attention, as the war becoming a constant backdrop. not every day producing huge headlines. they'll turn into this slog and, therefore, the ability of the united states, the willingness of the united states and europe to keep supplying them with the equipment they need can fade. that's what he is afraid of. that's why we hear from him each and every day. thanks so you for getting up "way too early" on this friday morning and all week long. "morning joe" starts right now. the cost of this fight, it's not cheap. but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. russia is the aggressor. no if, ands, or buts about it. russia is the aggressor, and the world must and will hold russia accountable. >> president biden as he urges congress to approve a massive new aid package to help ukraine fight against russia. he wants quick passage, but we'll explain how the fight over

immigration here at home could get in the way. meanwhile, new attacks all across ukraine, including kyiv, as the united nations chief visited the country. plus, things go from bad to worse in mariupol, as russia bombs a makeshift hospital inside the steel plant where fighters and civilians are barely holding on. former ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, joins us in a moment. and later, we'll talk to former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, on the very latest in ukraine. and the january 6th committee ready to go public as the chairman announces the date of the first open hearings on the attack on the capitol. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, april 29th. quite a week. yesterday, we knew president biden would be asking congress to fund a sweeping aid package aimed at keeping ukraine in the fight against russia for at least the next five months.

we just didn't know how much he would be asking for. we heard from the president, proposing $33 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian assistance. it's more than double the size of the nearly depleted $13.6 billion aid package approved last month. the president announced his proposal by acknowledging, quote, the cost of this fight is not cheap. >> we either back ukrainian people as they defend their country, or we stand by as the russians continue their atrocities and aggression in ukraine. every day, every day, the ukrainians pay the price, and the price they pay is in their lives for this fight. we need to contribute arms, funding, and ammunition, and the economic support to make their courage and sacrifice have purpose, so they can continue this fight and do what they're doing. it's critical this funding gets approved and approved as quickly

as possible. >> the president also asked congress to enhance u.s. authority to liquidate the assets of sanctioned russian oligarchs, to then donate to ukraine. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy recorded a thank you video, saying he is grateful to the american people. he also urged congress to pass the measure quickly. however, the funding could hit a snag if senate democrats try to link it to a covid funding bill. both measures have bipartisan support, but republicans hoping to add title 42 immigration amendments to the covid funding. listen, there's a couple of things going on here, joe, but as surprising as the number is that the president proposed, it's as surprising as the ukrainians' ability to fight has been. >> well, it's worked together. we look at the bravery of the ukrainians. you look at the support from the united states, from germany, from our other allies. it's working in tandem.

i mean, it's one thing following another. yes, the ukrainians are getting just billions and billions of dollars in support from the united states and the allies, but they wouldn't be getting that support if they weren't fighting for extraordinarily well and showing such bravery and resilience. the opposite of that is true, as well, willie. you look at the numbers we have been sending their way. $33 billion here. of course, before that, $13.6 billion. we're up, you know, close to $50 billion. i know during the lend-lease act in world war ii, the united states gave $11 billion to britain to fight nazi germany. of course, those were in 1940 dollars. far more than that. still, as admiral stavridis said yesterday, we are moving into lend-lease territory right now. this is historic. it was good to see president

zelenskyy yesterday grateful for that money, believing that it has, you know -- that he has a better chance now to push the russians even further back. >> yeah. we heard yesterday morning, before president biden made the announcement, the package was going to be, quote, massive. boy, was that right. $33 billion. as mika pointed out, a lot of it is military assistance, but it is also funding their treasury, keeping their government going. it is humanitarian assistance. it is food. it is medicine. it is all the things that ukraine has been asking for in one basket. you're right, president zelenskyy has been pleading for more and more and more, and we understand his urgency. he's getting it, just flat out he is getting it from the united states. as you say, america is betting now on ukraine to win this war. that's what all this investment is. we heard the rhetoric from defense secretary austin a couple days ago. much stronger than we've heard maybe in the last decade or two toward russia, saying we want to weaken their capacity to fight.

we want to weaken their military. this is all an investment in doing just that. we have with us this morning former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, u.s. correspondent for bbc news katty kay, and white house correspondent and bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. bill taylor, were you surprised by the scope of this, and what will it do in perhaps turning the tide of the war? >> i hope it does turn the tide of the war. the key thing now is how quickly this money can be turned into weapons, can be gotten to the ukrainians. we've been doing -- the united states and nato have been doing a great job of getting these weapons out of inventories, currently in inventories, and most of it in europe. some in the united states. getting it on an aircraft and flying to europe. what we have to do now is translate this new money, which is massive, you're exactly right, into weapons.

it can't be new contracts. it has to be inventories. it has to be weapons that are already in our hands, to get them into the ukrainian hands. so that will be the key factor. >> katty kay, it really is pretty incredible, the amount of money that's going in there. we've heard from the very beginning that it might not be a fair fight. that the russians greatly outnumber the ukrainians. in fact, we were told it wouldn't be a fair fight from the beginning. but with this aid package, general mccaffrey believes that we may just now be moving towards a battle where these two sides could fight even. >> yeah. last week, joe, i had a conversation with a white house official who said, look, we could be getting to the point where the ukrainian army is as well supplied as the russian army, just because the west is pumping so much money and so much material into the ukrainians. there has been a shift with the americans now saying very

bluntly that they want the ukrainians to win the war. they want to see russia weakened. something, by the way, which boris johnson has been saying the last month or so. russia must be weakened so they can never do this again. chris coons on the program yesterday, saying it is time the ukrainians should be able to win as the ukrainians define it. i think that is very important. as the ukrainians define it. ie, what the ukrainians define as winning is getting russia right out of ukraine, not ceding any territory at all. in order for them to be able to do that, they have to have a huge amount of weaponry still supplied, not just now but for the weeks to come, potentially the months to come from the west. that is what america is now doing. you and i have spoken about this before, about whether there is frustration in the white house at a kind of lack of gratitude from the ukrainians. my understanding from the pentagon and the white house is there has been some, but it doesn't last for very long. you know, everybody on the same

page in washington. zelenskyy is fighting for his life. you can't really criticize him. one person said it to me, morally or actually, he is doing what he needs to do. the white house also recognizes that the package is this big, in part, because the ukrainians asked for forcefully and bluntly for it to be this big. it's gone this fast because the ukrainians pushed as hard as they can. it is up to zelenskyy and the job he's done in rallying the west and american money, too. >> katty, i wrote down a quick list while i was listening to you, because i can do two things at once. compelling, what you were telling me, and i agree every step of the way. but as you were talking about that, as you were talking about zelenskyy, i started writing down countries. let's go through these because you obviously follow them more closely than any of us here. look how much has changed since joe biden became president.

since this war began. it is really a historical 180. we were talking when biden first came into power about the fact that the nato alliance had been severed by donald trump. he was going to have to do first thing's first and take care of our allies and become closer allies. i kept making the point, you know, $40 trillion to $2 trillion. if we couldunite with europe, we'd be in good shape. the united kingdom two months ago, a playground for russian ol oligarchs, obviously still dealing post-brexit. france, le pen, the threat. people were concerned even a month ago that perhaps there could be a pro-putin leader running france. germany now with a massive budget, now sending heavy weapons. poland, they were facing

sanctions by the eu. their country was split in half. finland, sweden, switzerland, all neutral, all saying, "keep us out of this. we want no part of, you know, whatever problems you're having with vladimir putin." that's changed radically. if you go country by country by country, it really is breathtaking, how quickly history has moved over the past eight weeks. >> yeah. i mean, for a moment, you know, you think, what would have happened if vladimir putin had invaded ukraine and donald trump had still been president? just in terms of the u.s. reaction and the former white house's reaction and their relationship with vladimir putin. how would that have panned out? how would donald trump have handled a very sensitive relationship with allies who felt that they had been spurned by his administration? would they have handed over the intelligence that needed to be

handed over to convince nato to move fast, so that the ground had been laid to get the sanctions together? would they have coordinated on the sanctions? would they have coordinated on the weapon sending? it is really hard to imagine how this would have panned out if donald trump had still been president, given the relationship between the allies and the united states under donald trump and between russia and the united states under donald trump. so you've got joe biden there. he has managed to rally the west. this is a real revival moment for europe and for nato. >> yes. >> the more russia is weakened, the stronger europe seems to get. i mean, it's really interesting, how they're watching russia being weakened and russia is now a force that people are not as scared of. the risk assessment attached to russia, and even to russia's ability to escalate this war, has shifted dramatically, even within the last week or two. the feeling is that that has emboldened europe and emboldened

europe and the united states to send this heavier weaponry, to say, "we think it is time that ukraine can win this and russia can be beaten." >> yeah. we see america leading in that way. what could slow this down, jonathan lemire, as democrats and republicans are sticking other things to this bill and haggling over it. what are the potential issues that could get in the way? >> first, let's just underscore the size of this commitment. the administration officials i talked to yesterday say that this package is gigantic, and they know it. it might not be enough. they may have to have more at the end of the five or so months they think this money will last. but they want this as an underscore from what we heard from the defense secretary this week. they want to weaken russia to the point where they can't do it again. heavy, heavy equipment going that way. arms heading that way, to the point where the u.s. is going to be depleting some of their own supplies. this is a growing story line. the manufacturers need to restock the equipment here in america. but you're right, there are

political considerations here. in particular, whether this package gets attached to a covid funding bill. and republicans want to make it about title 42, which is the measure, the pandemic-era measure, that allowed asylum seekers, migrants, to be returned home back to mexico. the return to mexico policy that has become a domestic flashpoint in recent weeks. you think, well, that has nothing to do with ukraine, but that's often how washington works. these things are being linked together here, potentially linked together here. there could be some political drama and calculations in the weeks ahead. we certainly know that as the midterms approach, republicans feel that immigration might be their single best issue. they're not going to let this go. there's going to be a lot of backroom dealing on capitol hill to get this money passed and into the hands of the ukrainians. >> yeah. president biden said he doesn't care how it gets done. it can be attached to domestic policy bill or on its own, but that this $33 billion has to get through congress.

while we talk about this package, some developments overnight in ukraine. several explosions rocked the capital of kyiv yesterday, shattering weeks of relative calm in that city. at least ten people were injured in the attacks that came barely an hour after talks ended between president volodymyr zelenskyy and the u.n. secretary general who was touring the war-torn capital to assess the damage. local officials say five russian missiles hit two high-rise residential buildings in the central part of the city. zelenskyy said russians were trying to, quote, humiliate the united nations, and said moscow's actions demand a strong response. meanwhile, russian rockets also pounded a makeshift hospital inside that steel factory in mariupol, where thousands of civilians and fighters still are holed up. ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs said dozens of already wounded soldiers were killed, and many were further injured in the strike. a video posted on twitter showed people combing through the rubble to remove the dead and

search for survivors. this as the founder of the far-right military group issued a fresh appeal saying, quote, the situation gets complicated every hour. our people need rescue. and there may be a development this morning in trying to get those people out of the steel plant. nbc news foreign correspondent raf sanchez joins us now live from lviv in ukraine. raf, what more can you tell us? this has been frustrating to so many people for months now, getting those people, civilians and fighters, ukrainians, out of that steel factory. is there hope this morning that they may get out? >> reporter: willie, there is a faint, faint glimmer of hope for women and children in what remains of that steel plant. president zelenskyy's office saying today that they are preparing an operation to evacuate civilians from that steel plant. that's according to "reuters." it's not been confirmed by nbc news. the united nations is not confirming anything at this point.

