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 overnight. trevor reed, the american marine veteran released from russia, is

now back in the u.s. and major news on the pandemic. moderna asking the fda to authorize its covid vaccine for kids as young as 6 months old. breaking this morning -- new numbers from the government finding the u.s. economy shrank in the first three months of 2022. we'll take a look at what's going on. and we begin with president biden expected to ask congress to fund a new aid package for ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter. joining us with more is nbc white house correspondent mike . good morning. what kind of aid is the president asking for? >> reporter: when president biden announced last week he planned to send a new funding request to congress this week, one he will offer specific details on later this hour, he described this as a critical period entering into a new phase in the battle in ukraine between

russia and that country as they defend their territorial sovereignty. primarily focused in that donbas region. interestingly, as first reported by our capitol hill, pentagon and white house teams here at nbc news, administration officials are describing that new aid package as massive. not just in terms of dollar amounts, in terms of the length of the commitment. as a reminder, in early march congress passed $13 billion in funding to ukraine, both military and humanitarian governmental assistance. all but about $1 billion has been exhausted at this point. so, what the white house is describing in anticipation of the president's announcement is a funding commitment that will go well beyond the two months in the war that we've already seen, but through the end of september. that's the end of the fiscal year here in washington. we're also expecting president biden to be asking for some new authorities from congress. one of the examples being given is, for instance, being able to liquidate russian assets like yachts and use the money generated from that liquidation for funding for the ukrainians.

now, we also are expecting the president to outline specific commitments going forward as far as what that aid will look like as we have seen something of a shift from the administration. first, from really defensive support for the ukrainians. now as we've been hearing upwards and including the defense secretary, lloyd austin, an effort to degrade russia's capability. this is going to kick off another funding battle with congress, though, jose, as we've seen, there's no guarantee congress will take this up quickly. there are other priorities including covid relief funding and a battle over title 42 that could complicate efforts to pass this quickly. >> mike, meanwhile, former u.s. marine trevor reed is back in texas after that unexpected prisoner swap that took place with russia. what do we know about this? could this in any way open the door for other american prisoners such as brittney griner and paul whelan? >> reporter: last night we heard from the parents of trevor reed,

their delight in the news was palpable as they spoke. but it raises the question of what about the other individuals that are detained? we heard from paul whelan in a statement saying, why was i left behind? he is pleased trevor is home with his family but outlining the fictitious charge of espionage he's been charged with and why hasn't more been done to secure his release? when we heard from reed's parents they offered new details about these monthslong efforts to secure the release of their son, giving credit to bill richardson, former new mexico governor, former ambassador who met with officials in moscow on the eve of russia's invasion of ukraine. they believe some of the agreements there laid the groundwork for release of their son. what's raising special concern about whelan and brittney griner, another high-profile of an american detained there, is the prisoner swap as it was described to secure reed's

release, yushchenko was much sought after by russian figures as they've been discussing potential releases. the concern is because russia received now their most high-profile ask, there is no similar bargaining chip to secure the release. reed's parents say they hope there might be other similar avenues that could secure other releases as well. >> mike in washington, thank you. overnight, new attacks in ukraine in kherson, a series of reported explosions rocked the city, including a tv tower struck by a missile. unfolding in mariupol, the city council warns 100,000 residents are in mortal danger because of unsanitary conditions in the city stemming from a lack of clean water. and the u.n. secretary-general visited the outskirts of kyiv to witness the aftermath of those reported civilian massacres that took place under russian occupation. >> the civilians always pay the

highest price. innocent civilians living in this building, they were paying the highest price for war for which they not contributed at all. >> all this as russian leader vladimir putin is out with a new warning this morning that western nations' intervention in ukraine will be met with a lightning quick military response. joining us now, nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin. she is in kyiv for us. erin, good morning. what are you seeing on the ground there today? >> reporter: hey, jose. we just arrived back in kyiv from the war-ravaged city of irpin. we were there to interview the owner of a children's mall. and he described for us what he saw as the russian forces moved into irpin, a fierce gun battle unfolded between russian forces

and ukrainian forces. he showed us the video of the battle. you can see dead bodies of russian soldiers lying on the streets. it was apocalyptic, to say the least. he managed to survive this assault, but his business did not. the children's mall was completely flattened. that was his main investment. he says that financially he doesn't know what he's going to do next. yes, there are programs that the ukrainian government have in place. they've had in place given the war out east for these kinds of losses, but he said given the state of the ukrainian economy and the state of the government's finances, he is not relying on that going forward. and, you know, there are serious questions about the state of finances here in ukraine, according to the imf, the gdp of this country has plummeted some 35% since the war began. and the ukrainian prime minister says that this country needs some $5 billion a month simply to stay afloat for the next five

