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best of all, prop a won't raise your taxes. vote yes on prop a for fast, safe, reliable transit. good friday to you. this is "andrea mitchell reports." i'm kristin welker in for andrea. u.s. intelligence helped sink russia's cruiser in the black sea. two ukrainian anti-ship missiles struck it in april, making it the largest russian war ship sunk in combat since world war ii. the pentagon insisting no specific targeting information was shared. >> we do provide them information about russian units, at sea and ashore. i can tell you, we didn't provide specific targeting information for that ship. we were not involved in their decision to strike that ship.

jill biden is in romania preparing to spend mother's day on the ukraine border meeting with refugees and aid workers. she spoke to my colleague ahead of her departure. >> have you spoken with mrs. zelenskyy? >> i got a letter from mrs. zelenskyy. i have spoken to the first lady of poland. she gave me her list of things that they needed. i think it's -- we are in a conversation, but it's not really one to one. i did talk on the phone with the first lady of poland. john roberts is blasting the leak of a draft decision on abortion calling it absolutely appalling. that's ahead of a senate vote next week to codify abortion rights into federal law, which is almost certain to fail. good news on the economy. president biden heads to ohio to talk jobs and manufacturing, after today's job report shows

the u.s. adding 428,000 jobs in april with the unemployment rate staying at 3.6%. we start with the war in ukraine. joining me now is carol lee at white house and kelly cobiella in ukraine. carol, i want to start with you. you were first to report the u.s. intelligence helped sink russia's ship. what more can you tell us? great job breaking this. >> reporter: what we learned is that there was a lot of speculation at the time when this ship sank on april 14th. u.s. officials tell us that the u.s. had a hand in helping sink this ship. the ukrainians asked the u.s. about this ship that was in the black sea just south of odesa. the u.s. identified the ship and said where it was -- helped confirmed where it was located. u.s. officials say that they did not have advanced knowledge of ukraine striking the ship with two missiles, which ultimately

sank it, nor were they involved in that strike. there's a little bit of trying to keep distance there between the u.s. helping identify the ship and also -- but not saying they were involved in this. that's because there's concern among the -- within the administration that having this out there so publically could, in fact, provoke vladimir putin in some way, be seen as escalatory. there are concerns that having it out there publically could hinder the u.s. sharing this information going forward. there's concern among the ukrainian side that this makes them look like they don't know what they are doing, they need help from the united states. while sinking that ship, one of the most embarrassing moments for russia, was also a big morale boost for the ukrainian military. the u.s. continues to provide intelligence and help in these

ways, much more so than we even know. there are things that we know that we aren't reporting. this is another aspect of how the united states is helping ukraine in this war. >> that's really important context. of course, you heard john kirby trying to walk that fine line for all of the reasons that you just mapped out. kelly, you have been in ukraine. you have been tracking what has been happening on the ground there, including the battle that has been raging in mariupol. what is the latest there, including and specifically to try to get the people who have been trapped in that steel plant out? >> reporter: more than 200 civilians from what we understand, including from 20 to 30 children. just in the past few minutes, the russian news agency is reporting that a bus of 12 civilians has now been evacuated, including some children. we haven't been able to independently verify that. really, it's a tough bit of news

to verify until the u.n. is in a safe place. they typically don't comment on these evacuation efforts until all of the people and the evacuees are safe. it's a massive operation and a dangerous one to go into that plant. it's a four square mile complex. much has been destroyed. it's surrounded by rubble. in some cases, it's difficult for the civilians to get out. we have heard just within the past 24 hours or so from a fighter who is inside the plant, heard from him through his wife. she's been waiting for his texts for a week, hadn't heard from him. then they came through in one flood. in one of the texts that she got today, he said that the russians had been firing at the plant from a ship. in another text he says that they are aware of the news reports. they and other fighters inside the plant, they are aware

president putin said yesterday that the soldiers -- the ukrainian fighters should surrender. he basically said, forget it, but using less polite language than that. also today, we are hearing from president zelenskyy about this plant and about the evacuation, saying he is doing everything in his power to not only get civilians out but the soldiers and wounded soldiers, some 600 wounded are underneath that plant. we believe many, if not most, are soldiers. he also said mariupol will never fall. he said it would never fall because it's already been destroyed by russia. >> just horrifying but incredible reporting. kelly and carol, appreciate both of you starting us off today. thank you. joining me now is democratic congressman and veteran jason crowe who was just in kyiv as part of a congressional delegation led by speaker pelosi. thank you so much for joining

