stavridis what the offensive will look like. >> on the russian side of this, we'll see a lot of parts moving on the battlefield. don't look for a sweeping cohesive battle plan on the ukrainian side. look for endless resistance. they are here to stay. and let's close on a snapshot of mariupol, a doomed city, but where you see defenders like at the alamo standing and delivering for their country, magnify that through the ukrainian -- >> that's the steel factory we're looking at right now. that's their alamo. >> it is. >> admiral, we've heard for a while this bat until the donbas is going to look different to what we've seen to this point in the war. urban warfare, guerrilla fighting, and this is going to be more set-piece combat. explain to viewers what that means. are these going to be tanks lined up? what sort of artillery will be

used? >> think about the revenge of geography. in other words, you can change a lot of things on a battlefield. you can't change the terrain. thus, as you point out correctly, jonathan, out in the cities, onto the plains of ukraine. it's a vast -- think kansas. and as a result of that, that armor can move both the tanks, the armored personnel carrier, and yes what the russians envision is a sweeping set-piece kind of battle like we haven't seen since the second world war. we'll see, a, if they can deliver that, and b, ukrainians have plenty of firepower that we have given them to put a real sense of defense in front of the russians. so it's going to be quite striking to watch. about ten years ago, when i was supreme allied commander of nato, i spent a fair amount of time with my counterpart, general nikolai, and he would talk endlessly about thousand

russians were going to specialize, get out of the conscript business, improve their logistics and technology, and we watched that and saw some of that happening. but let me toll you, joe, until the bullets fly you don't know what kind of military you actually have. >> interesting. >> and president xi, as he looks at the world, he's got to be asking himself, i wonder if what my generals and admirals are telling me is about as accurate as what putin was told by his. >> part of our conversation this morning, retired admiral james stavridis. joining us live, former u.s. ambassador to russia, director of the institute for international studies at stanford, michael mcfaul. ambassador, it's great to have you with us. interested to hear your assessment of what james stavridis said there, if you want to add or amend it. what do you think the next few days, weeks, months, perhaps years look like in the east of ukraine? >> well, he's the former

admiral, i'm the former ambassador, so i'll defer to him on the military tactics. everything i hear from both american officials and ukrainian officials support what he just said. i think it's important to underscore we've given the ukrainens an amazing amount of weapons to prepare for this battle. and yet, they are worried that they do not have enough. and that's just the difference between fighting on the battlefield and supplying those fighting on the battlefield. the second thing i would add to that, you notice we don't really have great fidelity on ukrainian casualties in the fighting before, right? so they won the battle of kyiv. that will go down as a mayor historical moment in the birth and the rebirth of the ukrainian nation. i have no doubt that when history books are rewritten about ukraine, this will be a major moment. we don't know how costly that was, and what i'm looking for in the coming days is will we see the asymmetries that look like

they are on paper play out in actual wins and losses on the battlefield. >> let me ask you, ambassador, about conversation we had earlier this morning with a friend of ours, a friend of the show, dr. jeff see sax, obviously from columbian university. dr. sax suggested that the united states needed to do more in the area of diplomacy, that we're too focused on fighting this war, too focused on winning this war. and we asked how you negotiate with vladimir putin and said you can negotiate with third countries for the most part. what is your take on that? is there more we could be doing diplomatically? >> no. it takes two to tango. you can't have diplomacy if the side doesn't want to talk. i urge people to the last time vladimir putin spoke on camera about three or four days ago men said diplomacy is at a dead end

because he wants to take more territory in ukraine. he's made it clear as day. no words are going to stop his tanks at this moment. wars tend to end in two ways, either one side wins or there's a stalemate on the battlefield, and right now we have neither of those conditions. it's just crystal clear to me. i watch russian television, read what he says, listen to his people pretty closely that they want to connect crimea to donbas and that's what this war is about, and maybe then, once they have achieved that they'll start talking. but until then, they'll keep fighting, and no amount of diplomats and third parties and the united nations will not change putin's fundamental calculation. >> well, he's committed war crimes. i'm curious your reaction to reports he's awarded medals to troops that were accused of committing war crimes in bucha. doesn't that really reveal his mind-set in a way that any

