top of the hour. 9:00 on the east coast. 6:00 a.m. out west. as we roll into the fourth hour of "morning joe." four hours, everybody. and less than two hours from now president biden will formally ask congress for a major new aid package to help ukraine. the dollar amount has not been revealed but nbc news has learned it is designed to cover

military, economic and humanitarian assistance for the next five months. we'll go live to the white house momentarily for reporting on if and when that package might get through both the house and the senate. it comes on the same day that the head of nato said members of the alliance have pledged and provided more than $8 billion in ukrainian military aid so far. and this morning former nato supreme court allied commander navy admiral james stavridis told us what they've done to keep ukraine in the fight and how the new aid package could help tip the scales. >> it is an enormous step. and really if you look back to, say, world war 2 and you look at what the united states was doing for a very beleaguered, very encircled united kingdom, this

is beginning to hit those levels. and in fak, we're hearing historic alecos as you know of the land lease program which was the cornerstone of franklin roosevelt did for winston churchill. we're in that same mode here with our friends in ukraine. and i think the stakes are equally high. so, we can do this. let's also recall from those days, once you get the arsenal of democracy as it is been called, our ability to produce real combat capability, once you get it rolling, watch out. and so, a., we can do this, b., it is the right thing to do, and back to our dear mutual friend madeleine albright, one of the last conversations i had with her early in this year was talking about nato and the nato role in all of this. you know, madeline wrote the

strategic plan for nato in 2010. go back and read it. it holds up pretty well. and she said even then, before the invasion, in the end this is going to be about our ability to put weapons in the hands of ukrainians. pressent comment, it is the right thing to do. >> sometimes americans feels that the russians and nato are roughly equally armed could not be further from the truth. the russian entire defense budget is $70 billion. the defense budget of the united states alone is 10 times that. well over $700 billion. the russians have 5,000 combat aircraft, nato as 28,000 combat aircraft. russia has essentially a handful of capable ships, maybe 100. nato has 700. and by the way, scratch one of the russian ships, it's flagship

the moskva. is it is not just the industrial might, it is what exists today and all of that augered very well for a sudden clarification in the russian mind. but here is the problem. the problem of a vladimir putin. he's so personally invested, so deeply angry. and he still has other weapons at his disposal. chemical companies, god forbid nuclear weapons. i think the latter extremely unlikely, the former not out of the range of the imagine. and he could use cyber as a very significant capability. so, you're showing his face now. he's an angry, bitter, frustrated man who is personally invested in that. i'm not sure he's toting up the score in industrial capability and budgets. but we need to do everything that we can to make it clear to him he cannot win this foot race. >> a portion of our conversation earlier this morning with

retired admiral. along with the request for new aid, president biden is sending a proposal to enhance the u.s. government's ability to go after russian oligarchs and government figures. white house said it would establish new authorities for the justice and treasury departments to seize oligarch assets and prevent them from evading sanctions and make it easier for the united states government to in turn use those assets to help ukraine. joining us now, chief white house constituent for "the new york times" peter baker and ben hodges, a former commanding general of the united states arm any why europe, now the pershing share and strategic studies at the center for europe policy analysis. good morning to you both. and general hodgess, i begin with you and the new posture from defense secretary austin talking about a weakened russian military so it can't project tis strength into countries surrounding it. what do you make of that stepped

up rhetoric and how does the new renewed focus invasion just focus on the east is going for russia right now? >> willie, thanks. how powerful when you see america's top diplomat and america's top security official going in tandem. to kyiv to meet with president zelenskyy and secretary blinken is saying we're getting our diplomats back into ukraine and that is this important. and we have a nomination for a confirmed ambassador to go into ukraine. that is just as important as delivering howitzers. and then the terminology used by secretary austin to say we're in this to help ukraine to win and then lay out that meaning that it is sovereignty and that is so powerful and reflects a maturation of the thinking about the white house our alliesond what this is all about. wasn't that long ago we were arguing about whether or not to provide stingers.