but we know they did move a team down to zaporizhzhia in the east of ukraine yesterday, to get them into place in case a window of opportunity did open up for humanitarian evacuation from that steel plant. willie, to inject a couple notes of caution here, there is nothing official from the russians. they, obviously, have a veto on this. they have agreed many times in the past to humanitarian corridors, and they have reneged at the last moment. we have been speaking to a marine who is inside that steel plant. he tells us there has been talk of evacuation every day for the last four days, and nothing has come of it. he says he is not seeing anything yet today that indicates that an evacuation is going to go ahead. willie, this is one of the things that has been so striking about this siege. these people are underground. they have barely any food, barely any water. they cannot see the daylight. but they have cell service. they can tell us about the unimaginable conditions down

there. president zelenskyy telling "time" magazine, he speaks every day to the commander of the ukrainian marine unit inside that plant, trying to get a sense of what he and his fighters are going through. there is no word right now about whether wounded ukrainian troops would be able to come out if this evacuation were able to go ahead. the commander of that marine unit saying 600 of his men are wounded. he says they will die down there in the darkness if they don't get the medical attention that they need. so it is still a very fast-moving picture here in ukraine and on the ground in mariupol this morning, but this feels like it could be a critical day in this weeks' long siege. >> you're right, that video is extraordinary. you see the horror and exhaustion on the faces of those people who have been underground for weeks. raf, let me ask you quickly about the missiles that struck kyiv. there had been some sense that kyiv was safe at this point in the war, that russia failed in

its attempt to take that city and had fallen back to the east. yet, missiles lobbed from russia into the capital city yesterday so what do you make of that? >> reporter: the ukrainian government says it was a clear attempt to humiliate the secretary general of the united nations. the missiles rained down an hour or so after he wrapped up his meeting with president zelenskyy earlier in the day. he went on a walking tour of one of the suburbs, along with bucha, whose names will be etched in infamy, as one of the places where russian forces appear to have committed mass war crimes. the read from president zelenskyy's office is this was the kremlin sending a clear message to the united nations, to the international community, not to interfere with their operations in ukraine. we now know one person has died in that missile strike. missiles hitting two residential buildings. ten people were injured.

the russian ministry of defense saying that they were targeting ukrainian military production facilities. willie, this is just a reminder that while the fighting is going on on the ground in the east, the russians more and more are targeting every corner of this country, from kyiv to lviv to odesa, with their missiles. willie. >> yeah, it reminds me when president biden was over the border in poland and missiles were lobbed not far from where you're standing right now in lviv. raf sanchez in ukraine for us again this morning, thanks so much. joe, yes, the russian military has failed in many ways, failed in its big goal of taking over the country and fallen back and reassessed its goals in the east, but it still has the capability to project this kind of terror on the people of mariupol, of course. they continue to do that. but dropping missiles on kyiv yesterday. >> they've just been reduced to being terrorists, not a fighting force. not a world-class army.

they're now just terrorists. they have proven they can kill civilians. they just can't win any battles. ambassador taylor, we heard raf talk about the fast-moving situation in mariupol. it's been a fast-moving situation over the past two months. if you look at the theater in which this war has been fought, remember, of course, you'll remember and everybody else will remember, but i feel like, again, we need to bring context to this. when we have general mccaffrey, who will be on the show in a little bit, saying what he said. when this war began, we were all talking about how quickly it would end. the russians outnumbered the ukrainians 8-1. we remember the convoy outside of kyiv. it was only a matter of time for the convoy to go in, roll up kyiv, and put a crony of vladimir putin's in power there. here we are eight weeks later, and what general barry mccaffrey said, i think the russians have to know now.

that is, we're moving to a point with this $33 billion package that congress needs to pass. they can stick whatever they want to on it, but they need to pass it. with this $33 billion package, general mccaffery says, we are moving to a point where there may be parody on the battlefield between the russians and the ukrainians. how extraordinary is that, given the situation we found ourselves in just two months ago? >> joe, you're exactly right. it is extraordinary. the ukrainian morale is a real enhancer. i mean, that has really made them strong. in particular, as you just said, on the ground. the russians are using air attacks. they are using missile strikes. they are using the long-range artillery, but they can't do it on the ground. it's the morale of the ukrainian military that has turned the tide on the ground. i understand also, joe, that these long-range attacks, these

precision-guided munitions, they're getting low. the russians are starting to run out of these. that means that they're going to have to depend on the ground troops. as you pointed out, the russian ground troops have not done well. >> former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, thank you very, very much. we'll be following this. still ahead on "morning joe," we'll talk to department national security adviser jon finer. for more on the president's new request for $33 billion in aid for ukraine. plus, amid renewed resistance, putin's regime announces plans to impose the ruble as the official currency in one russian-occupied region of ukraine. and china is planning to suspend its tariff on imported coal, a decision that will likely benefit russia. also ahead, moderna launches a new effort to make its covid

vaccine available to young children, just in time for the summer. but many parents are remaining cautious about this. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. joe." joe." we'll be right back. this is the sound of n breathing. and this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. it's not a steroid or inhaler. fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's one maintenance dose every 8 weeks. it helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and lower use of oral steroids. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove them.

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♪♪ it's 28 past the hour on this friday morning. a live look as the sun slowly comes up over new york city. >> mika has to have shades on the far side of her condo at the top of the comcast building. >> there is no condo in new york. >> beautiful, beautiful sunrise. >> yes, it is. and it is friday. >> i like that satellite dish

you have there. do you have to, like, move it to see different nfl games? >> we'll do better next time. >> no, it's really nice. i'm just curious, if you want to see the chargers, you have to go up on the balcony? >> the draft was last night. >> it was. >> okay. young children in the u.s. may soon be able to get protection from covid-19. moderna asked the fda to authorize its vaccine for children under the age of 6. this comes after cases in that age group have spiked over the last few weeks. of course, they can pass it along to adults. nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk has more on the announcement. >> reporter: a year and a half after the first covid-19 vaccine for adults was authorized, moderna now says it has a version for children ages 6 months through 5 years old that is safe and provides robust protection. >> when we look at effectiveness, we see excellent level of antibody in these children. >> reporter: the vaccine is two shots taken four weeks apart.

25% of the adult dose. the company says it is 51% effective for ages 6 months to 2 years. 37% for ages 2 through 5. those numbers only tell part of the story, according to a doctor who helped conduct the trial. >> there was no severe disease or hospitalizations observed within the trial, but we did see some infections. >> reporter: ann rodriguez enrolled her twins to protect vulnerable adults in the family. >> it was important to get our kids vaccinated as soon as we could. >> reporter: a majority of parents of young children are more tentative. >> i might wait for other kids to get it first. >> i think it is not necessary at this moment. >> reporter: only 28% of kids ages 5 to 11 have gotten two doses of the vaccine. the fda could authorize moderna's pediatric vaccine as early as june. cdc says 75% of children 17 and younger contracted covid.

medical experts recommending even children who were infected with omicron should be vaccinated. >> number one, we don't know how long infection-induced immunity lasts. two, vaccines don't just protect against the variant they had. they can protect against future variants. >> reporter: now, a of a long wait, the youngest among us may soon get that protection. >> you know, willie, some parents in the package telling stephanie they weren't really sure they wanted to give their kids the vaccines. obviously, the risks for young children, while there are risks, far, far lower than they are as you get into people with immune problems or as people get older. here, you know, the good news is parents have the option. i've heard some parents complaining that the fda has dragged their feet too long. they want to protect their children. well, they have the option to do it. as we've been saying the past several months, people don't want to get the shot, that's certainly up to them.

at least they have the option now. >> yeah. this is a big group of kids, 18 million kids in america who are under the age of 5. a lot of us, frankly, have moved on and tried to put covid in the rear-view mirror, we're going out and living our lives and doing things, there's a large group of families in the country still moving with trepidation because they have little kids at home. they don't want to go to the dinner party, to the movie, to the public space for fear of bringing it home to their kids. the good news is, as you say, it'll be available very soon. families want to use it, they can to protect their young children. the other thing we've learned is that children, generally speaking, generally speaking, have tolerated covid very well. it's allowed us to leave our schools open. we've learned a lot about how this impacts and does not impact children over two decades -- excuse me -- two years of studying this. so as you say, it is peace of mind for a lot of families now who hopefully can get their kids vaccinated and get their lives

moving in a way that a lot of other americans have already started to do that. >> yeah. it's just like the booster, mika. if you're 60 or over, if you have immune issues. i have a son with type i diabetes, and he's already eligible and i think he's already gotten the booster. as willie said, we're learning so many things. one of the things we're learning, and you can see it in the numbers now for people who are vaccinated, for people who have been boosted, boy, it really lowers the possibility of you being hospitalized, of you having serious impacts from covid. so it is, as dr. fauci said, that we're getting to a far more manageable time for this entire process. so people make their own choices but, hopefully, they'll look at

their situation and make their choices based on what's best for their health and best for the health of those around them. all right. coming up, after months of closed door and virtual meetings, the january 6th committee is ready for public hearings. we're going to tell you who we could hear from and when. boy, a lot has come out the last month or two. it'll be extraordinary hearings. a michigan republican said trump allies are tearing the party apart. more on the revolt happening inside the state's gop. just ahead, we'll look at the headlines in the morning papers across the country, including a cannabis lottery happening in connecticut. we'll be right back. g in connect g in connect we'll be right back. welcome to allstate. where everyone saves when they bundle

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i've had it with this guy. what he did is unacceptable. nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it. now, this is one personal feel i have. i do not want to get into any conversation about pence pardoning. again, the only discussion i would have with him is that i think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign. i mean, that would be my take, but i don't think he would take it. but i don't know. what they said we did, we never did. i never asked president trump to resign. we both talked about that. we've talked about -- >> you spoke with him about resigning? >> no. let me be very clear, you're misinterpreting. i have never asked the president to resign. so what the book said was not true. i never asked the president to resign. >> poor kevin. >> god, so bad.