months. so, this is a crisis this country is facing. that is why people here in ukraine are very much looking to president biden to see what he has to announce, what he requests of congress in terms of that supplementary aid package said to include economic, humanitarian and military aid. >> president biden is expected to speak on that specific issue later in this hour. we'll, of course, bring that to you live. erin, i'm just wondering what folks there say or even react to the u.n. secretary-general's visit to the outskirts of kyiv, after he visited russia. >> reporter: yeah, we saw the secretary-general surveying the damage of bucha, borodyanka, as well as irpin ahead of his visit with ukrainian president zelenskyy. it's thought in that visit the two will discuss a possible humanitarian corridor for that steel plant in mariupol that's besieged and desperate situations unfolding.

video showing the hospital inside the plant was bombed overnight. it's seen as critical to president zelenskyy to try and secure the safe passage of not only the hundreds of civilians thought to be inside that plant as well as the fighters that are injured, some 600 fighters injured there as well. that is the focus of president zelenskyy and likely the focus in this meeting of what the u.n. secretary-general can do to help in that effort. at the same time, president zelenskyy has been very critical of the united nations and the secretary-general. the fact he visited moscow first. the fact the security council has been essentially helpless to help these alleged atrocities occurring in places like the one the secretary-general visited today. >> just a point of curiosity there. i see you are in front of what apparently is like a monument or something that is protected by sandbags. i've never been to kyiv, but i've heard it's spectacularly beautiful city and they're doing all they can to protect important historic monuments. is that what that is behind you?

>> reporter: yeah, that is right. they have boarded up the -- you can see the museums here in kyiv have been boarded up. monument, they placed sandbags around in case other russian forces return here, just in case there are air strikes or any other missile strikes on the capital city. so far, it has been quiet but it is a priority to ukrainians to preserve their culture, to preserve their treasures. treasures that have already fallen victim to this war in other cities. jose? >> erin mclaughlin in kyiv. joining us is daria kaleniuk, founder of anti-corruption center. you're in poland. you just returned from ukraine. what did you find? how did you feel? >> well, i feel proud for my people. i had meetings with high-level officials from the ministry of defense in the armed forces of ukraine. and everyone is truly believing

that we will win this war. however, the speed of the victory and the price still ukrainian people have to pay directly depends on the weapons, which is what others will help us with. and ukraine armed forces understand very well that we cannot outnumber russians with our troops. we can't outnumber russians with our soviet military equipment. but we can win with a high quality equipment, with nato-style equipment. this is the key message which i heard from our armed forces and from our government, that we have to adapt our armed forces to nato standards as soon as possible and ensure the westerners are providing us with modern nato equipment. >> is that something that has been lacking so far? just a couple of days ago

speaking with a military expert saying the new phase of this war was going to be a war of artillery. that requires some very specific, heavy armaments. is that something that ukraine has already gotten? does it need more of that? >> we are just starting to receive some artillery of nato standards, but it's really not enough to protect our cities from russian bombs. we have not received important air defense systems, midlevel and long-range air defense systems. and we have not received fighter jets. they can't unblocked besieged cities of mariupol and kherson without this equipment. he can cannot get russia out of our occupied cities with tanks because we have not received nato tanks. honestly, jose, it's quite expensive equipment. and i'm very much expecting what will be in the supplement

proposal from president biden. i hope that this time in the proposal there will be much more percentage of money devoted for direct military support to ukraine because out of $30.6 billion, which was passed by congress months ago, there was just $3.5 billion, about 15%, directly to arm ukraine. $3 billion went to nato, to arm nato. and half of the money went to the refugees in -- not in ukraine. we need money to -- and equipment to go directly to ukraine. >> daria, you've spoken out also just the last couple of tweets you've had, you've spoken out against the russian orthodox church and its support of putin. what do you want people to know about that? >> well, russian orthodox church is the continuation of russian

autocratic and totalarian regime. there are priests urging those to eliminate ukrainians from the planet. it's not the behavior of the church. it's the behavior -- many churches, many priests in russia, they are just agents of the russian secret services, and especially the head of russian orthodox church. i believe that he has to be sanctioned. he has to be sanctioned as soon as possible. and other leaders of russian orthodox church. they can't be granted -- >> they have suffered so much under the soviet union that had its major cathedral destroyed in moscow, and now they're changing their tune. daria, thank you so much for being with us. now to breaking news on the economy. the government estimates gross domestic product produced in the u.s. fell by 1.4% during the