now in a short amount of time, the administration i think has gotten it right. can we deliver? the russians, of course the noise coming out the kremlin, they're extremely unhappy about this. the capable that the admiral just talked about is very evident for everybody to see. and you're starting to see germany now providing armored vehicles, this is what american leadership delivers. >> you know, peter baker, it was not so long ago in our early careers that people would say that politics stops at the water's edge and believed it. it hasn't been that way for a very long time. we saw that briefly after september 11th. but we do see a far more unified washington, d.c. administration officials are talking about it, republicans are talking about it and i'm just curious, your newspaper, "the new york times"

this morning talking about vladimir putin once again threatening the possible of nuclear war if the united states continues to humiliate him on the battlefield. do you see any cracks for that bipartisan approach toward russia's invasion or are republicans and democrats still for the most part standing shoulder to shoulder against putin? >> yeah, no, i think holding firm. i think the criticism from president biden's opponents is he's not doing enough but broadly speaking there is a consensus in washington among democrats and republicans, most republicans anyway, that there is no choice but to stand up to putin in this instance. there is not an out for us either. and i think their worried about threats of nuclear force. i talked yesterday with senior people at the pentagon and they think that is something to worry about. but they haven't seen any signs that there is any actual

preparatory kind of work that you would do for that kind of thing. you can't obviously keep track of tract cal nuke weapons the way they can strategic nuclear weapons but while their watching this carefully, they don't think that is something that putin is on the verge of doing this. and suddenly you're at a full scale war with russia and to the general's point, yes, that is, i think to admiral's point, we outnumber them in equipment and capacity but that doesn't mean they can't do enormous damage and they're counting on a american public and a western european public that doesn't want war and that will restrain the political forces from going too far. but so far for most part, joe, i think right you're, democrats an republicans largely stand together right now in washington on this. >> i'm just curious, general, this is a interesting switch for

the united states, from the cold war when we, of course, looked at our nuclear capabilities as an offset if the soviet union's troops rushed into central and western europe. now it is the russians who are being overwhelmed by conventional forces. and i'm wondering, at this stage, the early stages of this war we were more concerned about putin saber rattling and more prone to, well, listen to his nuke blackmail. it seems to me that most people in the biden administration and most foreign policy officials right now are of the opinion that he's just bluffing. let me ask you, what is your take? when you hear this from putin, when you hear it from lavrov, do you think it is a bluff, is it a sign of weakness, or is it something that we really need to be concerned about?

>> well, i think what you have highlighted very well is again the maturation of the administration's thinking. you remember, it wasn't that long ago we were worried about providing stingers. now here we are delivering armored vehicles, artillery, endless amounts of ammunition and it is a growing realize is, that of course putin is serious, he's dangerous and brutal, he has not a streak of humanitarian streak in him. but i think he's not crazy. he does not want to be nero. and i think that the idea, he knows that the advantages that the alliance has, that the united states has over russia. it is so significant. and by the way, a response to a nuclear employment by the russians, whether it is a large or small, does not have to be nuclear from our side. there have so many different things that we could do to wreck all of our financial institutions or this is what the

f-35 was designed for. fill the sky over ukraine with f-35s and obliterate russian land fords inside of ukraine. >> there was new violence overnight in the occupied ukrainian city of kherson. take a look at this video. it is a tv tower being hit by a missile. the strike briefly took prorussian programming off the air in that city. it is not clear which side launched the attack. but it comes on the heels of a contentious protest where pro-ukrainian were hit with grenades. kherson has been cut off since russia seized it in early march. leading to shortages of food, medicine and money. meanwhile, the russian foreign ministry is warning ukraine against launching attacks inside of russian territory. cautioning any attack will be met with a, quote, harsh response.

multiple explosions have been reported in russia in recent days, including two that were nearly 200 miles away from the ukrainian border. ukraine has not claimed but when asked about the attacks, a close adviser to president zelenskyy said in response, karma is a cruel thing. willie. >> those attacks inside of russia along with explosions we've seen in moldova and new threats against the west that we just discussed are fuelling concerns about where things may be headed next in this war. according to a new report, in "the new york times," the fear is that the conflict may escalate into a wider war, spreading to neighboring states and to cyberspace and to nato countries suddenly facing a russian cut off of gas. over the long-term, such an expansion could evolve into a more direct conflict between washington and moscow reminiscent of the cold war as each seeks to sap the other's power. meanwhile, the head of nato

indicated finland and sweden could be admitted into the organization as soon as this summer. jens stoltenberg said if the two countries apply for membership, they would be welcomed with what he called open arms and confident that nato could provide security to protect the countries in the time gap between the application to join and being formally welcomed as members. there is speculation that those applications could be submitted before the end of next month. so i want to go back to "the new york times" report about the concerns over the widening of this war. and whether your sources at the white house are prepared for this, are expecting that, if this does become as long and protracted as people like general milley has said it will become, if it widens out to some countries, some nato and some not, what does that mean for the american approach to war. >> i think they've been war gaming scenarios for quite a while about the possible