>> that was, of course, before they played the tape. what a week for the republican party. you get house minority leader kevin mccarthy's path to speakership thrown back into disarray after tapes prove he not only blamed trump for january 6th, but he was going to ask him to resign. this as mark meadows' text messages show dozens of republicans desperately trying to overturn the election. one even talking about implementing martial law in the united states. >> my god. >> the president himself having a tough week. trump was found in contempt in a new york court, ordered to pay $10,000 a day until he cooperates with the court order. >> than desantis fighting with the magic kingdom. i'm not making this up. >> you have to fight somebody. >> the magic kingdom. let's bring in right now for the week that was the republican party, former chairman of that party, michael steele.

also the host of the podcast. also, we have danny deutsche. i think democrats are making this too difficult. if i were on the campaign trail, i'd say republicans are a party of cooks and liars. i'd say this is the party that is working day in and day out, especially in the house, with people that talk about jewish lasers in california. that talk about italian dudes using lasers to rig elections. who talk about bamboo in ballots ballots, that the chinese are putting bamboo in ballots. they're qanon freaks. you have kevin lying again about january 6th. you've got other members now lying for kevin. rational members in normal circumstances lying for kevin, going, "oh, it is very obvious, the tape, it was rigged."

you have in georgia brian kemp, the republican who was number one on donald trump's enemy list. he hated him so much, he said he'd support stacey abrams. kemp is humiliating his conspiracy opponent, david perdue, right now. his pro-trump opponent. kemp is rolling over him. you have loaded guns at the airports from republicans who keep getting arrested for bringing loaded guns to airports. then you've got this michigan civil war going on within the republican party. i'm just -- i think james carville is right again. like, don't make it harder than it should be. these people are out of their mind. they are crazy. they are kooks and conspiracy theorists. just like le pen in france, they're dangerous. you don't want them in charge, even if you agree with them on some issues. even if the other side is

arrogant like macron, these people are crazy. you don't want them running congress. >> yeah. whether they're the party of knuckle heads, party of weirdos or freaks, that is a simple, simple message. underneath that, it is the party of nothing. they're not offering anything. all they're offering is these obscene, ridiculous, half-baked, lunatic, fringe platform. if i said to you, amidst all of this, give me one policy, economic, financial, one policy as far as international relations that they stand for, they stand for nothing. and the challenge, obviously, for the democrats is we are heading into a very, very tough economic climate. we do know if you're going to bring it up, it is the economy, stupid. that's obviously what the democrats are going to be fighting against. we've got inflation. we'll have interest rates continuing to rise. we've got that cycle, the

recessionary cycle there. but you need to make people very afraid of republicans. we're going to know a lot more in may. there are eight or nine really, really important primaries happening, where you have a lot of trump-backed candidates. a lot of swing states in ohio, in pennsylvania, in idaho. it's not a swing state, but about eight or nine states we're really going to see how people feel about republicans. i think we'll have an early take on that. but i agree with you, joe, whatever adjective you want to use, whatever loony, fringe attitude you use, make people afraid, this is not only the party of nuts but the party of no. >> they're out of their blanking minds is what i'd say on the campaign trail. i won't say it here because it is a kids' show, so i'll watch my language this time. michael steele, nobody -- democrats don't have to work to scare people about the republicans. >> no. >> they're crazy as hell. you look at the top two legislative actions, or the top

two actions that have been taken. let's start in texas. you have abbott wanting to own the libs. he ends up screwing truck drivers and screwing texas taxpayers out of $4 billion just to own the libs. you go to florida, you got desantis. he's so desperate to own the libs. just make stuff up, right? he's going to cause central florida taxpayers $1 billion. this is in the i-4 corridor. this is the part of florida -- >> thank you. >> -- that assigns elections. they're out of their mind, and they have people they deal with every day that talk about jewish lasers, that talk about italians rigging elections. they believe conspiracy theories pushed by a chinese religious cult. i mean, they're crazy.

i don't have to work hard. i could talk for ten hours on the campaign trail going, oh, you support that and that. at least you're taking care of health care. you said you'd replace and repeal obamacare. oh, wait, you haven't done a damn thing. michael, this is not hard. >> it's not hard. >> seriously, democrats, can't anybody here play this game? [ laughter ] >> no. >> look at michael. >> that's the problem, joe. >> why? >> what's wrong? >> i have no idea. i've never seen a party so inpt at politics as the democrats are. you laid out literally, in about 30 seconds, just three, just three subject matter topics that they could just drill home without even breaking a sweat. look, they've got the narrative. they've got the policy.

they've got the positioning of a president who has brought stability to, you know, things that we were dealing with here at home, from covid and trying to pull the economy together. got infrastructure in place, creating jobs out there. then rallied nato that was fractured and all over the place around the central cause of democracy. so tell that story. and then the cherry on top is the january 6th commission, which has been eviscerating the whole narrative around, you know, this was, you know, an effort to steal the election. you know, by the democrats. we were just protecting. no, you were trying to overthrow the government. and so the question becomes, how do they translate this narrative for the american people over the next four, five months? this hearing coming up should be a popcorn moment.

it should be something that people are glued to their sets, wanting to know more about how this party went from the grand old party of eisenhower and reagan to the swamp puddle of trump bs and sycophantic conspiracy theories. in the course, trying to undermine -- not just try, but make concerted efforts, joe, to overthrow the government. so the narratives are there. you and i could write a script right now and put it up in a 30-second ad. like, okay, see ya at lunch. >> michael, it would be the funnest debate i was ever in. it would be so fun because you could bury them. they couldn't get a word in. >> right. >> they're so crazy. all the things i talked about, he didn't even bring up the fact that they tried to overthrow

american democracy. they were talking in text messages about how they were going to subvert american democracy and implement -- i love this -- martial law. they just don't know how to spell "martial," willie, because they're crazy kooks, all of them. >> yeah. >> because if you don't run those people out of your party, then you're a member of that party. >> right. >> it sticks to you. >> that's right. >> i would add, they have such a low opinion of the intelligence of their voters, that things that are on tape, they're telling the voters, "no, i didn't say that," even though it is sitting right there on tape. or in the case of mark meadows, writing a book. when it is criticized by president trump, calling your own book "fake news." that's where the party is. >> oh, my gosh. >> some of the pushback you're calling for, joe, is coming out

of michigan. a revolt in the michigan republican party after republicans there chose two trump election deniers for top positions. the state party's decision to endorse trump-backed candidate matthew deperno for attorney general and the secretary of state led a long-time insider to resign from the party. he said, quote, it is encouraging the delusional lies of an undisciplined loser. he said, feckless, coward leaders made it a test of who is more loyal to donald trump, and relitigating the results of the 2020 cycle. "the new york times" reports daunt's resignation shocked party insiders, in part, because of his close ties to the prominent donor network of the devos family. betsy devos resigned a day after the attack on the capitol, saying trump's rhetoric was partly to blame for what

happened that day. there also is a fundraising issue for the michigan republican party. one republican strategist telling the "times," quote, a lot of the traditional donors, they walked away. i don't know how it survives long term. so that's just a snapshot, joe, in the state of michigan. republicans, some of them, are pushing back against people who still want to relitigate in 2022 the 2020 election. as you pointed out, it is happening in georgia, as well, where the foundation of the challenge or david perdue's campaign, and the first thing out of his mouth the other night was, the 2020 election was rigged. he is losing by 25 points. >> yeah, he is luszlosing by 25 points. think about where this is happening. we hear, jonathan lemire, that alabama, you know, the deep south, one of donald trump's -- donald trump always brags about the great support he has among alabama gop-ers. well, he endorses mo brooks, and mo brooks starts losing.

it is obvious brooks is going to get crushed. he has to rescind his endorsement. he lost that one. put alabama up on the board. the loser loses again. then go to georgia. right next to alabama, hart of dixie as they say. here, we have a guy that, again, donald trump went on and on about kemp, calling him every name in the book. saying he was a loser. saying that he was going to support -- that trump would support stacey abrams before kemp. what does he do in he gets the united states senator who should be able to win. what's happening? well, the conspiracy theorist is getting crushed by kemp. 2-1 margin. once again, in the deep south, the loser loses. >> joe, i was talking to some democrats who are actively rooting for donald trump to be as involved as possible in these

races, knowing it'll result in, potentially, extreme candidates. now, he's had some success. he backed herschel walker against mitch mcconnell's objections. walker is up big in the primary polls there. but kemp has been a disaster. alabama, a touchstone state for trump and his people, that was the site of his first mega rally. he seems to have misread the political winds there, as well. michael steele, he also, a couple times now, has seemed to offer his endorsement, trump, to the biggest celebrity in the race. we're seeing that with dr. oz in pennsylvania. we're seeing that situation in ohio, too. talk about how those two states, particularly pennsylvania, looms so large, because that's the one that could decide who gets criminal of the senate this fall. >> yeah, that is the jd race. yeah, look, those are big profile cases because ohio and pennsylvania are just -- they're just blockbuster states politically for the gop.

they have been. certainly in any presidential cycle, they loom large. here's the reality here, the democrats, while they may not have been able to put together effective, national messaging out there around a lot of this, a lot of democrats on the ground, closer to the ground, have been able to do that. when you look at how they're sort of setting up the narrative going into the campaigns against some of these candidates in the fall, and even the high-profile candidates like a jd vance or herschel walker, it is going to be a challenge for them. those republican candidates are still stuck president trump narrative in a state that is not as trumpy, as joe was pointing out, as an alabama or, you know, a mississippi or some place like that. it becomes much more difficult. yeah, herschel walker is up big in the republican primary in georgia, but what's going to happen when he goes into a general election? that's the mitch mcconnell

problem. he looks at this and goes -- >> yes. >> -- that's great, we love you, herschel, but you'll have a harder race in the general. it is a smooth race now. the general, it becomes a different game. strategically, those like mcconnell and those shaping an opportunity to win the senate, build bigger numbers in the house, for example, are looking at these primaries and are saying, yeah, trump may get smacked here or there, but you're going to have some candidates squeak through. some critical races will be important for how things play out in the next cycle, in '24, and that's a big deal. >> donny deutsch, there is a piece for the "wall street journal" entitled "how badly will the democrats lose the midterm elections." democrats will try to turn the campaign into a referendum on donald trump, attempting to peel off some of the 74% of

independents and 37% of republicans in last december's "washington post" poll who say there is no solid evidence that there was widespread voter fraud in 2020. making mr. trump the center of electoral attention requires his cooperation. that could happen. the former president seems addicted to the adulation he receives at his rallies. but his domination of the political scene miniaturizes candidates he's trying to advance. albeit perhaps temporarily. most of them will recognize the danger of featuring him in their campaigns and politely steer clear. donny, i want to get a sense of what you think of that analysis, and also just why these republicans are so quick to take a beating from donald trump, then go back for more. we'll talk about that after a quick break. l talk about that a l talk about that a quick break.