first three months of the year. this after the gdp increased by nearly 7% in the final three months of 2021. ron insana is with us, cnbc senior analyst and commentator and adviser to schroeder's na. ron, tell me about this turn-around. >> well, it's a bit of a quirky report, jose, insofar as the number was restrained by a drop in government spending at the federal, state and local levels. we also had just by way of calculation, when imports are greater than exports, that subtracts from gdp, even if people are buying imported goods. so consumer spending was reasonably strong. it's kind of a quirky number. the market's not really taking it at face value. it's looking behind the headlines and seeing the underline strength in consumer spending, in business investment, were both pretty strong. government spending is likely to rebound later. business inventories, which were

depleted in the first quarter, are likely to be built back up in subsequent quarters. so, this isn't indicative of the dawn of a recession. it's probably just a few statistical quirks that are going to work themselves out over the course of the year. >> ron insana, thank you so much. always clearing things up for us. appreciate it. up next, a live look at the white house as we await the president's remarks on ukraine. senator bob menendez, chair of the foreign relations committee will be with us in moments. plus, a breakthrough in the fight against covid. how we could be one step closer to a vaccine for babies. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. the only eggs with more fresh and delicious taste. plus, superior nutrition. which matters now more than ever. because the way we care...

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20 past the hour. we continue to keep an eye on the white house. later this hour, president biden is expected to ask congress to approve a new package of military, humanitarian and economic aid for ukraine and give the administration more

tools to target russian oligarchs. with us now is new jersey senator bob menendez, chair of the senate foreign relations committee. senator, it's always a pleasure to see you, sir. i'm just wondering your reaction to what the united states should be doing or thinking about as far as future aid to ukraine. >> well, good to be with you, jose. we had the secretary of state before the foreign relations committee this past tuesday and i asked that very question, because it's clear that we're going to have a continuous obligation to ukraine if we want them to defeat putin and russia in this unholy war he has launched against the ukrainians. so, i did expect this package that is going to be coming up, i expect it to be robust, and i expect it to receive bipartisan support. we have to help the ukrainians be able to defend themselves against russian aggression. we also have to help the

ukrainian people and the neighboring countries that have received millions of ukrainian refugees to take care of them both outside of ukraine and many who are displaced inside of ukraine. >> senator, we were just speaking with daria in poland but she's ukrainian. she was saying that ukraine needs heavy artillery, pieces that aren't just soviet-era artifacts, but actually nato quality weapons. is that something that the united states should be looking to pressure more of? >> well, actually, about 60 -- i understand about 50% of the howitzers we have committed to ukraine are now on the ground in ukraine. these are a long-range firing capabilities, so that since the war in ukraine has moved now to more of a land war, this is the type of artillery they need to be able to reach to the russian troops at length, among others.

and one of the questions that i raised with secretary blinken from his recent visit to ukraine, meeting with president zelenskyy, along with our defense secretary, secretary austin, is we are largely aligned with what the ukrainians are asking for and what we believe they can use effectively. and so that flow of armaments, much of it is already on the ground, as promised and much more to come. and i think we have the most accelerated process we have to get ukraine what they need to defend themselves against putin and his aggression. >> senator, you just returned from a trip, i understand, to taiwan. taiwan has got to be looking at what is going on in ukraine and saying, you know, china's looking at what's going on in ukraine. what was your message to the taiwanese? >> our message to the taiwanese when we president with president

tsai and its foreign and defense ministers, we stand with the taiwanese people. we will support them. before we went to taiwan, we first visited our pacific commander, got a sense of what the taiwanese need in order to be able to deter china, which is what we really want to do in the first place, and taiwan and the united states are now aligned about that need. and now we're in the process of fulfilling that need and amplifying the role of taiwan and the international community. so, we stand in solidarity with taiwan and we're going to make sure it can be supported. taiwan creates/manufactures 90% of the high-end semiconductors in the world. in the world. we cannot have china consume taiwan and control 90% of the high-end sem conductors in the world. semiconductors are in everything in the world, from the cars with he drive to the refrigerators, to the phones we make our calls