expansion and escalation of this war. that is always been the worry, right. as general hodges said. we had shied away from sending migs and doing other things that we thought might be too provocative and so far we discovered that the united states and the west can in fact provide ukraine with quite an extraordinary amount of weaponry without facing the kind of consequences we're talking about. but is that doesn't mean it won't be in the future. that russia could escalate this. what if they attacked a weapons convey or strike in a nato country at a target they deem to be reasonable, what is the response going to be and i think the white house has been playing out if this and then that. and because if fact, we can't be complacent. the fact that ukrainians have done so well, that doesn't mean that that will continue or russia may be do something more extreme. putin is not operating on the

same assumptions that a western leader would. he's been willing to -- >> to do things that are crazy. >> and that is why they're worried about that. >> and i do wonder people saying how irrational he has become, vladimir putin has become and it reminds me when they talk about how dick cheney was different after the heart attack. it is not the dick cheney i used to know. now maybe dick cheney's outlook was changed by a heart attack or maybe it was changed by the fact that 3,000 americans were killed on september 11th. so for cheney it was very rational. he said i won't let this happen again. when you look at vladimir putin, he looks at the fact that in 2008 he goes into georgia and the west does nothing. in 2014 he goes into ukraine and the west does nothing. he takes over crimea and west does nothing. go news syria and commits war crimes every bit as bad as he

committing right now and the west does nothing. and he shoots down commercial airplanes, the west does nothing. you look at 2016 campaign, and the disinformation and about presidential campaign and the west does nothing. so, why wouldn't he assume if the west has done nothing, and he's never been punished over the past 15 years for his war crimes, why would he think that things would be different in 2022. it seems to me that he may actually be a very shrewd calculating customer who knows he's been backed into the corner, just doesn't know how to get out of it. >> well, joe, obviously you said it better than i could. but everything he's done is what he said he was going to do in terms of -- or how he views ukraine and the region. and you're right, i think he's

so accustomed to getting his way, and now he's having to resource to, well i'm going to use nukes or i'm going to do this, when in fact i don't think he is at all. because using a nuclear weapon would not give him any meaningful battlefield advantage. the video of mariupol almost every day. that is what hiroshima looks like. so adding a nuke is not going to make that any worse. and i think the people around him are thinking that there will be life after vladimir putin. so, it just seems to me very unlikely. i don't think that they really have the ability to expand the war. this activity that is happening in niesthra. this is only a problem if they fix the problems from the previous two months and able to con duck a major amphibious operation that links up with land forces somewhere around odesa or in this southwest

corner of ukraine known as southwest bessarobbia, where thought there might be people that are sympathetic. that has all changed and they don't have theable to do that. so i think that is more of a distraction to cause us to look over there, they don't have the ability to do that. honestly, i think they're very close actually once again to culminating, they don't have more stuff coming in behind them. >> i was just going to say, general, what in the world have we seen over the past eight weeks to suggest that russia would have the ability to do that logistically. what are we seen, even in the donbas, i mean, do we really think they're going to expand into nato territories when they've been fighting to nail down the donbas, for what, five, six, seven years. >> mariupol is still standing. that city, if the russian military was capable, that city should have been gone in the first four or five days.

yet, they still can't get inside of that steel plant. and so, the ukrainians, it is incredible tenacity and of course what we're doing, what the administration is doing and in leading our allies is coming with a capabilities that are needed. what we've got to think about is how do we get the initiative, what could we do to force the kremlin to start looking in other directions and i think we have several options and i'm sure chairman millie and the team are laying those out for the president. >> ben hodgess, thank you very much for your insight this morning. peter, stay with us. up next, we mentioned the aid package the president is expected to propose in just over 90 minutes. but will congress is a prove it. speaker nancy pelosi will address that question in a news conference later this hour. we'll take a look at this. plus breaking news this morning, moderna asking regulators to authorize its vaccine for children under 6 years old.

as dr. fauci said, we have moved out of the full blown pandemic phase. andrew ross sorkin will be here on that and the breaking news that the u.s. economy unexpectedly shrunk in the first quarter. and as we go to break, an update on the news that broke on our air yesterday morning. trevor reed, the marine who was part of a prisoner exchange with russia is officially back on u.s. soil. he landed in san antonio early this morning and was greeted by members of his family and a small group of supporters. his father said trevor's health would need to be extensively evaluated. and that tuberculosis was of particular concern. in a tweet, celebrating his return, trevor's mother asked for prayers for the family of paul whelan, a marine veteran who has been held in russia since 2018. we'll be right back. we'll be rightac bk.