diplomatic talk would not? >> yes. i mean, it is a tactic of his horrible, heinous war. and, you know, sometimes i don't even like to use the word "war, with the right? why do we call killing negligent civilians in mariupol, wiping out the city completely, that's not war. that's something else. but it is part of the strategy, and it puts pressure on president zelenskyy. imagine what it feels like to be president zelenskyy and to be sitting in kyiv and not being able to protect your citizens in cities like mariupol. and so it's part of a conscious strategy. it's a were crime. it's terrorism if you ask me. i'm not an international lawyer, but it sure looks like terrorism to me. and it will continue, as i said, until there's a stalemate on the battlefield or one side wins. i predict stalemate is probably more likely. but he's not going to change

while he's still gaining territory. and right now putin is gaining territory. >> maybe rather than war he is decimating and eliminating the people of ukraine one by one. >> yes. >> some experts along the way have said the end game or one end game if this is won is just to wear the russians down, keep fighting, keep supplying weapons so that the russians are worn down. i don't really -- does that really end it, though? because i think it doesn't give putin any way to save face, that's one. and the other thing that's come up on this show today in the first three hours is the possibility of a ukrainian no-fly zone, like providing ukraine with the ability to create their own no-fly zone. is that feasible? >> well, on the second question, they already have some of that.

let's give them credit. the s-300 system that they have from slovakia will help, but i'm not an expert but i talk to ukrainian government officials every single day, and their attitude is thank you and now give us more. thank you, now do more. those are great sanctions, now do more. and they don't feel like they have the capabilities to do a no-fly zone now yet, but they want to get to that. with respect to the attrition war, that's a great question. i don't have a great answer. tragically, they could just keep fighting along some border. by the way, as they did, starting in 2014 until this moment. remember, the war started in 2014 and just kind of -- it's been grinding along until this escalation. tragically, that might be an outcome as well. >> mr. ambassador, we've heard growing speculation in recent

days that may 9th, the commemoration in russia of the former soviet union's victory over germany in world war ii, could be an important landmark for this conflict too. you know russia. you know putin. we know he likes historical markers. the ukrainians have warned washington that might be something putin tries to mark. the white house less certain. what do you think? >> el well, it's getting a lot of attention and most certainly may 9th is the most important date in russian history right now. i attended the may 9th celebrations as ambassador twice and watched the thousands of russian soldiers and all their equipment go through red square. it is a major event and kind of even religious. it's hard for americans to understand how important the end of world war ii is for russians. by the way, ukrainians and georgians and estonians, they all fought too. but they lost millions of people in that war, and they defeated

fascism, right, and real fascists, not alleged fasth inces like they're fighting in ukraine. putin and his propagandists are trying to tie those threads together, right? we defeated fascism in 1945 and we'll defeat them again in 2022. i personally don't think it's as viable looking at the calendar. i think war in donbas will be continuing. but it creates a moment in history. remember, whemp e whenever you hear save face, putin needs a win, all those things, remember, he gets to decide what that is. it's not actual people that he's saving face from, right? he won't have people like you on temperature criticizing, did we win or did we not? no. he gets to decide what is victory. and he could declare victory any day. and, you know, the fall of mariupol, if that happens before may 9th, the connecting of that land bridge, right, that might

be a marker why he says by the time you get to may 9th, let's negotiate seriously. >> so one other thing we've been covering today, ambassador, is ukraine becoming at least e a step closer to being a member of the european union less than two weeks after ukrainian president zelenskyy was given an application to join the eu. he returned it yesterday for review. now, the application process typically takes years to complete, but eu leaders have said they're willing to fast track ukraine's request given the country's circumstances. in a video posted to social media last night, zelenskyy thanked the eu for expediting the process and expressed optimism his country would soon be accepted. so what will this mean? how will this change the game if at all? >> well, first, don't you have to admire president zelenskyy's public relations?