on, to so much business equipment that creates products and jobs in this country. so, taiwan is an essential partner and we have to do everything we can to support it and to deter china from seeking to invade it. >> taiwan, a thriving democracy. senator, nearly 1 million americans have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic began more than two years ago. you took part in an event yesterday to honor the lives that have been lost. what should we be thinking about as it seems so many people are essentially moving on from the pandemic? i joined with the families of those who were lost, you know, for every person loss of those million, there are about nine family members on average. you're talking about 9 million americans who have lost a loved one who look at the dining table and don't see that loved one sitting there with them or don't enjoy a birthday with them anymore. we need a national coronavirus commission. that is something i sponsored,

pattie murray sponsored a broad erbil which included my coronavirus commission. we've got to learn what we did right, what we did wrong, and we have to ensure that when the next pandemic comes, we never, ever lose another million american lives. >> senator bob menendez, thank you for being with us. appreciate your time. turning now to honoring hole holocaust memorial day. auschwitz museum tweeted this, paying tribute to victims. right after, holocaust survivors and families took part in a march of the grounds of auschwitz. this marks the warsaw ghetto uprising. moderna is asking for emergency authorization of covid vaccine to protect the youngest children. a former biden administration adviser on covid joins us next.

you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." g "jose diaz-balart reports.

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washington. we have more details about the ukraine aid package president biden will be asking for when he speaks in just a few minutes. we'll be bringing you his comments live right here on msnbc. the package apparently is going to total $33 billion. it includes more than $20 billion in military and security assistance. $8.5 billion in economic assistance for ukraine. and more than $3 billion in additional humanitarian assistance and food security and production assistance. vladimir putin's forces are cracking down on peaceful protesters, meanwhile, in the russian-controlled city of kherson, injuring at least four civilians. nbc news correspondent ralph sanchez is in lviv, speaking to ukrainians about the danger remaining for those in that russian-controlled city. >> reporter: in

vladimir putin's forces appearing to use tear gas to disperse peaceful protesters. at least four civilians injured, according to ukrainian authorities. president zelenskyy hailing the demonstrators, i'm grateful to everyone who does not give up, he says. kherson fell in the first days of the war. now under complete russian control for nearly two months. russia's flag flies over government buildings and its troops control all movements in the city. but the occupiers unable to stamp out kherson's desire to be free. >> they were coming out on the street despite being held practically at gunpoint by the russian soldiers. >> reporter: a playwright escapes the city two weeks ago. we met him in the relative safety of lviv. what is it like for people inside kherson right now? >> it's rough. >> reporter: fear, fear and

despair, moral confusion, he says. he told us food is hugely expensive and in short supply. people stand in lines for hours for basic goods. when he escaped, he says he left his smartphone behind, saying he had seen russian phones searching them at checkpoints. were you afraid at that checkpoint? yes, i was afraid, he said. there were rumors our convoy was going to be attacked. before annexing crimea in 2014, russian forces staged a referendum. they claimed 97% voted to become part of russia. now zelenskyy warning the same playbook being prepared in kherson. a sham referendum followed by potential annexation. >> russia loves referendums. in their mind, it makes their occupying powers more legitimate, but, of course, right now it's impossible to tide the lies. >> reporter: for those inside

the city, every day brings new fear. ukraine's military saying 300 men from kherson had been detained, some tortured. exits from the city now blocked. even just speaking ukrainian can draw the wrong attention. >> it's so scary, so dangerous when soldiers were -- >> reporter: we're concealing this woman's identity for her own safety. >> you are a girl and you don't know what they intend to do with woman. >> reporter: terror for kherson's women after widespread reports of rape by russian troops occupying bucha. do you think kherson will be free from russia one day? >> yes, absolutely. >> reporter: what gives you such hope? >> we want freedom and in kherson it's ukraine. >> reporter: a city occupied by russia, but whose heart is still firmly in ukraine.

>> ralph sanchez reporting. of course, we're keeping a close eye on the white house where we are expecting to hear from president biden any minute now on this proposal to help the people of ukraine going forward. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. g diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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verizon is going ultra, so you can get more. 38 past the hour. texas governor greg abbott has been bussing migrants coming into texas via the southern border to washington, d.c., among other things, to protest the biden administration's decision to end title 42. but "the new york times" reports the plan isn't having quite its intended effect. one 26-year-old migrant told "the times," quote, i'd like to say thank you to the governor of texas. joining us now, able nunez, director of american resource center, one of the groups helping those migrants arriving on buses from texas. thank you for being with us.