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it's the top of the second hour of "morning joe." welcome back, everybody. a live look at the white house as the sun is coming up over a beautiful day in washington. >> beautiful day. >> time to go to work. time to get up. we've got katty kay still with us, michael steele, jonathan lemire, and donny deutsch. we'll be talking with the white house in a few minutes about the president's massive aid package request that goes to congress. also out of ukraine, potential move to evacuate the people inside that steel factory. we'll be talking about all the different troop movements and headlines out of ukraine. >> yeah. but we were talking about the democrats, joe. >> well, the democrats, you asked donny a great question. the republicans, they call donald trump the loser behind his back because he single-handedly lost them the senate. >> they keep to hate him. >> they do. they call him the loser off

camera. >> yeah. >> but he cost them the senate. he cost them the house. >> yeah. >> he cost them the white house. donny, mika asks a very good question. why can't these republican candidates quit him? because they know, even if they get through the primary, well, they're going to face h le l in the -- hell in the general election because they have the guy they call the loser wrapped around them. >> they're terrified of the primaries. they're not thinking three steps ahead. the numbers speak for themselves, particularly when you look at what is going on in georgia. you guys have so pointed out. look, the democrats need to continue to trumpize the party. last time donald trump won anything was six years ago. he is a loser. it is why i also said on the show i actually think desantis is going to be the candidate. he's going to come out and just basically brand trump that way. look, we stand for a lot of the same things, but he lost. we can't have another loser. the other point i want to bring up is that we keep talking about

the democrats, where is their messaging? where is their messaging? it's got to come from biden. biden has to get out there. we're talking about -- excuse me -- branding this the party of luatic fringe, nutjobs. it has to be a dismissive way for biden. he is the voice of the party. there is no voice of the democratic party other than joe biden. joe biden doesn't punch hard enough. he has to be the guy, look, i'm getting it done. i'm the guy getting it done in ukraine and over here. the other party is just a ship of fools. we don't have time for it. he's got to be the elder statesman. but it is not coming from him. he needs to be the guy. it's not going to come from any place else. he needs to be the guy. you can't do it. chuck schumer can't do it. it's got to come from him. >> michael steele, it really is remarkable. you look at these republicans who, we talked about how crazy

they are. crazy stupid things they're doing, trying to emulate trump, follow trump, kiss up to trump. but in guy, again, a lot of them call a loser. this guy has failed at everything he has ever done, from trump stakes to losing the u.s. senate to losing the u.s. house to losing the white house in a year that was pretty good for republicans. >> kbrae. >> pretty, pretty good for republicans. trump managed to still lose. you know that shot when they had the poor senator from wisconsin who has a bag of rocks in his head. ron johnson, that's his name. >> right. >> politely explaining to people, well, listen, you know -- and he talked about how donald trump was the only person who didn't carry his weight in wisconsin. that was a story of 2020. here we are in 2022, and they're still following a guy who does

nothing but lose. >> well, i think all of that is sort of symbolized, if you will, in the mccarthy tapes. you see the civil nature of the republican party. inside, you know, close quarters, talking amongst themselves, they will be rational. they will say exactly what the rest of america knows to be factually true. not just about donald trump but about what is happening in the party and why it is so dangerous and bad. but then they'll get into this public space where donald trump is hearing and watching them, and their behavior changes. so donny actually puts the best point on it. when you have this sort of civilized kind of reality where everybody's personality is all over the place and you don't know which republican party is going to show up to deal with this, you have to have that moment where the leader, the

president, has the opportunity to frame the narrative, not just around policy. because this is about democracy. so much more than it is about policy. so the president can make the important push on that and say, look, this is how we govern ourselves and move forward. these guys are not ready. they're not there. they're still living in a place you and i know is not real. and i think he's got to begin to do that. they need to let him become a little bit more political. that's the problem. and so, you know, you're absolutely right. both of you are absolutely right. the democrats really control what happens here in ways we've not seen one political party have the ability to do in an election cycle. >> all right. michael steele and donny deutsch, thank you both for being on this friday morning. have a great weekend. one of our top headlines,

president biden announces a major $33 billion aid package for ukraine, containing military, economic, and humanitarian assistance. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy thanking president biden and saying he is grateful to the american people. back in russia, the kremlin is practicing for a military parade early next month. much like north korea, the kremlin is reduced to flexing its nuclear arsenal in an attempt to gain the world's attention. >> boy, they need to practice. i mean, you know, they're not really good at this stuff. >> yeah, russia continues to -- >> we don't want them to -- we don't want one of those nuclear missiles to run into another nuclear missile. they're so bad. >> sit there for a few weeks. >> could run out of gas. they could get lost. >> anyhow -- >> i don't know. >> -- russia remains a pariah on the world stage. willie. >> yeah, that parade is for a domestic audience, so putin can

continue the lie that they're winning the war and liberating, as he says, ukraine. the $33 billion aid request announced yesterday is more than double the size of the $13.6 billion package approved last month. well more than double. the president says it should keep ukraine in the fight for at least the next five months. he asked congress to enhance u.s. authority to liquidate the assets of sanctioned oligarchs to then donate to ukraine. joining us now, security adviser jon finer. thanks for being with us this morning. take us through a little more of this package, if you would. what was important to you all at the white house as you constructed it? because it is not just military aid. there is humanitarian assistance, food, medicine, and there is also money just going into ukraine's treasury so they can keep their government open. >> that's absolutely right, willie. you've covered the details very well. obviously, the headline usually is going to end up being focused on the arms, on what is going to

enable ukraine to stay in this fight and continue to succeed, the way they did in the battle for kyiv where they were able to push russian forces out of that and make russia really revisit its entire approach to the conflict. now, the conflict is focused on the south and the east, as you've said, and we expect that to last for quite some time and be quite a hard fight. we need to get them the resources they need to succeed. this package, as you said, has more than arm. it's got humanitarian assistance for refugees and for the countries that are supporting them, once they've left ukraine. it has economic assistance. the government of ukraine can continue to function. it's got money for food security because that affects not just ukraine and the countries in the region. because ukraine is a major global food producer in normal times, it's affected countries around the world. russia's conflict has done harm to the global food supply, and so our money and our assistance is aimed at that problem, as well. a wide range of focus that we hope will get us through the next five months, as the president has said. >> so as you know, this may get

caught up in politics, the $33 billion of aid needs to get to ukraine as soon as possible from president zelenskyy's point of view. but layering in covid packages. now the republicans talking about title 42 needing to be in there. are you concerned this will get mired in congressional politics, and do you believe it should be put forward as a standalone bill would be the other domestic things attached? >> i'll leave the politics of this to others in my building at the white house and on the hill who know this stuff much better than i do. i will say, though, from the perspective of national security, given the imperatives of the conflict, in the immediate term, we hope this money will be passed as soon as possible. we've shown an ability to get it deployed onto the battlefield and to the periphery as quickly as we can. we hope congress will act soon. >> jon, it is katty kay. there has been a pickup of attacks inside russian territory. what are your conversations with

the ukrainians like about them using potentially american weapons to attack inside russian soil? you had the british defense minister just this week come out and say that he thought it'd be logical for the ukrainians to use nato weapons to attack russia at home. they weren't telling the ukrainians not to do that. have you had conversations with ukrainians about whether they can use what you're sending in the packages to attack russia inside of russia? >> i guess the premise of this question is interesting to us. it sort of ignores the fact that what is actually happening here is an offensive, aggressive war by russia from its own territory, being perpetrated against ukraine inside ukraine. you know, our goal here and our focus is on giving ukraine the tools it needs to defend itself, unless on the tactics that it uses in doing so. we certainly won't get into the operational conversations we have between our pentagon and

the ukrainian military, but we are focused on ukraine's defense. this is fundamentally a defensive war that russia chose to start and it is perpetrating against ukraine, inside ukraine. >> all right. deputy national security adviser jon finer, thank you very much. now, another potential significant development with germany. the country is no longer opposed to an embargo on russian oil. according to the "wall street journal," german representatives to the european union are dropping an objection to a full russian oil embargo, as long as berlin is given time to secure alternative supplies. this comes after russia recently shut off gas to two nato allies, poland and bulgaria. germany is heavily reliant on russian energy imports and had previously opposed a full ban. the shift paves the way for the eu to ban crude imports from the

kremlin. >> katty kay, not just to keep underlining this, but it needs to be underlied. people need to keep this in context, americans especially. talk about what a radical departure this is for germany. >> yeah. i mean, the idea of germany getting involved militarily in another country is huge, and they've started to do that. we saw them announcing sending those tanks. the idea of germany, on the other side, cutting off its imports of oil and gas from russia, which is cultivated to tie russia in the past to the european project is also huge. germany, from my understanding, germany is feeling a huge amount of pressure at the moment. ukraine is so symbolic for them. it's been the scene of enormous atrocities committed by german forces during the second world war. they realize the symbolism, everything the world is seeing. there's pressure from younger germans, for the german government to do more, both in terms of sanctioning russia but

also in terms of supplying heavy equipment to the ukrainian fighting forces. they have moved very fast. now, zelenskyy has said they haven't moved far enough, and some of the weapons they have promised haven't actually arrived yet. it'll be interesting to see the tanks, which is what the ukrainians really want, whether they get there and how quickly they get there. >> jonathan lemire, what is the white house going to do to pave the way for the germans to get off russian oil? >> they've already begun the process, joe. they have sent over and dipped into the strategic reserves. they've started facilitating a shipment of gas and energy to europe. i spoke to a member of the white house economic advisers who downplayed the possibility here of a major recession that comes from this decision. if germany, indeed, falls through and the eu cuts off energy and gas. but there is a recognition that there is going to be conomic

pain. that is going to spiral not just within europe but become its borders. we already, of course, have seen fuel prices dip a little in the last couple weeks. that's good news. certainly, inflation remains extremely high. consumer prices are high. we saw the gdp contract yesterday. if that happens again in another quarter, technically, that is a recession. at least so far, though, the white house believes the fundament ta fundamentals of the economy remain strong and will be able to, despite inflation, survive this. they're keeping a weary eye, but they think the good outweighs the bad. they feel like to cut off the funding for putin's war machine, that he gets so many billions per day from europe on energy, that that would be a crippling blow. the u.s. would do everything it can to support europe in its efforts to make that happen. >> you know, it is interesting, what we've heard from ukraine is they're willing to pay the price for the world's safety. that's what they're doing right now.