me, congressman. i want to get your reaction to the news that we just heard from carol lee before we delve more deeply into the situation in ukraine. the sinking of the russian ship. >> the sinking of that ship was a pivotal moment for the ukrainians. it was a morale boost. it was the flagship of the russian black sea fleet. it was more than just the ship. it was the command and control ship for the russian black sea fleet. the namesake to moscow. it was significant and certainly showed the prowess and increasing sophistication of the russian -- i'm sorry, the ukrainian military. they are getting better at targeting. they are getting better at reaching out and reaching over long range distances. the united states is providing support, in addition to humanitarian support, we are providing raw intelligence, weapon systems and training as well. u.s. support has been fundamental to the ukrainian ability to conduct these

operations. >> because you are so steeped in this, i wonder if you have a sense of what the casualties were on the russian side. big picture, does this suggest to you -- you are saying the ukrainians are getting better at fighting this war. do you think that this is a turning point? can they win this war? >> i have long thought that ukraine can actually win this. they can actually win this militarily. i think they are going to have to. i don't think vladimir putin will back down. i don't think he will negotiate a settlement. he is showing no indication or willingness to do that. i think the ukrainians can win, because they are fighting for their freedom, for their lives, for their mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters and sons and daughters. they are fighting in their own backyard, too. they have shown the ferocity and prowess to win. what they need are weapons. they need more conventional weapons. they need more of what we have given them. they need more advanced stuff, too. as this war evolves, it is

changing. the terrain is changing, where it's being fought is changing and tactics are changing. this is different than a month ago. they need longer range stuff, longer range artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, more sophisticated drones and anti-ship missiles. >> to that point, why hasn't the biden administration given that to ukraine yet? why now are they still asking for more and more sophisticated equipment? >> the biden administration has. the biden administration has done a remarkable job providing a historic amount of military aid and assistance. that's never been done before. president zelenskyy, when i had dinner with him and a long conversation with him, he made it very clear that he would not be in the position that he is in now, and ukraine would not be as successful as they are, without u.s. leadership, with sank s u.s. leadership, withanctions

and with weapons and equipment. this war is changing. it's not a issue of why haven't we done it. we are evolving with the needs of the ukrainians. war is not static. it changes. the needs are changing. the location of this war is shifting to different terrain. that means our aid has to shift as well. i'm working with the biden administration, in regular contact with them. had a conversation with the president last weekend about this. they are very open to providing this aid, whether it be directly through the u.s. or through a nato partner. >> you take me to my quick follow-up. obviously, congress is considering and poised to consider a $33 billion aid. do you anticipate that new weaponry that president zelenskyy is asking for will get to ukraine in short order? >> i hope it does. that $33 billion request was the president's request. it was president biden that came out and said, we need $33 billion because we are in this for the long haul. we are showing a commitment. now it's congress' responsibility to pass that

bill. we are drafting it now. i hope we pass it this coming week, actually, when we go back to washington. i hope that it's not just a large bill. i hope it's the right bill that has the right level of support with the right equipment. i'm going to work closely with the administration to make sure that that right equipment makes it rapidly into the ukrainian battlefield. >> as you know, president zelenskyy has said that he would welcome a visit by president biden. the white house says there are no plans for that. should president biden visit ukraine? >> i don't think it's safe enough at this point, frankly. our visit was a huge logistical feat. it was very hard to do. united airlines is not flying into kyiv or any time soon. it took a lot to get there. it took a lot to get back. let's not forget the russians hit western ukraine and very close to our route before we came in with missiles. just a day or two after we left, they hit it again with missiles. they are increasing the attack. we have to be careful on sending

the president or other high level leaders there. that said, diplomacy, opening up our embassy and consulate, it's time to do that. a u.s. presence matters, having boots on the ground with diplomats matters a lot. leadership is not without risk. if you want to lead the world, we have to be out front. we have to be present. there's some risk to that, albeit, it has to be calculated. >> if i might, very quickly, last topic i want to ask you about, abortion, the senate next week is voting to codify abortion rights into federal law. senator collins voicing her opposition. it's expected to fail. my question for you, do you think there's more that the president can do unilaterally, that congress can do if roe v. wade is overturned? >> one area of interest to me, since i sit on the intelligence

committee and armed services committee is looking at the department of defense and our military bases and they can provide assistance, reproductive rights and abortion services. that's something we should look at. our men and women in the military that might be in states where those services may not be available, i think it could step in and provide assistance. we have to look at all options. this is a terrible tragedy that's coming for women and families and for americans. over 70% of america disagrees with this. this is the wrong move, because we have gotten to a point as a society where this should not be a debate. the supreme court decision is certainly tragic in many ways. >> congressman, thank you so much for all of your insights and great information today. appreciate it. >> thank you. the road ahead, with the supreme court poised to