isn't it brilliant? said it will take years and he hands it back in two weeks. that guy's a bad ass. i have so much admiration for him. >> he is. >> i have a working group i chair on sanctions. we just met last week. by the way, our -- what we recommend, we're going to come out with later today, on our zoom call, he zoom-bombed the call. he showed up to encourage us to do more faster. i think someday somebody needs to write about the brilliant way they use the media, do things like you just showed. i just congratulate them. that will put pressure on europeans to do more, faster. these things can drag on, but i think he's trying to seize the moment where everybody's watching his country, everybody says yes, ukraine is part of europe, and so he says, okay, i'm calling your bluff, here's the paperwork, accelerate our

membership. >> the ambassador's point about communication, president zelenskyy dropped a groundhog day bill murray reference. >> he did. >> to make the serious point that this feels like groundhog day. i wake up every day, i ask for more help, i get some of it, not of all what i need. i feel like bill murray waking up every morning. but in the interviews, jeffrey goldberg and other, he's trying to make the point that he feels the world saying, wow, ukraine is doing so well, they've inspired us, look how brave and courageous they are. he's saying yes, but don't let your mind drift away from the fact this is going to be a long, difficult fight. we need more of what you can get ut, more modern equipment and we need it today. that's the point he always drives home. >> and they have been getting so much equipment from the start of this. it's been going in phases, but it's goinging to ramp up to a new level now. i think also as far as the eu application process goes, the eu

leaders, including the eu president went to kyiv i think the day before boris johnson went to kyiv and handed him the application and said we'll expedite the process. that really is history changing. this battle in ukraine has been going on now for 20 years, almost 20 years since the orange revolution about this pull from east to west. it's playing out right now. again, as we said time and again, vladimir putin has miscalculated and he's going to have ukraine a member of the eu. >> they are incredible. >> by the way, finland -- >> and sweden and members of nato. stick around, ambassador mcfaul, if you can. we have more ahead on ukraine. vladimir putin is freezing the very military unit who is accused of committing the war crimes in bucha. ukraine's prosecutor general joins us to respond to that. plus, with masks no longer

required on planes or trains, andrew ross sorkin joins us with what that court ruling means for the travelers. >> by the way, we continue to get reports from economists, concerns about a coming recession. this morning the imf just downgraded the world outlook significantly for next year. expect the economy to slow down in the coming months. president biden hits the road today to try and make sure the american people know that despite the war in europe he is focused on issues here at home. but a new piece argues biden's foreign policy is directly impacting his domestic agenda. the author will join us when "morning joe" returns.

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we are talking a moment about this russian offensive in the eastern part of ukraine, an now we're seeing it. street fighting has broken out in a ukrainian city. russians took control of that town after unleashing heavy artillery fire. officials say it is impossible now for residents to evacuate. ukrainians say their forces retreated to regroup and to continue fighting. vladimir putin honored the brigade accused of committing horrendous acts in bucha. the following video you're about to see is disturbing. he praised the mass heroism and valor, tenacity, and courage of those troops.

they're the ones accused of murdering, torturing, and raping ukrainian civilians. some members of bucha were found bound, shot, and left -- dead. our next guest says nearly 8,000 alleged war crimes from russia. the ap cap associated press cal the woman who would make putin pay. thanks for joining us. you are looking into 8,000 war crimes. how are you conducting this investigation? and what's the possibility of true accountability? >> thank you very much for having me here. good morning, america. we appreciate for your support. yes, we have a lot of criminal cases. actually, it is thousands, more than several thousands of war crimes and more than 3,000 which are connected to them.

today we have -- we work in collaboration with our international help. actually with american colleagues too. we are ready to investigate. we now have more than 100 mobilized teams in the kyiv region. understand what we should do. but territoies go and look what we have. actually every time when we go to the small villages, we see atrocities not like in bucha but very terrible too. >> if you could describe what your investigative teams have found in bucha in particular. i ask that because vladimir putin is now pinning medals on the uniforms of the russian soldiers who carried out those

atrocities. there has been such a cloud of misinformation of what did and did not happen in that city and across your country. from your investigation, what can you tell us about bucha? >> it's like -- when he tried to issue this order of guards to their 64 separate brigades of the ground force for protection of state interest in the situation. you know that these brigades of armed forces occupied bucha where the russian troops committed mass atrocities that amount to crimes gen humanity and war crimes that are being investigated by prosecutors generals office of ukraine.

