than anything on hunter bide en's lapton. speaking of trump's obsession with the biden family, he called on a tv interview to call on vladimir putin to dig up dirt on the bidens, in much the same way he asked for damaging information on hillary clinton back in 2016 he also had a

photographer accuse -- without giving her any credit. a trump spokesperson denied in wrongcog without disputing the details of the accusation. to top it off, you had a bizarre humble brag press release about a supposed trump hole in one, which even if it were true, felt terribly tonedeaf in a time of pandemic and war. so, republicans, let's call a thing a thing. you say democrats and media are petty and obsessed when we discuss trump's pointless eyes and boorish behavior. you complain there's nothing new about his braising disrespect for our laws and political norms, but here's the problem. you are the ones who continue to hold trump up as a leader of

your party. democrats gave the gop multiple opportunities to impeach trump, or bar him from running again. not only did republicans refuse, mainstream leaders of the party like mitch mcconnell still say they would vote for trump in 2024, even as his post-presidency behavior continues to become more unhinged. republicans don't want to turn the page on trump. they want the rest of us to stop reminding them who their standard bearer really is. that's something i can never do. i gotcha. th's something i can n. i gotcha ( ♪♪ ) ♪ with my hectic life, you'd think retirement would be the last thing on my mind. hey mom, can i go play video games? sure! ...after homework.

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before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? welcome back to "politics nation." i'm joined by michelle goldberg, an author and op-ed columnist for "new york times."

and former representative carlos cabello from florida, as mobs nbc analyst. michelle, let's start with your article published this week. you write that putin is working to cultivate cynicism about ukrainian heroism, and convinced those aliensated by western culture to identify with russia. to sound the alarm, not just about biden's handling. but about the difference is this wince of the government doing putin's bidding in the u.s.? what should be done about it, if so?

>> i don't want to confuse what could be just a convergence of interests. i think clearly they're on the same side in terms of authoritarianism versus democracy. they're obviously on the same side in terms of support for donald trump, their desire to see american democracy fail and be replaced with something else. whether they're doing putin's bidding or just have similar interests in the world i think -- it's not something i'm going to speculate on. i would say that when i was speaking to someone, a prominent journalist and politician, who is now advising the ukrainian government on disinformation, he was quite concerned to hear american members of congress like marjorie taylor greene,

repeating russia propaganda, because it helps to legitimatize it. you know, they'll spout it here and it plays back to the russian people. it up having a truly deleterious effect. >> carlos, in two days the committees is set to vote on to advance judge jackson's nomination. judge jackson will receive bipartisan support with senator collins saying she will support her. additionally, it shows judge

jackson to be very policy ullr. >> reverend, i think some did. judge jackson, is from south florida, so we've been pleased to watch her handle herself so we had certainly she has won over the american people to the extend that some weren't overly aggressive, that kind of attitude and approach could be rejected and may even help democrats in november. i think it's good news that a

nominee will be confirmed with both support. she has a lot of credible. she's voted for both. o, so i think that center of the country that tends to be decisive in all these matters really took note of the susan collins decision, and i think the country is becomes increase glitz comfortable with having someone like judge brown on the court. >> loaded with a small arsenal of molotov cocktails, guns, ammunition and other weapons, then wandered away from the trunk and never used any of them before they were discovered. right now, over 700 people have been charged with crimes related to the attacks. vox reports that the house

committee may recommend criminal charges against trump. >> what is the likelihood of this, do you think? and will the panel complete its report before the mid terms? >> i don't at this point have vessel faith in attorney garland being aggressive in response to wrongdoing we saw it request district attorney bragg, to basically say -- not to say, but to say in the opinion of the

people doing the investigation, this was just too hard of a case to bring. i will be shocked in the january 6th committee didn't come to that cleese. they can recommend charges, but can't bring them. >> carlos, let's go to the biden administration announced friday it's planning to end title 42 in may. it's a trump-era public policy that made it harder for migrants to seek asylum in the understanding in the name of

fighting the passengers. >> this decision could trigger more chaos at the border. that's why senators asked the administration to not take the step at this time. immigration policy is a lot about communication, and what kind of messages oar sending to people all over the world. by the way, the migrants themselves are victims. the people who will exploit this policy changes are the coyotes, the criminal organizationsa traps these human beings. this is just a difficult, difficult situation. i think the biden administration had a lot of pressure from the

activist community to change this pod, but this is a decision they may regret. >> sarah palin announced she's running for the seat representing alaska after the death of don young last month. she was perhaps a bit ahead of her time when john mccain picked her as a running mate nearly a decade ago. has the rep party caught up to her? >> yes, she certainly was in the many ways the prototype for the median republican and would future well into the party

theent thing i think could possibly work against her. she want elected governor as a fire-breathing right-wing demagogue, even though that's what she turned out to be, particularly after her vippial campaign. she was seen at the time as more of a common sense, down to earth figure. whether she with win as the second calming of michele bachmann remains to be seen. >> carlos, daily beast reports that ginni tom has often med with president trump, often prying a list of people he should fire and hire, this on top of her aggressively lobbying mark meadows to do more than try

to overturn the 12020 election. the house committee is considering calling her to testify. how into republicans be responding to the allegations? after all, she's the wife of a supreme court justice. moss americans believe the supreme court is still independent, and this diminutishes the credibility of the court. this makes it seems like someone closest to a supreme court justice is deeply invested in trying to overturn the election result, trying to help donald trump stay in power. obviously the supreme court had a big role in ha whole rods.