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the senate is set to vote next wednesday to codify roe v. wade into law following the leak of a draft opinion from the supreme court suggesting a majority of the justices are ready to overturn the landmark ruling. however, the votes are not there to secure abortion access in the senate, even as new polling shows 61% of americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. joining me now is cecile richards, former president of planned parenthood. thanks for joining us. >> sure. good to be here. >> i want to start off by asking you about some of what we have heard recently. we heard this week the vice president, a very impassioned speed this week, where she asked of republicans' efforts to take away reproductive rights.

she said, how dare they? mike pence responded overnight during a speech in south carolina. i want to play it for you and get your reaction on the other side. >> i say with the lives of 62 million unborn boys and girls ended in abortion, since 1973, the generations of mothers enduring heartbreak and loss that can last a lifetime. madam vice president, how dare you? make no mistake about it, democrats and the radical left will never stop pushing for more and extreme abortion policies as long as roe is the law of the land. >> your reaction? >> first, vice president pence has never been pregnant, never will be, never will face a troubled pregnancy, unintended pregnancy. i find it incredible that he

would speak for the millions of women in this country who are poised to lose their right and their freedom to make their own decisions about pregnancy. this is the most personal decision that many people will make in their lifetime about whether or when to have children. one of the other ironies, of course, of what vice president pence, he feels he knows better than all of us, is that, of course, the majority of people who have abortions already are mothers. they know full well the responsibilities and what it takes to parent children. i don't really feel like women in this country need lectures from the republican party. they need the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, which involve their ability to finish school, to support the family that they do have and follow their dreams. >> let's talk about the current administration and president

biden, his administration has signalled they are looking at ways that the president can unilaterally take action to expand access to reproductive rights if roe v. wade is overturned. we want to stress that word if. what realistically do you think the president can and should do? i wonder, have you spoken to the president or his administration about this? >> i have certainly spoken to the administration. i feel like that they are doing everything they can. look, we are facing a situation where republican-led states are banning abortion. my home state of texas, which is poised, if this opinion that was leaked, if this opinion, in fact, is issued, a new law will go into affect in texas that will essentially end all access to abortion. i don't care if you are the victim of rape, incest, whether your health is threatened, it allows folks in texas to jail

doctors. this is what the republican party is doing. i think it's really important in addition to what the white house can do and what obviously the democrats in the united states congress are trying to do, we have to put pressure on republican politicians in these states to stop this war on women, to stop this effort, to basically criminalize women and health care providers in this country. >> is it your sense that the administration is reaching out to a number of activists right now? can you give us that behind the scenes look? what are those conversations that are happening right now? >> sure. i think they are looking to see what they can do. if you have a supreme court reminding everyone, five justices, not all the supreme court, five justices, three were put on there by donald trump, who are now taking away a right that women -- a freedom we have had for 50 years. that's a long-term problem. that's not something that can be changed by executive action. what we have to do is explain to

the american people that the republican party has made this their mission. they are banning abortion. if they are successful in this opinion, over half the women of childbearing age in this country will lose the right to safe and legal abortion. i'm seeing what is happening in texas where women, particularly women with low income, women who have never been on an airplane in their life, they cannot leave, they cannot leave the state of texas, as a young -- a colleague told me in texas, it's not a question of whether travel is an inconvenience, travel is an impossibility for these women. they are essentially lost this right. >> very quickly before i let you go, as you know, president biden has called on people who support roe v. wade to elect more democrats. do you think this could be a turning point in the midterm election snz. >> i do. there are so many people who never believed, even the rhetoric of the republican

party, they never believed that they would go so far as to completely end access to safe and legal abortion in this country. folks are waking up to that reality and what it means for their daughters, for the people in their lives. this is absolutely a motivating issue. as we begin to see these abortion bans go -- cass -- it will motivate people. >> thank you for your perspective. good to see you. >> good to see you. the president gets outside the beltway to shrine a light on strong job numbers. moments ago, the first lady in romania, took off for bucharest, after meeting with u.s. and nato military families at a u.s. military base. she's in the region through the weekend and will travel to the border ukraine. mike memoli traveling with her. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. s "andrel