and this order explicitly endorses impunity for war crimes for russian soldiers as well as men fests criminal responsibility of the russian federation and the commander in chief of russian armed forces. it's very important, actually. when we speak about crimes against humanity, systemic violence, systemic bombing civilian infrastructure, rape, tortures, it's if we speak about crimes against humanity, we have common responsibility. and if he tries to do that, he's responsible for all this too. >> ukrainian prosecutor general, iryna venediktova, thank you for everything you're doing and thank you for being on today. >> thank you. ambassador mcfaul, thank you

very much for being on as well. i just want to get some final thoughts from you, especially hearing from the prosecutor general and the painstaking task of trying to investigate war crimes while the war is still going on. >> well, two things. one about ukraine and one about russia. ukraine, it's fantastic she's doing this work now. >> yeah. >> sometimes, you know, the whole country is a crime scene, but when you're in a war, it's sometimes hard to gather this information to do prosecutions. i think it's extremely important they're doing it right now. but number two, let's think about putin. think about when they pull out of bucha. he could have tried to hide these bodies, right? he could have tried to do something to diminish the evidence, but he didn't. he did it on purpose as a way to terrorize the ukrainian, and i want to leave you with that thought. he's not apologizing, saying we made a mistake, some general did

something i didn't want. no. he's giving them medals. i think that underscores just the kind of evil person that we're dealing with when we're talking about vladimir putin. >> an evil person, also it speaks volumes -- we talk to one military leader after another, one general or admiral after the other and they talk about the lack of discipline and restraint among the russian armed forces. even from the biggest things like these war crimes but also, mr. ambassador, to the smallest things, tank formations going through towns, trash left behind. we've had a couple of guests lately just saying they're shocked when they see -- >> disorganized. >> -- they see where russians retreat. it looks nothing like what happens when the united states leaves an area, when our armed forces leave an area for better or for worse. i know people are throwing up false analogies and they are

false, grotesque analogies, so we won't spend time on that. we will talk, though, mr. ambassador, about the lack of discipline among the russian troops. could you ever have imagined it being this badsome. >> no, honestly not. i think it's a very important point. you were stalking about it with admiral stavridis before. you know, before this war, russia would rank third or fourth as one of the world's biggest, best armies. and if you look at the number of soldiers and the amount of money spent and the number of weapons, that's what it looked like on paper. but it sure doesn't look like that in reality. i think we also need to underscore the incredible will of the ukrainians to fight. so they look bad not just because they are bad but because the ukrainians are so good. and one last thing i think we need to underscore. putin doesn't care about the lives of his own soldiers. you know, he has no respect for their lives as well. that adds to just the incredible

horrific nature of this war. >> ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you very much for being on this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, we're just minutes away from the opening of the markets. as netflix prepares to release its quarterly earnings, the once unthinkable could be on the table for the streaming giant. and breaking news, the imf talking about a downturn next year. is a recession in your future? we'll talk to andrew about that as well. >> just in time to have andrew on. and this morning's must-read opinion pages including why russia likely won't win the fight in ukraine's cities. and senator elizabeth warren on how democrats can avoid disaster in november. we're back in just a moment.

all right. 32 past the hour. a lot going on. the markets have just opened with businesses reacting to a federal judge's ruling joemp turning the cdc's mask mandate on planes and trains, making them mostly optional. from now on, the nation's largest airlines, united, delta, southwest, alaska, and american already dropped their mask requirements. and while the cdc still recommends wearing them on public transit, the white house says the tsa will stop enforcing it. >> let's bring in a columnist from "the new york times," and cnbc's "sidewalk box" anchor, andrew ross sorkin. you come with numbers. >> it wasn't a culture war before, and this was inspired a lit bill conversation with sara nelson, who runs the union for flight attendants. >> okay. >> because there's mixed emotions in that community about