>> i don't think he needs to resign from the court. certain it diminishes the credibility of the cord, raises questions about what justice thomas' motivations might be. some of these republicans are coming out stridently defending justice thomas. this is not just about one man or one person, but this is about the supreme court, one of the most important institutions in our country and needs to be trusted by the american people. we know that most americans don't trust congress. michelle, your thoughts on this historic week, where the white house signed the law of the emmett till anti-lynching bill?

>> i think that, you know, it shows that is as frustrating as these last phi month till lay has been it still matters enormously who is in the executive branch, right? it's hard to feel jubilant on a bill that was so long overdue. in many ways, it's stunning it took so long, but if democrats lose in november, we won't have legislation to at historic wrongs in the country for a very long time.

>> michelle goldberg and former representative cabello, thank you. after the break, a new report reveals just how difficult finding refuge is for non-white people for the war in ukraine. unfortunately, the racism doesn't stop if they're able to get out. i'll explain, next. i'll explain, next better hearing leads to a better life. and that better life... ...starts at miracle-ear. it all begins with the most innovative technology... ...like the new miracle-earmini™. available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small, no one will see it. but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a 30-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation.

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. welcome back to "politics nation." as putin's war continues a humanitarian crisis black refugees are facing their own particular forms of injudd investigation by the independent newspaper in england recently found that ukraine residents of nonwhite origins, who have crossed the border to escape the war have been detained in facilities with something having been there for weeks.

>> your organization has been known for organiing and utilizing social media to help african students flee ukraine safely. can you tell us more about your organization, what it is doing on this front? >> thank you, reverend, for having me. it's sad to see what going on. after seeing the images and videos on social media about how blacks are being treated, but kicked out of classes. we know this doesn't exist everywhere, but in the face of war, we expected something better than that. that's why we say, you know

what? let's use shared media to organize. our association, one of our staff saw it, and brought it to our attention. and then let's get there and help people. so we're using social media, various whatsapp, and those who have been detained and prevented from getting into some of the shelters. that's how our organization was formed. we have several organization from different places, and more and more people are joining are efforts. now, ipt wanting to hear your reaction that found several refugees coming from ukraine

have been detained and at least four students have been held 40 kilometers from the polish capital, with, quote, little means of communication with the outside world and no legal advice. according to the report, the polish government, polish police and estonian authorities declined to comment on the allegations. however, a press officer at the iom said the organization was aware of three other facilities in poland where, quote, third-country nationals arriving from ukraine who lacked proper travel documents were brought there for the purpose of identity verification. what is your reaction and what options exist for black refugees being detained? >> it's very sad. i can tell you, yes, these facilities exist not just in

poland. we have one in germany, one in switzerland, okay. that is unfortunately. even in the eu, there are mandates and international students to be accepted and given temporary residence while they figure out where to go next. this has been almost all the kay for all the black students who have had to flee. some of them are in shelters, and our organization have helped some of them get into a partnership with airbnb. that's not been the case with everybody. some have been detained. as your writer said, we have people detained in camps and legal representatives who are fighting every day to make the lee rights are respected. >> before you give that, i want to give how to contact you, but some numbers for our viewers, your organization has done

remarkable work on the refugees up front, having helped evacuate 1,289 black students and families from ukraine, and have helped assist 219 of those evacuated end up in switzerland, germany or france. you've also send 65 students back to their home countries in africa. can you tell us how these efforts have been looking? what does it look like behind the scenes? we have always found a clever way, and i daresay, yes, in as much as we can be proud of the

work we've done somewhere were stripped naked, as they were trying to leave ukraine. that's because the russian folks basically apprehended them searched them and then let them go we are trying to make sure they get out safely. >> tell people how they can find your organization and where they can go to watch and see how they could be supportive of your work. it's aca ottawa.com. you go there, there's a link to our gofundme page and some of our web sites with our partners everywhere. that's a play to go to donate our causes.

>> also, we encourage getting them out, but because they were students, we are working with governments and universities and cross europe and canada to accept them as transfer students. as we speak, ottawa is taking the lead and we are working with the canadian medical association is here. >> all right. well, thank you, hector addison, for being with us and giving us that information. next up, my final thoughts. the slap that stopped the show at the oscars. we'll be right back. we'll be right back.

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the slap by will smith on chris rock at last week's academy awards six days ago has

now resounded around the world. it was inexcusable. it was unjustified. i understand standing up for the honor of your wife. i understand the pain. but how you react can make it worse. but what is not being discussed is that there was an effort by many of us to deal with the exclusion of blacks at the academy award, at the oscars ceremonies. i remember in 2016 i was in front of the oscars, helping to lead a protest with reverend k.w. tulis and reverend rose by of los angeles national network about the exclusion of blacks. young lady had a hashtag that went viral of #oscarsowhite, who we had on this show. and this year for the first time we had a black producer of the oscars, who did an excellent job. we had questlove win an oscar

for documentary, "summer of soul," that dealt with a black wood stock at norris park in harlem. we saw samuel l. jackson win an oscar. no one talked about that. we cannot have the only story, violence against one another, when we ought to be talking about those with quality and value. that ought to be the oscar story. that is why at national action network's convention that starts next wednesday, we're going to engage with dealing with policy and how we deal with consequential thinking, how we deal with health care, deal with voting rights, and deal with police reform. and everyone from hillary clinton to our own congress people and senators and congressional black caucus members will be there to talk about how we strategize to change laws and make policy happen and not just have

emotional reaction. go to www.nationalactionnetwork.net and come to the convention three days this week. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. for another live hour of "politics nation." our news coverage continues here on msnbc at the top of the hour. e on msnbc at the top of the hour. allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. what are you recommending for muscle pain? based on clinical data, i recommend salonpas. agreed... my patients like these patches because they work for up to 12 hours, even on moderate pain. salonpas. it's good medicine

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