now, other countries, i think, are stepping up and feeling it is possible they could make the world safer. let's bring in columnist at the "washington post," max boot. a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. and former u.s. senator, now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill. she served on the armed services committee. max, i want to ask you about germany. in the past, you've been a little critical. perhaps is germany stepping up more now with this latest move? >> well, germany is certainly stepping up more than they have in the last couple months. i think there was some premature talk when the russian invasion began, that the sleeping giant of europe was awakening and all german foreign policy was going to dramatically change. that was a bit of an exaggeration. that didn't happen right away. i think chancellor olaf scholz has been dragging his feet on sending heavy weaponry to ukraine and also on transitioning germany away from

reliance on russian gas. they're providing $220 million a day to russia, which goes to funding the war machine. the last few days, i think there has been a shift, in terms of heavy weaponry and starting to transition away at least from russian oil and gas. i think from russian oil and coal, rather. i think the issue is going to be whether germany will transition away from russian natural gas, on which they're still very dependent. i think the fastest and easiest way to do that would be to table the plan to shut down the german nuclear industry. they have three nuclear plants remaining, supposed to close the end of the year. they closed three the end of the last year. keep the open ones still open. that's the fastest way to end their unconscionable and immoral dependence on russian energy. >> claire, let me ask about this $33 billion package announced by president biden yesterday. its prospects in the congress

where you served for many years. so you have democrats saying we want to attach about $22 billion worth of covid aid to that same package. the republicans say, okay, as long as we're doing that, you have to keep title 42 to protect the border. if it becomes that kind of a conversation, what happens to this money? >> well, the a sticky wicket right now. there are three pieces, like you said, willie. there is the covid aid. there is ukrainian aid, which has the most bipartisan support. easily would go through if it was all by itself. so the question is, can they get enough republican support for the covid aid to get both of them across the finish line. then the other big, looming question is title 42. the republicans are insisting in the senate that they get a vote to stop the change in policy at the border related to 42. that's going to be a hard vote for schumer to let them take because there will be a bunch of democrats that are up this year.

they're going to vote with the republicans. there is a widespread feeling in congress, among democrats, that the white house has really bungled the title 42 issue on the border. >> max, i want to ask you, i'm curious. you and i both grew up cold warriors because of our homeland. you were born in moscow. i was born in dorville, georgia, in the deep south. we're both cold warriors. we had no choice. you got out of there. you and i have been disillusioned by our former republican party because of the things they did not do, because of the things they did do while donald trump was president. i am curious, though, are you heartened like me to see bipartisanship get back to congress? bipartisanship, for the most part, to get back to politic on both sides of pennsylvania avenue, with the understanding that this sort of tyranny cannot

stand from russia? >> you know, it is absolutely heartening, joe, to see the huge majority by which the ukrainian lend-lease bill passed yesterday, to see the near unanimity in support for ukraine. i think that's hugely important. it shows that there is still recognition among the republican leadership and among most of the republicans on the hill about the threat that russia poses to the entire civilized world, in spite of donald trump's infatuation with vladimir putin. here's the rub, joe, trump is still very much in putin's corner. you still won't hear trump say anything bad about putin. >> yeah. >> he talks about the invasion of ukraine like it is a natural disaster and blames it on biden rather than putin. of course, the most popular propagandist of the right, tucker carlson, thinks the invasion is a distraction from the invasion of our southern

border. though i think most republican leaders and rank and file republicans under the evil that russia represents at this point in time, that's not true of the guy who is the most likely republican nominee in 2024, or the guy who was the most popular spokesman for republicans today. that's a big problem. unfortunately, joe, i think the problem for my mind is that, although most republicans disagree with donald trump about russia, they don't worship putin the way donald trump worships putin, it is not a make or break issue. they're not going to reject donald trump because he has been revealed to be this horrifying, putin sycophant. so i think that, you know, my concerns about the future of the republican party and the future of the country remain, unfortunately, very much in tact, though i am cheered to see the bipartisan support ukraine is now receiving. >> i do think it is going to be -- claire mccaskill, i'm curious at your political insights here. it's been my operating theory

for some time, donald trump lost to joe biden, in part, because he lost the atlanta suburbs. that very place where i was born. that was democratic when i was born. became republican as i was growing up. is now once again democratic if you look at the elections. maybe it bounces back in 2022 to republicans. in presidential races, you look at what donald trump has done. he lost the suburbs of atlanta, the suburbs of philly, the suburbs of detroit. a lot of those people just are never going back to donald trump. you take january 6th. you take this invasion. you look at what donald trump said even after the invasion. i just think, again, this is -- it is like a football game that's a game of inches. whenever you're running for the presidency, it's a game of inches. i just -- i've got to believe republicans understand this guy

is not going to win a presidential contest again. it might have to be somebody like ron desantis who delivers trumpism without the baggage of donald trump. >> well, the biggest problem the republican party has is, in fact, donald trump being so popular with the calcified base of the republican party. that's why everybody on capitol hill says horrible things about trump behind his back but parrots what they need to say to please him publicly. because they're afraid of their base. they're not just afraid of donald trump. they're afraid of the people that are just so devoted to donald trump. so trump can win the nomination if he ban he wants it. i think it'd be not good for the republican party and certainly not good for our party, but he owns the nomination if he wants it. the more desantis acts like he is going to take it from him, the more trump is going to want it. you're going to end up with -- if desantis takes him on, that

would be very interesting. but i would probably bet on trump in that matchup. >> all right. columnist at the "washington post," matt boot, thank you for coming on this friday morning. ahead on "morning joe," former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, joins us with his expert analysis on everything that is happening right now in eastern europe. and retired four-star general barry mccaffery will also be our guest this morning. plus, a look at the headlines across the country, including a different take-home test in new york city schools. >> i like take-home tests. >> you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. e watching joe. we'll be right back.

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come on, that is a chamber of commerce day in gotham. >> it's friday. >> you're looking at all the buildings that are going to be empty today. >> what are you doing friday? >> tonight, it is going to be packed. new york city, man, it's just, like, the big apple. take a bite. >> you get up and get on zoom. >> yeah. >> 4:00, get ready to go to the city and go out. >> more fun that way. >> yeah. >> beautiful, beautiful day. i think spring is here. >> mm-hmm. >> didn't the groundhog say spring would be here by june at least in new york city? >> maybe. it is 29 past the hour. time now for a look at the morning papers. we begin in new jersey, where "the record" reports a third investigation has been opened into the deaths of more

than 200 residents in the state's veterans homes during the peak of the covid pandemic. documents obtained by the paper reveal serious problems with infection control, staffing levels, and distribution of protective equipment. >> that happened up in massachusetts, as well. >> unbelievable. in new york, according to the "staten island advance," education officials announced public schools will now send students home with four covid-19 rapid tests each week indefinitely. it comes amid a rise in cases. new york city's department of education says two tests are for student use, and two are meant for family members. to the "ledger enquirer," kemp signed bills restricting discussions of race in classrooms and allow for transgender athletes to be excluded from sports. kemp says the bills protect

academic freedom. critics argue they weaken public schools and leave them vulnerable. >> wait, wait, wait. >> to politicians. >> you can't talk about race? i think i need to read a little more into this. >> we're going to dig into that one. >> sounds crazy. north carolina, the "daily news" has a feature on a now closed charter school that reportedly falsified enrollment numbers to obtain more than $400,000 in state money. to which it was not entitled. auditors say the school misused almost $79,000 in taxpayer funds and required tuition from parents. charter schools receive public funding and do not charge students tuition. the "connecticut post" reports cannabis retail applications are flooding into the state. connecticut is holding a state-run lottery for a chance to win a cannabis business license. according to the department of consumer protection, nearly

2,000 new applications arrived just this week. and the "boston globe" reports massachusetts is now one step closer to making sports betting legal in the state. the state senate yesterday approved -- voted to approve a bill that would allow adults who are 21 and over to bet money on pro sports at casinos and on cell phones. >> willie, in boston, this would be an easy thing to do. simple thing to do. bet against the red sox every day. of course, i must tell you, willie, lemire and i, we just want you to know, boston is playing this season under protest. it is very obvious that they're changing the baseballs. it's hard to tell whether you're hitting this year's baseball or last year's baseball. we're playing under protest. >> everything is a plot to help the new york yankees. i'm grateful to that. jonathan lemire, we know if the

season ended today, we'd have a subway series. great for new york, they've been through a lot. remains to be seen who would host. it'd start at citi field with game one in october. what a great moment for the country, wouldn't it be, to have a subway series? >> my gag reflex. >> new york mets, america's team in that scenario, the world's team, rallying around those lovable losers from queens if we were to get that scenario. that is a grim sight, the a.l. east standings. you're right, joe, i think it is clear that there's been two sets of baseballs here. >> it is clear. >> ones would have some juice in them. to the bronx, we're seeing the ball fly out of the little league field the yankees call home. >> right? >> red sox were shut out again yesterday up in toronto. though, to be fair, it is hard when the ball is basically the weight of a bowling ball. it is hard to hit it with any real distance.

not a good -- not good. yeah, the rookies in massachusetts looking to clean up for any red sox fan who dares think their team could still win. >> obsessed with the baseballs. >> i mean, baseball is so heavy, jackie bradley's batting average is now .150. >> yeah. claire mccaskill, this is breaking news for me. apparently, they play baseball in the central time zone. any teams doing well out there? >> yeah. in fact, there is baseball outside of new york and boston, you guys. >> hmm. >> there are teams that are playing and doing well. in fact, we had a bench-clearing brawl. >> professional teams? >> we had a bench-clearing brawl against the mets this week in st. louis. i mean -- >> america's team. >> yeah. the mets pitcher went high on arenado, close to his head, and arenado had something to say about it. before you know it, everybody, including the bullpens, were on

the field fighting. >> come on! >> yeah. >> come on, it wasn't even close to his head. >> oh, please. >> what is he -- >> oh, my gosh. look at this. >> there was history. there was history. >> come on. >> there was history, joe. we're going to have this tension with the mets all year. >> look at america's team running out. they're like the justice league. the team in blue. >> alonzo. >> we are all the mets today. >> by the way, there was clearly something wrong. cardinals got ejected after all, but none of the mets did. >> almost a strike. >> babies. >> they're america's team. >> bunch of babies. >> for god's sake. claire, we talked about baseballs yesterday, and everybody is like, oh, my god,

they are going to talk about baseballs for a second day. perfect way to go to the weekends. the pitchers say besides throwing a cue ball, you have absolutely no control over those things. what say you, claire? something is wrong with the baseballs this year. >> i think people who are complaining about the baseballs probably have other problems they don't want to admit to. >> oh. >> wow. >> jonathan lemire. >> a shot across the bow. >> wow. >> well -- >> so much more we could say. >> to claire, i can just respond that we all use the same baseballs in the 2004 and 2013 world series when the sox beat the cardinals. >> oh, shut up. here we go. give me a break. >> and the same baseballs were used in -- i'm sorry, jonathan. what was the one world series the yankees won this century? >> 2009. >> i have to check the words. >> 2009, i think, yeah. >> yeah, there was a stretch where the yankees were considered the red sox rival.

it's been a while since they beat us in the playoffs. i don't remember. i have to do research. >> accept it. coming up -- >> let's go, mets. >> -- gene robinson says no republicans who participate in the war on truth deserves your vote. gene joins us with his new column for the "washington post." plus, "new york times" best-selling author don winslow says he is retiring from book writing to focus on democratic causes and opposing trumpism. he joins us next to explain. we'll be right back. o explain. o explain. we'll be right back. ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy.