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president biden on his way to ohio to meet with manufacturing leaders where he is expected to call on congress to pass legislation to increase manufacturing and create jobs. according to the april jobs report released by the labor department today, the u.s. added 428,000 new jobs last month and unemployment is unchanged at 3.6%. joining me now to discuss this, my co-chief white house correspondent, peter alexander. peter, what do you think we are going to hear from president biden today? yesterday, he had choice words for trump supporters. today, he will tout the economy and the jobs numbers. >> reporter: that's right. the president leaving the beltway on his way to ohio, a state that could play a roll in determining congress. he wants to demonstrate to those voters, those workers on the ground there what this white house, this administration is doing on their behalf and

acknowledge that there's more work to be done. he laid out key headlines from today. the white house is embracing more than 428,000 jobs, just last month. the unemployment rate at 3.6%. that's down from 6.4% when the president took office. this is the fastest decline in unemployment we have seen. the president does recognize there are kitchen table challenges, like inflation, higher prices for things like gas, up more than $1.30 over the last year. today, part of his remarks is focused on technology called additive manufacturing. it's a new voluntary program he will be launching that would try to boost 3d printing. he will talk about the bipartisan innovation act, that'sfocused on making more semiconductor chips. he is not just focused on right now but also the future and what this administration is trying to

do with or without the help of republicans. certainly, he wants bipartisan support. >> peter, quickly, before i let you go, you were there yesterday at the white house when history was made. the announcement of a new press secretary. >> that's right. the first black woman, the first openly gay person, karine jean-pierre, press secretary of the united states. press secretary at the white house jen psaki, she will leave may 13th. she tweeted of karine, she will be the first black woman and first openly lggtq plus person to serve. she will give a voice to my but make many dream big about what is truly possible. of course, karine has her hands full when she takes the podium. a lot of issues, the war,

inflation, this fight over abortion rights as well. >> you are right. a full plate, indeed. peter, great to see you. see you soon in person when i head to the white house shortly after this show. thanks so much. >> see you soon. for more on the economy, i want to bring in jason fuhrman, a professor of economics. the former chair of president obama's economic advisers. >> good to see you. >> can i get your reaction to today's job numbers? strong jobs report. >> it was a very good jobs report. it had the two things you wanted to see. first, a lot of jobs being added. 428,000 of them. the other thing that the fed wants to see, they don't want to see wage growth being too fast. wage growth feeds into price growth, it feeds into inflation. you saw some moderation of the wage growth here, which should

help relieve some of the inflationary pressures. >> you have strong jobs numbers. you have volatility on wall street on the other hand. as you know, americans are on edge with soaring inflation, high gas prices, high prices on, frankly, everything. based on these numbers that you are seeing today, is the country headed for a recession? >> i don't think so. you don't normally go from 428,000 jobs a month, which is very strong, to a recession a couple of months later. you want to talk about a year or two from now, that's anyone's guess. households have more in the bank. they have lower credit card bills than they had in the past. prices are high. that is a problem for the economy. but there's a lot of momentum here, too. >> let me press you. obviously, the fed raised rates this week. that stirred concerns that it

might be difficult to avert a recession. what do you make of those arguments? >> over the next 6 to 12 months, the fed is trying to get interest rates back to a normal place, not to a contraction rate. there's a question, will that be enough to bring inflation down? i'm not sure it will be. then they may need to go further. that's when you start getting those risks of a recession. this initial stage isn't the part i'm worried about. it is phase two of the operation. we don't yet know whether or not that's needed. >> i want to ask you about student loan forgiveness. you have been skeptical and concerned about the possibility that the president might issue an executive order forgiving student loans, suggesting it could hurt the economic recovery. we know a little bit more about what president biden is

considering. we know he is considering a plan that would forgive $10,000 for borrower, based on economic level. would you support that move? >> look, the worst thing you could do is continue deferring interest for everyone indefinitely. right now, you have people who graduated from law school, they graduated from business school, they will make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. we are telling them they don't have to -- >> what about this targeted approach, this more targeted approach? >> the targeted approach and then making everyone else go back to paying interest is less bad than the course we are on now. i think even the so-called targeted approach is taking people, many of whom will have quite high lifetime earnings, who will get a really high return from college, and giving them $10,000. to me it's not the highest priority in our country. it will add to inflation relative to just continuing -- have people pay interest. i don't think it's terrible. >> jason, thanks so much for