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into welcome back to "morning joe," it is 9:25 on the east coast. 6:25 out in l.a. if you're waking up out there. good morning. a beautiful day there. straight out of the matrix. we've been seeing the united nations come under attack from all sides over the past six weeks being inept and not being able to get anything done and the u.n. secretary general not helping matters about going to visit vladimir putin in russia before going to ukraine. >> yes. well, the u.n. secretary general has arrived in ukraine this morning. ahead of his meeting -- >> finally. >> -- yes ahead of his meeting with volodymyr zelenskyy. he visited the cities of beacha and bora danka outside of kyiv

to witness the destruction left by the invasion. he called the war an absurdity in the 21st century. he met with russian president vladimir putin as joe mentioned for nearly two hours on tuesday. the two mentioned -- the two men discussed evacuations for civilians trapped on the battlefield. most notably, in the city of mariupol. while the secretary general is in ukraine, top human rights lawyer amal clooney yesterday criticized the united nations for not doing enough. nbc's news chief washington correspondent andrea mitchell has more on her comments. >> this morning a powerful call to action from amal clooney. >> ukraine is today a slaughterhouse. right in the heart of europe. >> known to many for her marriage to george clooney, she's internationally famous for her ground breaking works as a

human rights lawyer and challenging to do more to address the war crimes in bucha. >> this council has had so much peoples with that now hollow refrain, never again. but here we are. faced with evidence of the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mounting evidence each day of the crime of genocide. >> in her storied legal career, she's investigating in dar for and bosnia and the last seven years she's gone offer isis for war crimes against theys edies. she said they never acted. >> this happened that -- happened the year that my children were born. my first trip as a working mother. my children are now almost 5 and so far most of the evidence that has been collected by the u.n. is in storage.

when survivors ask me to explain how can this be. i could only say i am ashamed. >> inaction is he shed leads others to believe they'll never be held accountable. >> the perpetrators commit these crimes believing they will get away with it. and they have been right. >> in 2016, clooney explained her passion for her work to cynthia mcfadden. >> i believe in international justice and i believe it is important that you don't just turn the page without people being held to account. >> seen around the world at events like the royal wedding of meghan and harry, she recently explained how she used her celebrity to shine a light on issues that matter. saying, in terms of an increased public profile, i think all i can do is try to turn the spotlight to what is important. >> andrea mitchell reports for us there. and part of the problem with the u.n. is that russia is a permanent member of the security council and holds a veto there. let's bring in white house

correspondent for politico eugene daniels. it is great to see you again this morning. so just over an hour from now, we're going to hear from president biden giving out more support in what has become sort of a weekly ritual from the united states to ukraine. we talked a moment earlier about the impact that aid would have. what is the package look like, what do we expect to see and how quickly might congress move it through? >> good to see you, willie. i mean, the massive, is what we're being told, that it will look like here from the white house, it is a big package and it is possibly something that they're going to want to fund through the fiscal year. so through the end of september. that would mean that billions and billions of dollars, because what we've seen is some of the money that has been sent out to ukraine to help, they've been running through it with humanitarian and security assistance and in congress it is possible that it is a little bit

more difficult to push through than the administration was hoping. especially because we're hearing that senate majority leader chuck schumer is expected to pair with some covid relief funding and if that does happen, republicans seem poised to try and block that, more importantly force some pretty difficult votes for democrats and for the white house to see on things like title 42, which is that trump era pandemic policy that the administration has said they are bringing down this year. senator john thune from south dakota put it this way to my colleagues, if he tries to link them, it probably dooms both. talking about the covid funding an the ukraine funding. i can't overstate and no one could overstate how much pressure the united states, congress and this white house are under both from ukraine, other international countries it do something here because they have to keep the coalition together and the administration has to be seen as leading on that and making sure that the