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welcome to "morning joe." hope you're having a great friday morning. willie, we've been talking about trump lies and audiotape, the kevin mccarthy thing. sycophants in the gop. saying one thing behind closed doors and another thing when cameras are on.

saying one thing about donald trump, calling him a loser when nobody is on camera. saying another thing when they are. and i just -- i got sent this national review piece by kevin williamson. if kevin williamson wrote it, you know it is good. so this is what kevin says, and it fits very well into the theme. it's called "lou dobbs: who reads nr?" this is what the great kevin d. williamson writes. in response to my recent piece on howling moonbat marjorie taylor greene, lou dobbs sneers, "who reads nr?" well, lou, since you raised the question, i'll answer it. you do. we both know this. we know this because we used to discuss it often, back when you had a fox show and i was a frequent guest at your invitation. let's remember, never at my request. i don't think your memory is

failing you, lou. i think the problem is that you are a coward. you are so terrified of your audience that you're willing to let them -- tell them anything they want to hear, follow them down any ridiculous rabbit hole, pretend to be someone you aren't. you went to harvard and live on an equestrian estate in new jersey. lou, let's not kid ourselves. you're a bit of a nut, but you're not stupid. certainly not as stupid as the character you used to play on television and now play on twitter. the irony is, your cowardice and pandering did not save your career. they wrecked your career. let's underline "wrecked" because that's what republicans running for office need to understand. that conspiracy kook stuff is what got you fired by fox. which is why you no longer have a television show. do you know how embarrassing you have to get before fox news, fox

business, lou, is too ashamed to put you on the air? it is bad, lou. think about that. >> oh, my gosh. >> i figure you probably have some heavy legal bills to pay at the moment, what, with that voting machine conspiracy defamation suit that you were probably going to lose. but you're pushing 80, lou. you've already thrown away your job, your reputation, and your self-respect. and there's a good chance you're going to end up financially ruined, too, but there's still time to see the things that should be foremost in the mind of a man your age. it is never too late to stop being a sycophant, lou. we both know you're reading this. so say it, kevin d. williamson. let us pray. willie geist, it really does -- again, this is a great example. it never ends well for anybody.

never ends well for anybody. you can look at the former attorney general who sucked up to donald trump. ruined his reputation. now is hated by respected lawyers in washington, d.c. now is hated by trumpists. you lie for donald trump your entire life, and you end up like lou. >> you know, i was thinking as you read that, joe, who was lou dobbs when we were coming up? lou dobbs was a wall street republican who hosted a show on cnn. he was there at the inception of cnn. a show called "money line" for a long time. a guy who understood wall street and finance well. then i think donald trump and even a little before donald trump, brought some things to the surface, that happened to a lot of people. he was a birther, lou dobbs. he was at the forefront of that movement, questioning who president obama is and where he comes from. of course, all lies there.

ending, as kevin williamson points out, with this massive lawsuit. $2.7 billion lawsuit from the voting machine company, smartmatic, where lou dobbs is named as one of three hosts pushing that lie. if you read the last five, six years, the sycofancy, that word doesn't do it justice. it is true dear leader stuff about donald trump, the way he talks about him. not just on a policy level but a personal level. he did it, i guess, to stay close to power and keep the boss happy. the boss in that case being donald trump. got him nowhere. he was a respected host of "money line" all these years turned into a guy who is alone petting his horses, it sounds like. >> it is really sad. this really has a lot of synergy with the political conversation we've been having throughout the show today and with our next guest. best-selling author don winslow.

stephen king called him one of america's greatest storytellers. he is retiring from book writing and shifting his focus to the fight for democracy. he will now be devoting his time to launching political videos and digital campaigns to support democratic causes and oppose trumpism. in his announcement, he wrote, in part, this. donald trump was defeated in 2020, but trumpism is a cancer that has metastasized across the country. i believe a more dangerous form of it will emerge after the november midterms. i want to see real consequences for trump, his family, and the enablers who share his cynical, soulless, corrupt and subliterate world view. i want to see real consequences for the architects of january 6th, and not just the foot soldiers. 15 months after january 6th and not one single republican

lawmaker has been held accountable for their actions on january 6? not one haas ever received a subpoena from the committee, not one. without consequenceconsequences chaos. the democratic party has a better vision for tomorrow. what they don't have is better messaging. i'm going to try to change that. >> the best-selling author joins us now. don is out with his new and perhaps last novel, part of a trilogy titled "city on fire." thank you for being with us. we can talk about the book or donald trump. i think you'd rather talk about donald trump, but if you want to talk about your book, we can do that, as well. don, i remember right after january 6th, being absolutely enraged that you could have donald trump leading this --

this movement, to go up and trash the capitol. you can have rudy giuliani on january 6th talking about combat justice. you could have members of donald trump's family pointing at the capitol, saying, you know, you should be scared. pointing to the capitol, basically saying, we're going to go up there and, you know, take care of you guys, in so many words. yet, no justice. nobody even questioned. kevin mccarthy was talking about these members he thought had a part in the january 6th occurrences. what should americans think? >> well, americans should look back at this, not just to january 6th, but to all the corruption, all the injustices, all the attempts to overthrow the legitimate government of the united states. you know, joe, it was five years ago that donald trump bragged on

your network that he had fired james comey in order to shut down the russia investigation. 3 1/2 years ago, mueller came out and said they're prepared, cases that could be filed, and nothing has been done. out and they are prepared and cases can be filed and nothing has been done. now 16 months have passed since the disgraceful events, and not a single republican has been subpoenaed, and none of these republican leaders have testified under oath, and there has been no consequences. >> you're talking a man that tried to shakedown volodymyr zelenskyy to get dirt on joe biden, and at this point still will not speak out against vladimir putin. let's bring into the conversation, associate editor of the "washington post" and

msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson, and you have a article, no republican who participates in the war on truth deserves your vote. no republican who goes along with this abominable strategy, and no republican that doesn't publicly denounce it deserves your vote, not a single one of them. republicans tolerated trump's lies for years, but this tendency to excuse mendacity, shifted from bad habit to mortal sin. this state of affairs can't be blamed entirely on trump-elected

officials. how do democrats point these lies out? republicans are doing a great job of muddling the truth. i am thinking of congresswoman maria salazar twisting the truth into a pretzel in an interview, and doing it with great confidence. >> yeah, no, you have to call them out on the lies and ultimately you have to go to the voters. think about how outrageous this is, mika, and just stand back for a moment. look at david perdue, you know, twice now in his debates for the georgia governor's race, he

started debates out with the lie saying flat out that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, which is a proven lie. that umbrella lie provides shade and cover for all the other lies that republicans -- it's like a habit, it's like they are almost compulsive about the lie now, and you have somebody like kevin mccarthy, and then lies and then lies about the lie, and then lies about the lie and the lie. it's incredible. how you get this message through, i think, is the way you get any message through, which is you find sharp concise ways of putting it and you repeat it and you say it again and again and again. eventually you have to trust that you start to get the message through. but you can't have these people in charge of the country. they are disqualifying

themselves. they really are. >> don winslow, the small handful of republicans that have done what you suggest they do, speak up and tell the truth, and it's a short list and they have become pariahs in the republican party, and if you have the temerity to say the 2020 election was not stolen, they try to run you out of the party. what do you do with a party and leadership that is happy to go along with all the lies that donald trump has perpetrated? >> well, i think you have to ignore them and you have to talk directly to the people. you have to tell them, as mr. robinson said, in short and concise language, the truth about these things. there's an appetite out there. i am astounded we have had over 250 million views on our videos

and people want to tell the truth and are ready to tell the truth and let's tell it to them. >> don winslow, i want to thank you for coming on. before we go, tell us about your new novel entitled "sidney on fire." hopefully it's not your last? >> no, there will be two more, i have already written them. it's about the irish mob, and they are forced to get into a war with the italian mafia. it's a personal book to me, and it's an important book to me and i have been working on it for about 30 years. >> owe, wow. don winslow thank you for coming on the show this morning. the book is "city on fire." and robinson, thank you as well, and we will read your new piece in "the washington post."

president biden asks congress to spend billions for aid to kyiv. and then we will have more on cases when where they stand. russia is looking to access a massive amount of money frozen by western sanctions. we will look where all that cash could go if moscow loses its legal fight. we'll be right back. legal fight. we'll be right back.

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to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.™ my fellow xfinity customers. hi tim. the biggest week in entertainment is almost here. watchathon week presented by xfinity rewards. with free access to stranger things from netflix. the boys from prime video. hbo max, 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. we either back the ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the russians continue their atrocities and aggression in ukraine. every day, every day the ukrainians pay the price and the

price they pay is with their lives for this fight. we need to continue funding the fight. >> it's the top of the third hour of "morning joe." that was president biden announcing a major aid package for ukraine, acknowledging, quote, the cost of this fight will not be cheap. coming up, we'll talk to a former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, and bury mccaffery. >> boy, barry's assessment is something, willie. you go back to the beginning of the war a couple months ago and it was obvious to most observers that it was going to be the ukrainians that were going to get swept aside quickly, and putin was expected to be in kyiv

in three days and he was going to put a puppet leadership there, and then it changed dramatically. we will have mccaffery on in the next hour, talking about the fact that with this new $33 billion aid package from the united states, you may soon have parody on the battlefield. that's just shocking. >> it's extraordinary. as you said, putting it in the context of what everybody thought was going to happen with this big russian military rolling into kyiv, i mean, it's a credit to the ukrainian military and credit to ukrainian civilians and books will be written and movies made years from now to see what they did to defend their country, and now there's a massive investment, and yesterday the biggest yet in ukraine because the united states says it's betting on what will be the winning side of this war.

president biden's aid request from ukraine coming with new attacks. >> this morning cnn reporting that a u.s. marine veteran has been killed while fighting in ukraine. according to his family, the 22-year-old had been working for a private military company in the country since mid march. his mother telling cnn he wanted to go over because he believed in what ukraine was fighting for. he leaves behind his wife and a 7-month-old baby. late thursday just as the u.n. secretary general was visiting kyiv, two russian missiles struck the center of the capitol, injuring 10 and killing one, according to the city's mayor. you can see the massive emergency response as well as the military. the ground is covered in glass. explosives are thick in the air. this is chaos in the heart of kyiv. >> the u.n. acknowledging it has failed to stop the bloodshed. his visit also focusing on the

besieged port city of mariupol, where hundreds of civilians and ukrainian fighters remain trapped inside an old steel plant, and putin had agreed in principle to allow civilians to evacuate, but the russian assault shows no signs of stopping. on thursday, massive bombs striking the makeshift hospital, according to ukrainian officials. and maria's husband is one of the fighters trapped inside. every time i speak with him, he tells me about the bright future we will have after we win. >> how does that make you feel? i am very afraid. on thursday, president biden asking congress to fund a $33 billion aid package to help keep ukraine going through september. badly needed funds as the country begins to tally the economic toll. and the mall owner here says he lost almost everything. he shows us harrowing videos of

what happened with the russians arrived on his street and the devastation they left behind. i am very sad, but i am also an optimist, he says. we ukrainians are optimists. that's why we will win this war. >> it's just extraordinary, isn't it? losing everything, still remaining optimistic, still believing that ukraine will win in the end. claire mccaskill, we will talk to the arms services committee chair, and talk about the nimbleness, the biden administration, the u.s. congress and the nato allies, nimbleness they displayed over the last few months, and the biden administration understanding they could never get ahead of the nato allies because there would be bash

lash, and people in the white house were saying we are doing the best we can, and we have to pull britain along and france and germany along, and every step of the way they made the right call. we get to this point now again where we are looking at parody on the battlefield when it looked like just two months ago ukraine would have been wiped off the face of the earth. that would not have happened without the bravery, and it would not have happened without joe biden's leadership. it's that simple. i know that's going to trigger a lot of people, people that live in a post truth world. it's just the case. even "the wall street journal" editorial page would admit that. >> joe biden has a deep and long background in foreign policy, and that's something the trump contingency never got.