this. a lot of others want the masks to stay on. >> you're right. >> i took to twit they are morning and i did a poll and i said if you were to use public transportation now that the mask mandate is off on a plen or a train, sara, while knowingly sick, so you're going on a plane, you know you're sick. >> you know it. >> perhaps a cold, bronchitis or possibly covid, would you wear a mask effectively to protect others, or would you not wear a mask and rely on others to wear their own masks to protect themselves ps. >> what is wrong with people? why is this even a question? >> people said they had no intention of wearing a mask. >> god. >> 25%. possibly covid and not wearing a mask. this becomes the central issue about when you go on a plane or a train or wherever you're going, whether you wear a masks

but it goes to the issue of whether we learned anything from this experience. selfishness versus selflessness, me versus we. there's a lot of issues here and we'll see them on airplanes. from a business perspective, the pilots and some of the airlines are worried about that you could see more cancellations of flights because invariably there will be people who get sick and you will see staff shortages in certain places. >> before we move on, when you go on twitter, if you could please not retweet something i misspoke five years ago. >> i will avoid that. >> thanks. >> but i'll make sure i tag you. >> don't pretend it was today when it was five years ago. just saying. >> that was awfully random. >> i almost took to twitter when i saw that and was, like, do you people even know what you're talking about? it's a different set for crying out loud. >> i clarified on twitter five

years ago -- >> that's insane. >> insane. >> that's wrong with social media today. >> that's what's wrong with twitter. >> it proves the point there have to be guardrails and, like, there's guardrails here. we speak out of turn. we lie. we slander people. >> no. >> i said if we do. >> oh. >> there are guardrails. >> that's going to be isolated and tweeted. >> social media should remain the wild, wild west and with the rules that apply to every other publication and every other broadcast network, it's absolutely ridiculous. >> nuts. >> but i digress. breaking news. i've heard people talking about expect a recession next year possibly. and now they're saying growth across the world is going to be decreasing significantly, says the imf, because of ukraine. would you guess we're looking at a recession next year, maybe a

little stagflation? i've also thought over the next 18 months we would at minimum go sideways if not down. i thought it would be very hard for the federal reserve to land the plane properly. just history has shown it's hard to get it right. interestingly, the imf this morning saying growth going down to about 3.5%, could act sort of again perversely, strangely, to reduce demand and reduce the inflation problem. so in terms of some of the central banks having to do some extra work, they may not have to in that way. >> netflix has been, you know, golden child. it's the future. nobody wants to be netflix. then about a month ago, started hearing terrible things about netflix. i want 's the titanic. it's the worst thing ever. does netflix have a positive future, an upside or not? >> i think they definitely have an upside. the question is they have such

huge market share already, especially in the united states. the big growth opportunity for them is outside of the united states still. >> right. >> but one of the things they're talking about in the u.s., especially given the competition, disney plus, peacock, our network and others, is this idea -- >> you had to say peacock. >> i don't have to say it. >> you had to say it. >> my own volition. anyway, bottom line, i think -- >> hold on a second. by the way, by the way, people on twitter, it's not what it says. >> they can isolate that and retweet it 40,000 times. >> go ahead. >> one thing you'll see is more advertising on netflix, because that's an avenue for them to create more subscribers potentially at a lower price

point coming in, right. one of the things they've done is increase their price consistently for subscribers. they could drop that price and advertise. >> what's netflix's challenge? >> the costs are unbelievably high and i think the entire industry is realizing that the model is very challenged. it's very hard to continue to get hit after hit after hit and this kind of volume. we've become obsessed with going on and see new shows every day. >> like "morning joe." how do they fit everything into three hours? what do we do? we add a fourth hour. >> february streaming on peacock. next, there are potential -- up next -- do i hit him? >> no twitter poll. >> there are potential ballot shortages in nevada and some violence in new mexico

classrooms. we'll explain those stories making headlines on america's front pages. the big story in the boston papers was the return of the boston marathon. 28,000 runners competed in the 126-year-old event. but one moment and runner stole the show. 20-year-old henry richard crossing the same finish line where his 8-year-old brother, martin, was killed nine years ago in the boston marathon bombing. henry was embraced by his family including his sister, jane, who lost a leg in the attack. henry called the race more incredible than he could have imagined but said all he could think about was his brother, that his brother would have been running with him. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe."