how does it work when people arrive on the buses? >> well, the reality is that the buses just drop them off on the street in front of our train station, union station. what we get information that the bus is on its way, we time it in terms of the amount of time it needs to get to washington, d.c. and then we do a call out to volunteers to help them meet them. first of all, just to offer them accompaniment, to make sure they're not just left on the sidewalk to fend for themselves. and then we provide some intake, we provide some food. and then we help them get to their next destination, given that most are not staying in washington, d.c. >> i mean, a lot of these folks have family, have already plans of where they will be going in the united states while they await their process, if they've requested asylum, et cetera. as of now, title 42 is still in effect. its schedule, as you know, to lift on the 23rd of may,

allowing more people into the country. can the level of help you, for example, and your organization is giving out, be maintained if there is an increase? >> well, i think the reality is the biden administration must support the organizations first at the border to make sure the immigrants get the help they need there and then be hopefully assisted to get into the final destination. if title 42 is lifted and we see an increase, in the current conditions, no, it's very difficult. one of the things that i want to make clear is that we're not coordinating with the governor abbott, so we have to almost guess where the bus with intelligence we get from del rio or the other centers, volunteers that let us know. if there was a much more planned activity, i think we could do a much better job of supporting those immigrants but because this is a political ploy by the governor, and i think a very mean one, to use vulnerable populations to make a political

point, because he's just abandoning them in washington, d.c., and it's up to the local community, again, the local community to respond. this is not hurting biden or the biden administration. this is burdening washington, d.c.'s over 900,000 citizens that live here, that are trying to support and provide other services to its citizens. >> you direct the central american resource center. talk to me about the situation that so many people who have fled their countries, taking these incredibly dangerous journeys through mexico, just for the opportunity to ask for asylum and not being allowed to, what are the conditions those people have been facing now and they're facing today? >> well, i mean, it's very difficult. what we're seeing in the buses are primarily people from venezuela, nicaragua, cuba, and even from africa. you have to think what their trajectory has been. people from africa, they flew into brazil and some of them have walked all the way to the

southern border just requesting protection and asylum from this nation. and i think that the u.s. has a responsibility to, at a minimum, hear their case, put in a good process. we understand that the system, it doesn't work as it should. we need to work to make it better. but governor abbott should not use vulnerable people to make a political point. i think he's being mean-spirited. again, in washington, d.c., we're going to do -- work to the best of our ability to ensure these people get a welcoming smile, some food in their stomachs, and then some sense of what their next move is. and if we can do that, we will continue to do that. >> abel nunez, thank you for being with us and thank you for what you're doing. appreciate it. >> thank you, jose, for having me. we're keeping an eye on the white house, as eve been telling you all hour. any minute president biden is expected to speak on ukraine, including the actions he wants to take against russian

oligarchs. what the president's plan could look like. we'll be discussing that more in depth next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." at wching diaz-balart reports.

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46 past the hour. we continue to keep a close eye on the white house. any moment now president biden expected to speak about the war in ukraine and ask congress to approve a $33 billion package of military, humanitarian and economic aid, as well as what the white house calls enhanced authorities to go after russian oligarchs. talking about this issue with rick stengel is a particular pleasure of mine, former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs and an msnbc analyst. the president wants congress to make it easier to find, seize the assets of russian oligarchs and potentially sell those assets. is this something that's doable? >> great to see you, jose. you know, they're trying to find the last bits of space in the sanctions that they haven't covered already. and, you know, i would tend to think, let's just go whole hog at this point. things are not going to get any better. but the treasury department is

looking at this and they're going to turn every screw they can to make sure that oligarchs don't benefit from any of this process. >> rick, the war in ukraine is now in its third month. today is 64 days since the beginning of that invasion. putin doesn't seem to have accomplished much so far, other than destroying cities, killing thousands of innocent ukrainians. how do you see putin going forward? i mean, the fact is that he has very little to show the russians that he's been able to gain. >> well, jose, he's accomplished a lot from our perspective in the sense that he's unified nato. he's made sweden and finland want to join nato. he's unified the european union. you know, he's done all of the things that he said he didn't want to do. he's weakened russia in relation to europe. i think he has a very hard sell domestically. now, you know, there's been a rally round the flag kind of