united states gives more money so others will also give more money. >> and the united states has been answering that call. more than $3 million in military aid. last week's $800 million the door and some of the equipment arrived in ukraine. more to come a short time from now. "morning joe" senior correspondent eugene daniels reporting live from the white house. thank you so much. and coming up next, the fuse many parents have been waiting for. earlier this morning, moderna filed for emergency approval of its vaccine for children under the age of 6. andrew ross sorkin joins us on what this that could mean for businesses pushing for employees to return to the office and what it might mean for you and your family. plus news about a facebook. what a whistleblower is calling the most significant piece of social media legislation in history. all of that and plus a look at front pages of newspapers across the country as you take a live look at of:32 in the morning at the great city of seattle.

"morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right back (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

welcome back to markets, just up with the dow going up as it tries to rebound from big losses earlier in the week. but we also get some troubling news last hour with the u.s. economy growth expected -- unexpectedly declining during the first quarter. we also got a break through on the covid front with moderna asking for emergency use authorization for the vaccine for kids under 6. from 6 months to five years old. so, andrew, let's bring in andrew ross sorkin. i want to talk about the gdp numbers. you know, when i saw the numbers come across as breaking news, i go, there we go. here we go. the recession is about to start, right. because mika will tell you, i'm optimistic about everything in life except the economy.

i always seem to think a crash is just around the corner. but then i look more into the data, consumers spending still up. home building, still up. we have a lot of volatility and i think anybody predicting a long-lasting recession starting this downturn, would be making a mistake. dig into the numbers for us if you will. >> i think most economists who are looking at numbers this morning, obviously disappointing but their funky numbers to put it mildly. in part because what we've seen over the last couple of months, given what is happening in ukraine, given some of the supply chain shocks and we have a bout, i don't want to say a bout of coronavirus, you are starting to see some of those effects. one of the big issues is inventory and this is a hard one to predict. right now there is huge

inventory. so there is a big question mark, have businesses overordered or is this just a one-time situation and in a month from now you won't have that situation. so i think there is a lot of noise in this particular report and we're probably are not going to know for real what things really look like for another quarter or two. having said that, i think most people believe what you believe, joe. which is that a recession may very well be in the offing but i don't think it will start today. >> yeah, i mean, i think -- i can't imagine a recession is not coming at some point. i just don't know that it is so early. but again let's look at the volatility out there right now. you talk about big inventories right now. and obviously international trade completely screwed up. because of russia, because of what is going on in china. i mean, it is a colossal mess and you have inflation. and at some point, consumer

spending as somebody said in "the new york times" piece, is like that aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean, doesn't matter what the waves are, in america, it just keeps plowing forward. but at some point inflation and all of these other issues are going to have americans going, hold on, i think we're going back to saving money again. things are getting a little too expensive out there. a little too risky. >> there is no question. and this goes to the gas price issue, right. and how much of a big piece of people's income that is taking. there is no question that over time it is going to hurt, having said that, people are still booking aircraft, vacations, we talk about the yo-yo economy and that is going on and interesting businesses seem to continue to spend. so there seems to be some semblance of confidence in terms of their capital spending and what they plan to do in the future but we'll see next week what the federal reserve has to

do or does and how much that tamps down on some of the demand as well. >> so andrew, let's talk about the news from moderna. we just got -- >> big. >> -- authorization from the fda for a vaccine for children 6 months to five years old. this is good news for people at home and parents have been looking for, for two years now. and they have wide implications for traveling and for planes but also for a return to the office. obviously many parents concerned about coming back to work and bringing home covid to an unvaccinated child. >> the return to the work or work from home, all of that, whatever you think that debate is that is going on in your office right now, if and when this gets approved, that debate will end for those people trying to bring their people back to work, this is the thing that takes that argument off the

table. now there is a lot of companies as we talked about that are going hybrid and that are leaning into that. but there is a whole other group of companies say we don't believe we could create a culture unless everybody is in the office basically all of the time. and to the extent that there are employees who want that flexibility, that argument that used to be made around kids, i think that gets taken off the table and i think you're going to see a lot more people in the office very, very soon if not already. >> well and also, mika, of course anthony fauci said we've moved beyond the pandemic stage right now. so of course as you would say -- >> the full-blown stage. >> the full-blown stage. that would be a big relief for a lot of people who weren't going back into the office yet. but are going out to restaurants and nightclubs and sporting events and raves and whatever else you say they go to.