the reason trump was -- one of the reasons putin loved him so much is trump was on a path and would be on a path again if given the opportunity to remove the united states from nato and dismantle nato. what putin has done with his murderous invasion is he has allowed joe biden to do a masterful job of uniting the west under the umbrella of nato. for context, joe, i think it's important to point out, leveling the battlefield is big. ukraine's annual budget for defense, 6 billion. russia's annual budget for defense, 60 billion. the united states' annual budget for defense, 700 billion. the fact that we are pushing ships over to ukraine with a military that has been exposed

that it's blatantly incompetent. >> when you look at $33 billion, not just military aid but humanitarian aid as well going into that country, and looking at sort of a long horizon for all of this, if you believe what general milley told congress a few weeks ago, he said this could go on for years, and the question will be how long can the united states sustain this level of support? >> yeah, i think the answer is indefinitely. i mean, you know, that $3 billion is a lot of money, but it's -- it's not so much that we can't afford it, given the size of the u.s. economy and the federal budget and the size of the defense budget. in addition, congress is going to allow the president to essentially do the land of

leagues, which roosevelt did in world war ii, to lending essentially, military equipment and arms and ammunition to britain and the allies before the u.s. entry into world war ii. it will make it quicker and easier when the need arises, specific needs arise for the president to get that equipment to ukraine. i do think it -- it's just an incredible story, really, to talk about the ukrainians reaching parody with the russians on the battlefield, but given this level of support, it seems to me they can get there. they certainly have the morale and the tactics and intelligence that seems to be superior to

what the russians have. this is much more than vladimir putin, what he thought he was biting off when he invaded. >> to that point, joining us now, chairman of the house arms services committee, democratic congressman, adam smith of washington state. we want to talk to you more about an aid package of this side, why it might be needed. it seems to match the juiced up rhetoric, and matching the biden administration's actual decision, sending, for example, an ambassador back to ukraine. we had ukraine's foreign minister on the show this week saying we are paying the price for the world's safety. can you explain to us how everything, to an extent, can be on the line here? >> absolutely. we have provided a lot of aid to ukraine, as you know, both military and humanitarian, and

so have so many other countries, and our allies have come together, partnerships across europe and australia have contributed to help ukrainians do more than hold their ground, and the russians are trying to win in the east and south and ukraine needs more help. we passed a robust package about a month ago of $14 billion. that's just about exhausted. ukrainians need everything you would think they need in terms of humanitarian and medical aid, and this package will be crucial to enable them to win this fight. >> ukrainians are fighting the fight for their country, for their land, for their people, but i think it's been explained many times over why this has an impact on the stability of europe and the world. is it possible this aid package

will get caught up in politics and be delayed? >> i hate when people say it gets caught up in politics. politics is negotiating an agreement to meet the needs of everybody involved. it's not just politics, and it's trying to get through all the different things people are concerned about. i will tell you in this particular case, i don't think this package is going to be slowed down by other concerns. there's bipartisan bicameral support for this package. i think they will spend probably the next week in the senate talking about the issue of the covid relief package and then the republicans have their immigration issue, title 42, i think it is, but that is not going to hold this up. if a deal can be struck that includes other things, they will do it quickly, and if it can't, we will pass this package as is, it's that urgent. they are down to the last few million dollars of the first aid

package and the president is planning on announcing $250,000 in drawdown authority, and that will exhaust it. by the week after next, this package is going to need to be passed, and given the incredible support in congress, both house and senate bipartisan, i think it will get passed. >> president biden said yesterday, i don't care how you get it through, just get it to ukraine. some democratic senators fully support all of the legislature and the aid going out to ukraine, but asking the question, how are the americans' stockpiles holding up? at the rate this stuff is going out, are you confident the united states could maintain its own readiness at home? >> we have work to do, and there's a couple areas of the package that focus on building up the stockpile.

we don't have the surge capacity we need to meet a threat of this magnitude. we have been at war more or less for the last 20 years in iraq and afghanistan, but that was an entirely different fight. it was a counterterrorism fight. we were not involved in a battle against a major military power, and the shear volume of munitions alone that are required to fight that fight is beyond what we anticipated, so there are specific provisions in this bill to build up that stockpile and improve our production capacity. i want to make one key point on this, and the only way to get this done, again, is about our allies, it's about building a broad coalition. the united states on its own cannot build everything we need to deter -- to fight russia in ukraine, to help the ukrainians do that, and then to deter russia, to mika's point, about the broader threat to europe and the globe, and also to deter china. you guys have reported very

well, there's not much difference between china and russia in terms of their global outlook. we need an alliance strong enough to deter both of them, and the united states can read but it will require a broad partnership across the globe to make sure we have the supplies to do that. it's not easy and will not just happen. we will have to be deliberate and make sure we do what needs to be done. >> congressman, i am curious, looking from the outside, can you talk a little about the logistics capability here. obviously timelessness of the weapons is incredibly important. how much of this is being moved from us to europe and europe to ukraine, and how much of it are we using, our capability bringing in ourselves to the ukrainian military? >> that's a strength of the alliance, and that's our

logistics capabilities. it's unparalleled. we have spent the last couple of decades working with nato partners developing that capability, and you have seen the russian inability to communicate between their higher command and troops on the ground, and the inability to get the supplies to set up the supply lines to support the fight, and on our side we know how to do that, and we are working hard with our allies to build that supply chain, and that's how we can get stuff into ukraine on a consistent basis. that's the great strength of the u.s. military. it's worth noting we have been working with the ukrainians for eight years now, helping to prepare their forces to do logistics as well. it's a great strength we need to build upon. >> congressman adam smith, thank you for being on this morning. we appreciate it. the chinese government is making a move that will likely help russia's economy.

"the new york times" reports china is suspending its tariffs on imported coal. starting this sunday they are increasing the supply by importing more coal from russia who was china's second biggest supplier next year. russia might need that help as the country's central bank is scrambling to stabilize its economy after the unprecedented sanctions from the u.s. and european allies. the central bank just cut a key interest rate and is warning inflation could get as high as 23% this year. right now it's around 17%. the value of the ruble has recovered in recent weeks and is now at prewar levels. russia's central bank is working on lawsuits to unlock hundreds of billions of dollars in currency reserves frozen by the west, and there's a good reason why. it's because a very substantial chunk could be used to fund

reparations for ukraine before the war ends and potentially force russia to pay up, at least partially, for the damage they have caused. joining us now, nbc news correspondent, darsha burns. how would this work? >> mika, good morning. this is a pretty unique idea. after world wars i and ii, there were no reparations, and now according to some experts there's basis in international law to tap into them now to republic ukraine. it has been two months since the war in ukraine began, but the u.n. says it already caused $100 billion in infrastructure damage alone. right now with the war still happening, countries like the u.s. can use russia's own money

to effectively make them pay for humanitarian aid, reparations and eventually reconstruction by tapping into russian foreign exchanges across the world. how does it work? russia has $585 billion in currency reserve, and when you subtract their gold reserves at home and monies held in china, there's still $350 billion held in france, germany and the u.s. to name a few, according to the brookings institution. germany paid reparations after the war ended, but the russian money could be used to fund reparations for ukraine. right now russia cannot access it. it's just basically sitting there. >> the foreign exchanges sitting in the central bank, it's just

sitting in an electronic account as a book entry. >> he's making his case in an op-ed for the brookings institution. >> the money could be transferred instantly. >> while the u.s. has so far signed off on billions of dollars in emergency funding, that's only scratching the surface of the tens of billions of dollars in damage. the clock is ticking. with some ukrainian officials unsure if there's even a point in rebuilding some key cities. >> we can't rebuild, because we don't know if people would want to live there, return there, and i am talking about bucha, and

mariupol. for people that used to live there, would it be okay to come back to the streets where their loved ones were killed? >> a ukrainian member of parliament who vowed to stay in kyiv during the war. >> we need to cover the payments that are necessary for a lot of people to be alive, and it's pensions and compensations and salaries, all of those expenses that are basic expenses for the country. >> 141 countries voted to condemn russia's invasion at the u.n. back in march, but none have taken steps to unfreeze funds to get them to ukraine. >> frankly, the ukrainians are looking to us to do this. as a practical matter, yes, i think the united states has to take the lead for this to happen. >> mika, it's unclear if the u.s. government is moving to

actually use this specific money or whether it would be viewed as an escalation by russia, but ukraine's ambassador to the u.s. said if russia were to with draw, reparations would at least need to be discussed. >> at least. nbc's darsha burns. thank you so much for that report. still ahead on "morning joe," poland has taken in millions of ukrainians since the start of the war. we will get a report from warsaw on the humanitarian efforts under way. and you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. we'll be right back. we hit the bike trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care.

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young children in the u.s. may soon be able to get protection from covid-19. moderna asked the fda to authorize its vaccine for children under the age of six. this comes after cases in that age group spiked over the last few weeks, and they can pass it along to adults. nbc news correspondent, stephanie gosk, has more on the announcement. >> a year and a half after the vaccine for adults was authorized, now moderna says it has a version for children six months to five years old that is safe and effective. >> we see a level of antibodies in the children. >> the vaccine is two shots taken four weeks apart, 25% of the adult dose. the company says it's 51% effective for ages six months to two years, and 37% for ages two through five. those numbers only tell part of

the story, according to a doctor that helped conduct the trial. >> there was no severe disease or hospitalizations observed within the trial, but we did see some infections. >> anne rodriguez enrolled her twin 4-year-olds in part to protect vulnerable adults in the family. >> it was important for us to get our kids vaccinated as soon as we reasonably could. >> i am not sure. i might wait for other kids to get it first. >> i don't think it's necessary at this moment. >> only 28% of kids ages 5 to 11 have gotten two doses of the vaccine. the fda could authorize the pediatric vaccination as early as june. medical experts recommending even children who were infected with omicron should be vaccinated. >> we don't know how long infection-induced immunity last,

and the vaccinations can protect against future variants. >> after a long wait the youngest among us may soon get that protection. >> you know, willie, some parents in the package telling stephanie that they were not sure they wanted to give their kids the vaccines, and obviously the risks for young children, while there are risks, far, far lower than they are as you get into people with immune problems or as people get older. here the good news is parents have the option. i have heard some parents complaining the fda has drug its feet too long, and there are people that don't want to get the shot, and that's up to them, but now they have the option. >> yeah, 18 million kids under the age of five, and some of us

have tried to move on and put covid in the rear view mirror, but there's a large number of families moving with trepidation and they don't want to go out of their home for fear of bringing it back to their kids. it will be available soon. families want to use it and they can to protect their children, and what we learned over two years, children, generally speaking -- generally speaking have tolerated covid well, and we have learned how this has not impacted children after two years of studying this. it's a peace of mind for families that want to get their children vaccinated. >> it's just like a booster, mika, if you are 60 or over or

if you have immune issues -- i have a son with type 1 diabetes, and he's already eligible to get the booster and he's going to get the booster. if you are 60 or older, you can get the booster if you want to get the booster. we're just -- as willie said, we are learning so many things. one of the things we are learning, and you can see it in the numbers for people vaccinated, for people who have been boosted, boy, it really -- it really lowers the possibility of you being hospitalized, of you having serious impacts from covid, so it is, as dr. fauci said, we are getting into a far more manageable time for this entire process, so people make their own choices and hopefully they will look at their situation and make their choices based on what is best for their health and what is best for the health of those around them.