consensus within russia, as we talked about before. russians get almost overwhelmingly, 100% of their news from russian state sources. again, you know, they're going to start feeling the bite. they're already not able to buy products, the export-import controls, the things that not only oligarchs but regular russians buy is not going to be available. i think ordinary russians will begin to see that putin's so-called victory is anything but. >> yeah. you know, i'm wondering, rick, how these things end up because if you look through history, you know, the dictatorship in cuba that's been saying for 62 years plus that all the problems of cuba are because of the americans. you know, public opinion sometimes can be based on published opinion. but, rick, how does it -- how does this end in the sense of can you pierce that bubble of fake opinion-making news and

cause the people to see what is really going on? >> well, jose, you've asked the question that's befuddled scholars and philosophers for 500 years. i mean, we like to think that truth for hundreds of years. we would like to think that truth would win out, and it's just that russia isn't the kind of marketplace that we are used to, that people don't have a kind of buffet of options to look at. you know, russians have been behind kind of an information iron curtain for 75 years, and i would love to say that that would be pierced, you know, and mr. navalny says there will be, and i hope there are protests in russia, but i am not that optimistic about it, i'm afraid. >> trevor reed back in the u.s.,

and paul whelan's family is wondering why more is not being done to bring him home. >> the state and the white house work on these issues 24/7. it's not that easy from the way it looks from the outside. russia take people, and arrest people as bargaining chips, and somebody that we have legitimately arrested and it's a balancing act for mr. whalen and his family, but i think they are negotiating about this all of the time and when the time is right and when the stakes are right that it will happen. >> always a pleasure to see you. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. next, we're live in north

carolina with the effort to convince black voters of their power at the ballot box. of course, keeping an eye on the white house. any minute now, president biden expected to speak on ukraine. you are watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a.

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starz, and peacock. just say watchathon into your voice remote and get ready to watch. i love you. i love you. i love you all. breaking news this morning, promising news for parents of young children who so far have not been eligible to get

vaccinated for covid, and moderna sz is applying for emergency use for vaccines for children 6 months of age. the covid vaccine is as safe for babies as it is children and older adults. and then president biden was elected by winning less than 10% of rural counties, and antonia hilton travelled to north carolina to see how rural america doesn't always meanwhile america. good morning. >> good morning, josé. i travelled to anson county, north carolina, it's down the boarder with south carolina, and it's a majority black community, and that's part of the problem, the voters there tell me they feel they are not represented

locally or on the national stage and their desire for a better broadband, infrastructure, for jobs, that those desires go unheard by the politicians that they want to represent them. what has happened now is voter participation has been slipping particularly by black men under the age of 40, and we travelled to talk about what is going on there and we met with a new group. >> we spent the day at a popular black owner shop in a town that is almost 100% black. hanging out with entrepreneurs, nurses. >> do you feel like the democratic party has done much for black people in the last couple of years. >> no. taking everything like the rest of them. >> well, you have it there.

>> what's made you feel like voting isn't worth it? >> for you to sit there and you see your elders say something to, you know, the town hall or something like that, and nothing is being done about it, after a while you just -- it just becomes a nonfactor in your life. you just feel like i will just do what i got to do and survive on a day-to-day and make a way for my family and everything like that, and politics don't matter. >> has biden and generally the democratic party, have they fulfilled promises they made over the last couple of years? >> to me in a small town like this, it doesn't matter who you have in office, we experience the same, doesn't matter if it's trump, obama, clinton, doesn't matter. what we feel down here is exactly the same. they could never tell us who the president is and we will still be exactly the same. you know what i mean?

>> and these two are not going to wait for national politicians to come to rural north carolina. whether on the pavement or at the pulpit, every weekend they listen. do people still believe things can change here? >> i think they want to believe that. i think it's up to me. i think it's up to other advocates to inspire that change. >> thousands of voters in anson county sat out the last election, and those are registered voters. meanwhile a state-wide election for the state supreme court was decided by 401 votes. the message that advocates are trying to get out there, if you live in one of these small communities, you have an important say. that's the ground work happening in anson. josé? >> thank you so much. that wraps up the hour for me. i am josé diaz-balart, and you can reach me on twitter and

instagram, and follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. katy tur picks up with more news right now. good to be with you. i am katy tur. it's 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, and right now we have our eyes on the white house. president biden was supposed to speak about 15 minutes ago, so we could probably hear from him any second now watching that podium. nbc news was the first to report that he will ask congress to fund a new supplemental aid package for ukraine intended to last for the next five months, and in the last 30 minutes that comes with a $33 billion price tag. it all comes as russian president vladimir putin warns of, quote, lightning fast retaliation against any countries that interfere in ukraine. and russia is ramping up i