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it's a beautiful shot of los angeles. >> that's my ring tone. >> yes, it is. okay. >> little miles davis. >> joe's ring tone. >> he felter skelter. that didn't work out. >> the phone going off. >> good morning. >> 6:45 in l.a. >> time now for a check on the morning papers. first to california where "the los angeles times" is highlighting a new poll showing the majority of residents want politicians to fight climate change. l.a. voters say extreme heat and air pollution pose serious threats to their health and safety. also in southern california, the ventura county star reports the

number of migrants attempting to cross the border has surged to its highest level in two deck a'sed. the u.s. is preparing for larger numbers with the expected lifting of a pandemic-era order that turned away asylum seekers. in nevada, the "reno gazette-journal" reports printed ballot shortage, demand of paper brought on by the pandemic is leaving ballot benders worried about not getting a sufficient supply in time for the primary and midterm elections. new mexico's silver city daily press, an independent, has a front-page feature on chaos in the classroom. the paper reports violent outbursts and risky behaviors have become increasingly common in the return to in-person learning. many students are experiencing anxiety going back to school

after months of online learning, calling the process of reentry jarring and chaotic. that's the story we'll be talking about more. oregon's statesman journal says marion county is seeing a large surge in new covid cases, up by more than a third from last week. they rank 20th amid states where coronavirus is predding the fastest. and in utah, the "salt lake tribune" says the state republican party is considering a change to its platform regarding abortion. the paper says the right to life reads we strongly oppose abortion except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. in a few hours president joe biden will head to new hampshire where he's set to talk about the bipartisan infrastructure law

this afternoon. the trip could be part of the new push to bring the focus back home. >> jonathan lemire, the easter bunny will not be there. >> no, because it's scary. >> seemed to be -- >> a terrifying moment. >> terrifying. what happened? the easter bunny -- >> that bunny was crazy looking. >> a little thrown off. >> the easter egg roll yesterday, bringing back a nice moment. on the south lawn the president briefly spoke to reporters and pakistan and he was startled by the appearance of a large rabbit over his shoulder. the easter bunny whisked him away. it's a very funny moment. >> they actually slowed it down. it was like "old school" will ferrell where he was at the bottom of the pool. slowed down. >> the best tweet which was also being circulated among white house aides was the president saw his arch nemesis.

>> let me ask you something. >> the rabbit was scascary. >> i heard the rabbit was a staffer. he was asking questions about -- >> world issues. >> the rabbit pulled him away. >> all of that is true. >> so the rabbit -- >> press handler. >> that makes it even better! >> returning him to where he was with the egg roll and the kids and shielding him from questions maybe he shouldn't have answered. >> it's crazy. >> harvey the rabbit. was that the movie? you know movies. >> it was harvey. >> he kind of glares at the rabbit, right? he's glaring at a staffer who's trying to move him away from doing what he likes to do, which is to take questions. >> at that moment -- at that moment -- >> okay.

>> so what's he going to do in new hampshire? >> he's going to talk about the bipartisan infrastructure deal passed and signed into law late last year, part of an overall push to refocus on domestic issues. obviously, ukraine front and center, you're thinking about the see it on your face. >> i can't get past that! the president meets his arch nemesis. >> hopefully the bunny has not made the trip to the granite state. the president heads to the pacific northwest for more events on this, one on earth day, but also in-person fund-raising as people look to boost their coffers. >> let's develop on this point. joining us now, adjunct senior fellow at the counsel on foreign relations, heidi kreboredeker. new piece in foreign affairs out this morning. heidi argues domestic policy and foreign policy go hand in hand, and there's a way to create a real foreign policy for the middle class.