helping us understand the numbers. appreciate it. >> thank you. flabbergasted. mark esper out with a stunging account of donald trump's suggestion suggestions. the details next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. mitchell reports" only on msnbc. . i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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two dozen four star generals, some cabinet members and others to weigh in on accuracy and fairness. joining me to discuss this is senator william cohen. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> can i get your initial reaction to that first claim, that former president trump had contemplated, according to the defense secretary, this stunning move that would essentially have called for launching troops and launching a missile into mexico. >> i'm not surprised. we saw evidence of this, that former president trump has no respect for the rule of law. he believes he has putin-esque powers, absolute. he believes the power of the president is absolute with no qual qualification.

he was advocaing that supporters physically assault, body slam protesters, and that he would cover the cost. i know from talking to some pretty high level sources in the white house that at one point in time, shortly after he assumed the presidency, that one of his advisors, not military, said, mr. president, you can't do that. he said, why not? the individual said, because it's illegal. he said, so what? well, you could be prosecuted. he said, by whom? the attitude is, i can do anything. i have absolute power. this doesn't surprise me that he would even talk about this. i think it's shocking to think that a president would launch an attack on a foreign country not at war with us and think that they would never know what we were doing. >> mr. secretary, the former secretary sat down with cbs news to preview another moment of contact when stephen miller proposed sending 250,000 troops to the southern border to handle

migrant caravans. mr. miller disputes this. >> i think he is joking. then i turn around and i look at him. clearly, he is not joking. i say something like, well, look, dhs can handle whatever is coming up. they have done so in the past. he repeats, no, we need a quarter million troops. i turned around and say, i don't have a quarter million troops to send on some ridiculous mission to the border. >> just reiterating, stephen miller denied this. what would the implications have been if the u.s. government followed through with an idea like that? >> well also remember that secretary -- jim mattis was ordered to move troops to the border. they classified it as something of a training exercise.

but that was one of the factors that led secretary -- defense mattis to retire saying he had enough of president trump's world view and of his power. i have no doubt that such a conversation was held by secretary esper. but i guess we will see more information and others will confirm whether that conversation took place. it's not surprising to me. again, former president trump took money appropriated for a different purpose and moved it out of the accounts into funding that wall. that, in my judgement, was illegal. but it was done. again, it comes to the fact that the president -- former president doesn't believe in the rule of law. he does not believe in checks and balances and believes that the president of the united states, like president putin in russia, has absolute power. >> i want your reaction to

another tense moment alleged between esper and stephen miller. esper writes, after members of the national security team assembled in the situation room to watch a feed of the raid that killed the islamic state leader, mr. miller proposed securing his head, dipping it in pig's blood and parading it around to warn other terrorists. that would be a war crime, mr. esper shot back. miller denies this. your take on that? >> i have no way of really judging. i know mark esper to be a decent, honorable individual. i don't know mark miller. mark esper would not say this were it not true. that's all i can base it on. i don't know mr. miller. i do know mr. esper, at least on

a more friendly basis. >> let me ask you more about the climate that the former secretary describes. he talks about how the president was surrounded by what he calls yes men, a lot of people who agreed with him and, frankly, didn't feel comfortable standing up to the former president. he was concerned if he left his post, his position would be filled with a trump loyalist. what would the administration have been like without mr. esper? what do you make of his decision to stay? >> what was the administration like without secretary of defense mattis? what was it like without general kelly? what was it like -- go down the list of people that trump fired or got rid of, including our top ambassadors in ukraine and elsewhere. what president trump tried to do and was successful almost was to turn every instrument of government into his political

arm. that was his desire. i want my generals, my judges, my secretary of state, i want every institution that we believe should act in a manner for all americans, i want them to be my executive arm to impose my will without regard to the constitution and without regard to the rule of law. >> former defense secretary william cohen, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. appreciate your perspectives. >> thank you. no end in sight. a top u.n. human rights official says the brutality and war crimes witnessed in ukraine will most likely continue for some time to come. what it means for the people who haven't fled the war zone next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. s "andrel reports" only on msnbc