but since we're in a different moment now, beyond the intense phase of the pandemic, maybe people as andrew said will be able to go to nightclubs and restaurants and sporting events and fit time in to coming into the office. >> well, that is possible. definitely going to nightclubs and restaurants right now. and they're also definitely getting covid still. the vice president has it. anthony fauci is not going to the white house correspondents dinner this weekend but the president is, peter baker. we were just talking about this. >> yeah. >> so it is this reality that, yes, the pandemic has crested and in many ways, data showing that. data also showing that people are still in hospitals. >> yeah. >> some people are still dying from covid. >> absolutely. 300 people are dying a day. its not near the peak but it is still dangerous. >> it could be more of a like a flu-like number. >> but more vulnerable

capacities and a 79-year-old might be vulnerable but it is worth him going. they won't let mim say for the meal. people say that is a good thing for other reasons as well. but they're trying to find some way of balancing it out. but he'll be there for the evening. with 2600 people in a big ballroom. it is a really interesting decision on their part. >> yeah. and i'm not sure about it. joe, i know you want to jump in. i'm not sure about the decision to have the white house correspondents dinner, i don't think it is a good idea. >> let me throw the baseball in the punch bowl and said the president should not go to the event. >> they shouldn't have these events. >> there is no reason why he should go to the event. we've all been in that event before. even when there wasn't a pandemic it was unhealthy. i mean, people are so tight and jammed and close in there. >> and drinking. >> and i'm dead serious, i think the president, willie, should do a video. i think he should thank everybody, he should say what he's going to say, but when you

have the vice president of the united states with covid, when you have the president of the united states in a high-risk group, there is no reason for him to go to that event. put it on a videotape. get the vcr or the beta, i don't know what format they use, push it in and press play and let them see the president. the president doesn't need to go there. not healthy. not prudent. wouldn't be prudent. >> in the words of another president. i agree with you. i agree with both of you about this. first of all, we all appreciate i think the support and the gesture of the president showing up to support journalists whose work is difficult and hard sp places like ukraine but to an industry under fire from the previous president. so certainly we all i think appreciate that. but having said that, i don't know that it is worth it to expose the president to that room on that night and we'll see if he does end up going.

i also like joe that you dropped in raves to that list of aches that people are doing. i know you're having flashbacks to the turn of the century. the early oughts for you. there were a different time for you. >> yeah. >> mika, i still have the glow sticks and the -- i just did it last week. come on. >> let me just make one little point, i want, not to be a complete hypocrite, i'm here in washington. where i was attending events. and i am telling you that my experience here in washington at events is that it doesn't feel -- people's guard gets down, the masks come off, it is too soon to be having a white house correspondents association dinner. it is too soon because everybody gets all packed if there and excited to see each other and people have a few too many drinks and it is just a mess.

>> it is just a mess. so mr. president, stay away from the mess. okay. don't go to the white house correspondents dinner. don't go to clubs. don't do any raves for a while. wait a couple of weeks. you'll thank yourself and america will thank you as well. >> very weird. >> you could tell we've been on for 47 hours, so we're going to break real quick, but when we come back, andrew ross sorkin, we're going to ask him about raves and also we're going to be talking about facebook, the whistleblower for facebook, talking the most important social media legislation ever passed. it was passed in europe. we're going to talk to andrew ross sorkin and peter baker if that could happen here. and we'll take you around the united states. it is like an opening scene from how the west was won. >> it is beautiful. >> showing you the morning newspapers and, yeah, look at how beautiful it is. now you could have the event out there. have the event outside. the evee

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my goodness, san francisco, you photograph well. 6:51 in the morning in san francisco at the golden gate bridge off in the distance there. it is a time for a look at the morning papers. we begin in minnesota with the star tribune's front page features the results of an investigation into the minneapolis state department. they found a decade long pattern of racial profiling, verbal abuse by minneapolis police. with several officers not disciplined for their actions. to north dakota with the dickinson press reports more afghan refugees soon will be headed to that state after the state department approved the resettlement of 96 afghan refugees there, in addition to the 52 afghan refugees who have already arrived in fargo since october. in south dakota, the mitchell republic highlights a group of republican senators, including john thune, who say it