heidi, explain. >> so we're all focused on russia/ukraine right now, but when president biden came into office, his big message on international economic policy was all about how he was going to create a foreign policy for the middle class and what did that mean? it meant that you would combine the middle class objectives of increasing jobs, better jobs, investment, particularly investment in infrastructure, investment in the strengthening of supply chains, making sure that the u.s. had better relationships with its allies. but also, that it meant that foreign policy and domestic policy, there was no bright line between them. they were one and the same. and in order to -- in order to invest in our own ability to project power into the future, we really needed to invest at home. and i think the -- you know, the

bipartisan infrastructure act that was passed last november is a really good example of how that worked. >> andrew, let's talk about this. it's so fascinating. i remember jeff immelt when he was at ge, you know, this supply chain thing, having to get a refrigerator made from across the world and then getting it shipped here, let's make it here. well, we saw in covid, you know, people go, wait a second, we don't make any masks here. they're all made in china? then a couple of months later. the pills -- all the pills we make are made in china? they're not made here? now we're, of course, in russia. we're talking about natural gas, we're talking about -- it does seem like the past few years have -- what heidi is talking about, just encourages us to, yes, do more energy exploration here, but also, invest more in r&d, do all the things that bring these jobs back home. >> you would think it would. and it should. the big winner, by the way, i would argue, i'm curious if heidi agrees with this, is actually going to be mexico when

it comes to manufacturing, when you think about it. because a lot of companies now who have been doing a lot of business in china, for example, and other parts of the world, who are starting to rethink those relationships, are trying to find other places to manufacture. interestingly, some are trying to bring that back to the u.s., but others are trying to find lower-cost -- india may become a winner as a result of some of this. but there is a rethink. the question is, whether the infrastructure built to some degree was either big enough, heidi, and was focused enough on things like semi-conductor chips. obviously, that's a component part of all of this. and what we need to do to get a lot more manufacturing back in this country, if that's what we want. >> so i think the idea of the supply chain -- supply chains and corporate diversification of supply chains was something that certainly hit home. and those were, you know, bottlenecks and a lot not having just overreliance on one supplier, whether it's semi-conductors or batteries, rare earths, metals, components that you need for -- to have a

strong domestic economy and a functioning company, you know, company supply chain source that has multiple points of flexibility. mexico will certainly benefit, but i think we have to separate bottlenecks and what companies were already doing with a really big initiative that the biden administration rolled out on looking at national security, both from a defense and a commercial perspective. what are those things that we need to have here that we need to either onshore or friendshore? those include semiconductors. those include rare earth metals and it includes the full cycle of the battery production. i mean, i think when we talk about the investment in a green future, we really rely on a huge upsurge in battery production, to be able to support this. and at the same time, we rely on

china for -- they have 50% of the access to the rare earths. and we rely on china for 85% of the production processing of those rare earths, which are components -- you know, parts of the supply chain that we really need to invest at home. latin america has sources, canada has sources. also, you know, it's not just -- the infrastructure and investment in jobs act was a down payment. so that point is clear. it's one that was -- that will certainly accelerate the -- you know, the green transition. there will be a huge amount of investment in grid and, you know, transmission lines. but at the same time, we're doing this, the supply chain diversification with allies. and that whole concept of friendshoring is a great one. the one thing we really need to do better on is trade.

we need to put forward for our, you know, leg in china, moving forward, a really strong presence, so that we're not just leaning on a national security and a military leg there. you had -- okay, thank you so much. >> agreed. all right. thank you so much. greatly appreciated. >> adjunct senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, heidi crebo-redeker. by the way, any moment now, president biden will hold a call from the situation with our allies to discuss continued support for ukraine. at the top of the hour, a member of the ukrainian parliament will tell msnbc what kind of support they still need. and that does it for us this morning. >> already?! >> yes. do you want five? does he want five hours. >> we were just beginning. >> jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage -- >> by the way, we've got the rabbit tomorrow. special guest star, the rabbit. plp

good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. breaking news. right now in ukraine, russia has confirmed it is launching a new phase of the war. ukraine's president vowing to fight as russia seeks full control of ukraine's donbas region in the east. also happening right now, in the u.s., masks are coming off planes, trains, and ubers after a florida judge voided the