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i have had it with this guy. what he did is unacceptable. nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it. this is one personal fear i have. i do not want to get in any conversation about pence pardoning. the only discuss i will have with him, i think this will pass and it would be my recommendation you should resign. that would be my take, but i don't think you would take it, but i don't know. >> what they said we did we never did. i never asked president trump to

resign. we both talked about that -- >> you have talked with him about that? >> no, let me be very clear. i have never asked the president to resign, so what the book said is not true. i never asked the president to resign. >> poor -- >> gosh. >> that was before they played the tape. what a week for the republican party. you get the house minority leader, kevin mccarthy, speakership thrown back into disarray, after tapes prove he blamed trump for january 6th, and he was going to ask trump to resign. dozens of republicans desperately trying to overturn the election, and even talking about implementing martial law in the united states. trump was found in contempt in the new york court ordered to pay $10,000 a day until he complies with the state attorney general. in florida, it's desantis who is

fighting -- i am not making this up -- the magic kingdom. >> you got to fight somebody. >> the magic kingdom. let's bring in donny deutsch. democrats are making this way too difficult. if i had a campaign trail against republicans, i would say this is a party of liars and cooks. i would talk about this is a party that is working day in and day out, especially in the house, with people that talk about jewish lasers in california, and they talk about italian dudes using lasers to rig elections, and they talk about bamboo in ballots, that the chinese is putting bamboo in the ballots, and you have qanon conspiracy theory, and you have other members lying for kevin,

rational members lying in normal circumstances, lying for kevin going it's very obvious, the tape, it was rigged. >> my god. >> and you have a republican, kemp, trump hated him so much, and kemp is humiliating his conspiracy opponent, david perdue, his pro trump opponent. you have loaded guns at the airports from republicans that keep getting arrested for bringing loaded guns to airports, and then you have this michigan civil war going on within the republican party. i think james carville is right again. don't make it harder than it should be. these people are out of their mind. they are crazy. they are kooks, and you don't

want them in charge. even if you agree with them on some issues, and even if the other side is arrogant like mccron, these people are crazy and you don't want them running congress. >> yeah, whether you dupe them the party of weirdos and freaks, and it's the party of nothing and they are not offering anything. all they are offering is the lunatic platforms. if i said to you, amidst all of this, give me one policy, one, one economic policy, one financial policy, one policy as far as international relations that they stand for, and they stand for nothing. the challenge, obviously for the democrats, we are heading into a very tough economic climate. we know that if you are going to bring up the economy, that's

obviously what the democrats are fighting against, and we have inflation and interest rates continuing to rise and that recessionary cycle there. we will know more in may. there are eight or nine really important primaries happening and you have a lot of trump-backed candidates, and a lot of swing states in pennsylvania and idaho -- that's not a swing state, but eight or nine states where we will see how people feel about republicans. we will have an early take on that. i agree with you, joe, whatever adjective you want to use, make people afraid, this is the party of nuts and the party of no. coming up, poland, how that country is responding to the flood of refugees from ukraine. that's next on "morning joe."

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as mass atrocities are reported in ukraine, thousands of people marched yesterday at the former site of another act of barbarics. there was a gathering at what was once a holocaust camp. he denounced russia's war on ukraine, and he said, quote, we are here to show that every nation has a sacred right to life. >> and since rushy's invasion, poland has opened its borders up to ukrainian refugees. dr. dave campbell talked about

the humanitarian crisis and all the efforts to help. >> with millions of refugees crossing the border into poland, u.s. ambassador, mark brzezinski, only appointed this past december is now at the center of the worst humanitarian crisis in the past few decades. >> in the last ten weeks we have had almost 100 members of congress and we have had the president of the united states and vice president of the united states and secretary of state twice and secretary of defense twice, and this crisis is not just a polish problem, it's an international problem and it's important for the americans to join in and share in solving this problem and for the rest of the world to do so as well. >> not only has mark met with government officials but with private sector companies to contribute to aid like uber. >> they were the first company through the door when the crisis

broke out on february 24th, and they said we are seeing the people coming to the border, and how can uber jump in by making financial contributions and providing rides, and they have saved thousands of people. >> ambassador brzezinski and i spoke about the resources after the long journey of the displaced ukrainians. >> they have been on their way for three to four days. many of them did not have proper food, and some of them are coming with two bags, that's all they could take, and they have to lay on the floor of the carriage because of the shelling. >> how do you take care of their needs when the refugees arrive here? >> we are looking at basic health care. people have been on the road for the last few days, and people who are sick, they seldom can --

we are looking at a lot of medical evacuations from a city in ukraine. >> this boy is a refugee and is volunteering for his fellow ukrainians. >> i have ukrainians who also managed to move to poland from ukraine because of war. >> did you leave some family behind when you came here? >> yeah, my family in ukraine now. >> joanna from the norwegian council is assisting millions of ukrainians. >> we need to remember funding is drying up and it's important to replenish it, and there are massive concerns that with the new wave of displacement, the people arriving are going to be more vulnerable and it's shocking and emotionally challenging to be here in my own country helping people flee from

war, just like my grandparents were fleeing war. >> eight decades later next door to we're witnessing the horrors of unjust brutality and against innocent people who want to live peacefully. in 2022, the entire world sees the suffering of millions of ukrainians, but we all also all of poland choosing action. >> today when the society and the government, the local governments are helping millions of ukrainians who come to poland, i think that there is a certain silver lining to that cloud, because maybe some people are actually drawing lessons from the past. >> ambassador brzezinski visiting two such organizations taking action. the slk foundation and little chef who partnered to cook food for refugees.

>> so every two weeks we have refugees cooking for refugees. as of the second day of the war, we've been cooking and helping distribute food. >> how are you supported? >> we are taking donations because our goal is it work long-term. this is a situation that will not go away. and it is not a sprint. it is a marathon. >> the polish people are stepping up for people like ukraine in places like this, in kitchens, in apartment buildings and big cities and little towns, they're inviting ukrainians into their homes and it is a national policy to bring them into polish homes. really very good. >> can displaced ukrainians now making up 10% of poland's population, the funding of ngo's is crucial to sustaining refugee support in the country. >> we don't want poland to become destabilized by this

crisis. and tragically i think putin knows that it is not just through missiles, being thrown at a country that could destabilize a country. he could push people into a country as well to destabilize it. what we're seeing in poland is tremendous stability. this for poland is 1939 again. the pols are looking for the rest of the world for help and to understand that this is not just a polish problem, this is an international problem and it is important for the americans and others to join. >> "morning joe" david campbell reporting from poland. in and in a few minutes we'll speak to michael mcfaul and barry mccaffrey. those top the fourth hour of "morning joe." also ahead, congressman ro khanna who represents parts of silicon valley said elon musk is about to have a thankless job. we'll talk to him about the

billionaire's twitter takeover and what role the government should have in keeping tabs on it. >> i want to ask him about the new bill that just passed in the e.u. it would be transform it here in the united states and why we don't follow europe's lead. "morning joe" is back in a minute. "morning joe" is back in a minute ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card.

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all right. it is a few minutes before the top of the hour. 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. welcome back to the fourth hour of "morning joe" on this friday morning. >> what a beautiful day. what a beautiful friday. and willie has been talking about it for the past couple of hours, we would like to welcome the people in the west coast, the san diego padres won three in a row. keeping it tight in the nl west. that is all we've been talking about, willie, isn't it. >> that is right. since 6:00 east coast time, 3:00

a.m. out west, we opened the show with a padre's victory. that is a killer division. you have the dodgers, the giants, the padres and the dodgers, you could make the case for the giants maybe the best team in baseball but as it stands this morning, very exciting for our west coast viewers and let them know at the yankees have the best record in the american league. and i know that just excites people across the country. >> no. >> no. >> listen, if you're just waking up, don't look at the box scores for the gamesoit east. nothing good going on in the east. the boston red sox, i mean, you don't even know about it. of course angels won 4-1 last night. the nl west is just absolutely crazy with those three teams. dodgers have lost a couple but the padres hot right now. and willie, i'm going to be a little tired going into the weekend. >> oh, boy. >> here is what i started doing with severance. it is really not healthy at all.

but when severance was coming out, it was so extraordinary, it comes out on fridays, right. which you and mika and i know, fridays we kind of hit the wall on fridays, right. my kids know don't talk to dad after noon. because he's not going to be really responsive. >> a little tired. >> making things tougher for me. severance was so great when it came out it dropped on friday. it doesn't drop on friday night. so i would wake up before our regular 4:00 a.m. wake-up and i would watch severance. i couldn't help myself. but after that was over, as i thank god, right, then slow horses falls on apple plus. slow horses. incredible. >> i don't know where you goat the time to watch all of these things. >> gary oldman is the thing. if you haven't seen slow horses, you have to see it and severance. they had the finale of slow horses today. holy cow. >> it is amazing. >> you watched that fourth show.

>> at 3:00 a.m. that is what i'm saying. >> i'm 0 for 2 on those shows but i hear great things about both. ben tiller with severance. i'm in the middle of "we crashed" which is the series about we work, the rise and fall of the ceo there. jared leno, anne hathaway stunning performances. if you haven't seen "we crashed crashed", it is on apple tv, check it out. >> and i haven't seen that yet. but that will be my next go-to. but apple tv, doing we crashed, doing slow horses and apple tv doing severance. pretty good run. >> okay. good. glad you guys could watch all of that. >> and the padres. three in a row. they're looking good. >> we're going to dive into the news now. we are at day 65 in the war in ukraine. and ukrainian authorizes are reporting intense fire and new attacks in the east. this morning a ukrainian presidential