is time for repayments on federal student loans to resume after a two-year pause during the pandemic. they say these extensions are causing damage to the federal deficit. president biden has extended the freeze on student loan payments until august 31st. talking about canceling some of them all together. nebraska's lincoln journal star is focusing on governor pete ricketts and his recent denial of $120 million in federal rental assistance to neb nenens. it is the latest example of the republican governor denying pandemic relief from supplemental food assistance to expanded unemployment benefits offered by the federal government. the governor says the covid-19 emergency is over. to north carolina where the news and record reports greensboro is in desperate need of more firefighters, volunteers, once the life blood of rural fire houses are dwindling in numbers. officials are so concerned, they are now considering paying $15

an hour to train as a firefighter. to nevada where the front page of the las vegas sun features day one today of the nfl draft. thousands of visitors descending on vegas for the league's most attended annual event. the first round takes place tonight and the first pick, barring a late trade, belongs to the jacksonville jaguars. time for a must read opinion page. former facebook product manager francis houghan writes, i blew the whistle on facebook. europe shows us the next step. the dryly named digital services act is the most significant piece of social media legislation in history. it goes to the heart of what i've tried to do as a whistle-blower who worked inside facebook. make social media far better without impinging on free speech. global companies had chosen profit-maximizing strategies at the expense of public interest

before. we've seen it with pollution in the chemical industry, environmental damage in natural resource extraction, and predatory mortgages in financial services. what distinguishes the bad practices of these other industries from big tech is simple -- there are laws holding them accountable. that's what government is intended to do in democratic capitalism. use the law to steer the market back into alignment with the public interest. when concentrated monopolyistic power privileges the few over the many and distorts how the free market operates, this kind of correction is vital. andrew ross sorkin, could that happen to big tech as we know it, to the point where they can be held accountable? >> i think the answer is yes. and i think increasingly so.

our good friend donny deutsch raised the issue of this new law on monday and what it could mean in the advertising space. i think what's happening -- by the way, put into this sort of stew, the elon musk purchase of twitter. >> exactly. >> i think there's going to be a lot of folks in washington who are going to have an even brighter spotlight on big tech. this european law effectively allows them to take up to 6% of a company's revenue, of their revenue, if, in fact, they break the law. so, you have companies that are going to have to be on watch. by the way, hard to create a service that works in the u.s. one way and works in europe another way. that's the other piece of this. what happens there may come here, whether the companies like it or not. >> yeah. and i'll tell you what, peter baker, we've heard so many people wringing their hands saying, we want to reform big tech, we just don't know how. the europeans have shown us. the question is, will it stick in america? could this pass? >> well, i mean, look, you're

not going to lose a bet in washington betting against congress getting its act together, right? i think the fact of the matter is there's such a partisan environment right now and tech is right in the middle of that. people have their very strong views about, you know, what tech should do. and there is, in fact, some overlap between democrats and republicans in some ways on this, but they view it in such a partisan lens, which side is going to get an advantage over the other doing it. the europeans may force their hand. the europeans say economically there's no way they cannot, you know, address this without penalizing, in effect, the companies for having these mismatching laws. but, you know, right now, you know, congress is basically stuck in the middle of, you know, its own dysfunction. >> it really is -- it is. and, mika, we've talked about this for quite some time. it's crazy. you have people talking about the free market and elon musk taking over twitter to save the free market. well, it's a private company.

facebook is a private company. somebody said, it's not like the free market of ideas. it's not the town square. it's a coliseum that's built inside the city. and it's time that we stop treating these monopolies in silicon valley different than we treat every other company in america. there's no reason why they should be protected from the knocks and the bumps of a free market, and why they shouldn't be liable for the mistakes they make, but right now they are. >> in about 30 minutes, president biden will be updating the country on the war in ukraine. and asking congress for an expanded aid package. any minute now, the supreme court will be releasing more decisions as well. so, a lot going on all covered live here on msnbc. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage in 90 seconds. coverage in 90 seconds

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it's beyond gig-speed fast. so gaming with your niece, has never felt more intense. hey what does this button do? no, don't! we're talking supersonic wi-fi. three times the bandwidth and the power to connect hundreds of devices at once. that's powerful. couldn't said it better myself. you just did. unbeatable internet from xfinity. made to do anything so you can do anything. whoa. good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. a very busy thursday morning. happening this hour, president biden set to ask congress for more aid to support ukraine amid russia's war. we'll bring you his comments live. senator bob menendez, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee will join us with more. breaking