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there is no end in sight to civilian suffering in ukraine. this according to a top u.n. human rights official. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights gave a sobering account thursday of human rights violations. a bucha woman described the horrors her family faced. >> i screamed, lay down. my mother fell because she had a

bullet in her head. me and my father lay down. my father turned around. he saw my mother was shot. he asked me to hide behind her body. i wanted to be proven this is war crime. my father came back and he told us that russian soldiers put him somewhere. they ask him questions. now we want to prove that it was a war crime. >> so painful to hear that. joining me now matt bradley, evo doddler, and omna divaz. matt, i want to start with you. some civilians trapped in the steel plant have escaped. what are you hearing from folks who have escaped? >> we keep hearing horrible stories. if you are one of the civilians

in the -- i should say under the steel works and you make it here to where i am in zaporizhzhia and we greeted a couple busloads of them, and some are staying here -- were staying here in our hotel. if you were one of those of tho it's probably because you had a relative, a son, a father, a husband who was fighting among the ukrainian regulars holed up under the steel plant. we are hearing stories about sons that left their fathers and women that left their husbands, and this is so wrenching, because now they are here in zaporizhzhia, they have access to the information and can see the news and see the evacuation effort ongoing down there, and there's still a blistering attack by the russians against the steel works, even as of

today when there's supposed to be a cease-fire all day long, all day yesterday, today and tomorrow. we spoke with one mother that left her son who is a soldier in that steel works. here's what she had to say. >> i understand your son is still there, he's still there fighting? >> yeah. >> what was it like leaving him? >> translator: translator: . sorry to tell you, we have not spoke with her since that interview, but we do understand from others here in the hotel that her son has since been killed in the fighting there.

we have not been able to catch up with her and i believe she moved on to the western part of the country, and this is a tragedy on repeat in this country especially when it comes to the southeast city of mariupol. >> thank you, matt, for your reporting. we hope you and your team continue to stay safe. ambassador, let me turn to you. just horrific to hear that story from matt, and the u.n. reporting there's executions and allegations of sexual violence by both sides in the conflict. can you paint the broader picture here. what kind of a toll is this taking? >> it's taking an incredible toll. war is always ugly. lots of really terrible things happen in war. in this case, as we have seen in other cases, but you wouldn't have expected it from the russians, there's a degree of

barbaricity, and this steel plant still has a few soldiers there, and unrelenting knowing there are civilians there is remarkable, and russia has admitted they have taken 1 million people into russia from ukraine, and they claim they were liberated. these are not being rescued in any way, they are being kidnapped and they are probably going to be put in camps. the fact that we see soldiers raping, pillaging and assaulting people in extraordinary ways, it's just remarkable and we do need to make an accounting and make sure at one point, at some point the people responsible will be held to account. >> that's why the accounting is going to be so critical. as we have been reporting throughout the hour, the first lady will be going to the

ukrainian border on mother's day and will meet with refugees and aide workers, and we can get a firsthand account of what is happening and can that impact the biden administration's policies towards ukraine? >> i think it's important to remember that the people the first lady will be meeting with are in some ways the lucky ones. she will be on the border area and talking to people among the more than 5.5 million, i think, able to flee ukraine and make it out to neighboring countries. yes, i think there's absolutely anybody you talk to here in the u.s. and among western nations as well believes there's more work to be done in terms of supporting the refugees, and there's more where the first lady will be visiting, and there's a new program they launched in recent days that allows u.s. citizens, for example, to sponsor ukrainians

now living as refugees in europe and they are the lucky ones. we have to remember the more than 6.5 million displaced inside ukraine have no stability, no security, no access to regular food, resources. i spoke recently with the world of the food program, they are still being blocked from basic food and water supplies to many people in besieged areas. there's a long, long shadow of war for those many millions living through the conflict right now and caught in the cross fire. >> glad you raised that point. ambassador, final point to you, what more should nato and the u.s., what more would you like to see nato doing right now? >> the important thing is for the ukrainians to be able to not only defend themselves but to frankly win the war.

we have seen this and know it won't end with the russian forces occupying part of ukraine, it will just continue. having unfortunately more capabilities and weapons in order to bring the russian invasion to an end the best and quickest way is to end the suffering of the ukrainian people. >> thank you so much, matt bradley, and ambassador, really appreciate the conversation. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." chuck todd with "mtp daily" starts right after this. after .

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