been able to own this issue. >> a senior adviser says even if inflation fades by number for november, americans will feel it and will vote on how they feel. eugene daniels from "politico," thank you for being with us this morning. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday. "morning joe" starts right now. donald trump will lie again if dave mccormick wins here. he will start lying again. oz will start lying again. oh, it is rigged. we have to wait two weeks. >> as you say, it doesn't have to be this way, but it is designed to be this way because in the space from election night until two, three, four, five, six days, a week out, that gives all the oxygen in the space for donald trump and others, conspiracy theorists, to say they're trying to steal this from dr. oz. >> wait, wait, that was yesterday morning. i guess it didn't take that long for that prediction to come to pass. donald trump's pick for the republican senate primary in pennsylvania, dr. oz, is locked in a tight race with dave

mccormick that is still too close to call. trump is urging oz to declare victory anyway. sound familiar? the former president once again attacking the process and casting doubt on the results. steve kornacki is standing by at the big board with the latest on where that race stands right now. plus, president biden takes new steps to address the baby formula crisis, including invoking the same law that used to increase the medical supplies at the height of covid. another market meltdown as the dow suffers its worst day since 2020. retailers grapple with the pain of inflation. the latest on the war in ukraine as a russian soldier pleads guilty in the first war crimes trial of the conflict so far. the president turns his attention to asia, as he departs today for a visit to south korea

and japan. but there's no question, this trip is all about china. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, may 19th. joe is off. with us, we have former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan. she's an msnbc political analyst. host of "way too early," jonathan lemire. he is a white house bureau chief at "politico," of course. willie? in a case of history repeating itself, a race in pennsylvania again coming into mail-in ballots and claims of a stolen election. the senate primary race between the trump-endorsed dr. mehmet oz and hedge fund ceo dave mccormick is too close to call, with the candidates separated by over 1,000 votes between them. while the mccormick camp is telling supporters to wait until all votes are counted, former president trump is taking a page out of his old playbook. trump telling supporters, dr. oz

should not wait for the final tally and just say he won. quote, it makes it harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they just happened to find. probably talking about the mail-in ballots. during the 2020 election, trump tried the tactic, insisting he won the state despite more than 1 million ballots uncounted at that time. he ended up losing pennsylvania to president biden, of course. let's go to the big board and national political correspondent for nbc news and msnbc's steve kornacki. good morning. what kind of movement have we seen since the last time we spoke to you yesterday? >> not too much. you're right, it is sort of the deja vu all over again, as they say. waiting on that sort of hines ketchup, slow mayo count in pennsylvania. dr. oz is leading.

if you remember, 24 hours ago at this time, we were showing a tally of just over 2,400 votes. in the last day, the ozccormick been cut in half with what came in yesterday. overall, it is not a ton of votes that came in yesterday. overall, it is not a ton of votes left to be counted here. what we can show you, 1,241 is the difference. where are the remaining votes? one place, we talked about this yesterday, and it's still the case, allegheny county. pittsburgh to pittsburgh area. it is david mccormick's home county. there is a batch of ballots, several dozen precincts where they have not counted up. it is not mail ballots here we're talking about. here, we're talking about votes that were counted on election day, and election officials say several dozen precinctprecincts had issues with the memory chips they load in to get the count. maybe tomorrow. maybe over the weekend, monday, tuesday, being able to get to the ballots, get those ballots counted out.

how many of them are there? we think in the republican race, 1,500 to 2,000, something like that. again, mccormick's home county. he has been doing well here. when they do count the ballots in allegheny, he is probably going to gain maybe a couple hundred on oz. we don't expect it'll be enough to vault him into the lead or anything, but the 1,241 could come under 1,000 from what is in allegheny. another place where we have some same-day votes remaining is philadelphia. again, here, we're talking about maybe 800 votes. there aren't a ton of republican voters in the city of philadelphia. there are precincts where they haven't counted up the election day vote. again, talking about 800 or so votes here, we think, on the republican side. you can see oz has been doing quite well in philadelphia. whatever gets counted there in philadelphia may actually end up benefitting oz a bit. those are the two places are outstanding election day vote. then the big story, as you say, what is left basically is the mail-in ballots. we think the number there is

about 15,000 remaining around the state. they're scattered in different counties. we think there's about 15,000 or so uncounted mail-in ballots. mccormick has been leading oz in the mail count. yesterday, the mail-in ballots, mccormick led oz by 7 points among them. that's the main reason mccormick was able to eat into the oz lead yesterday. he has been outpacing him in the mail-in ballots. it's been a pattern for the 2022 primaries. the trump-endorsed candidates, in this case mehmem oz, did worse with the mail-in ballots than the same-day ballots. the bulk of the votes to be counted here are mail-in ballots. mccormick has been doing better than oz with the mail-in ballots. not talking a 40-point spread. we're talking like a 7-point difference in how they're doing on the mail-in ballots. if you add this together, what it looks like is mccormick is probably going to get a boost when they finally get around to

allegheny county. again, that might not be until next week. oz may gain some when they count what is left in philadelphia. the question is, can mccormick win the -- are there going to be enough remaining mail ballots, and can mccormick win them by a large enough margin that he could actually erase all of this oz lead and move into the lead in this race? of course, when this all is said and done, the other thing to keep in mind is the state law in pennsylvania. it mandates a recount for any result in -- i don't know how that happened -- any result that's within half a point. we're at 0.1 of 1%. the range of possible outcomes here is mccormick maybe just catches oz, or maybe oz hangs on and lead this by 1,000 to 1,500 votes. i think that's the range no matter where it falls. you'll be in recount territory. the secretary of state has already indicated probably going to call a recount next week. that could end up stretching, by the way, until june 7th, at the

latest. >> well, that was my question, steve kornacki. that's a couple weeks away. if oz goes trump and becomes trumpy and starts declaring victory, we could see a lot of confusion and a lot of undermining of the very process that you just described, if this goes to a recount, which it appears this might. this could go either way. >> the recount seems all but certain at this point because, again, the state law is 0.5%. see if it writes better here. 0.5%. you can see, it is 0.1% right now. again, just given the limited pool of remaining ballots and what we know about them, the range of possible outcomes in terms of what is to be counted here, it's really impossible to see this thing being higher than half a percent in either direction. maybe mccormick is able to just get ahead of oz, and i'm talking maybe 100 or 200 votes ahead of

oz. that is probably the best case for mccormick in terms of the votes left. the best case for oz, maybe he gets a boost from philadelphia. maybe he does a little better with the remaining mail ballots we've been seeing. maybe he ends up 1,000 votes or so ahead of mccormick. wherever it lands on that range, that's going to be well within half a percent. that'll be well within recount territory. again, we're talking state law right here. doesn't matter if the candidates request it or not. >> it could push us out to june on a recount. let's talk about the law in pennsylvania about precanvassing. that's counting the mail-in votes before election day. they're in minority in terms of states. i think 37 in this county allow some form of pre-canvassing. why is it that way in pennsylvania, that we don't know who won on election day? there are 1 million votes to be counted.

>> this is a contentious issue in the races here in pennsylvania. the state law right now is that they can't -- the counties get mail-in ballots weeks before election day. the law right now is, you kind of collect them. you kind of hang on to them. at 7:00 a.m. on election day, you can begin processing those ballots. folks who remember 2020 where the election was tuesday and we finally called pennsylvania that saturday, big part of that was there was a huge number of mail-in ballots in 2020, the pandemic year. pennsylvania had never done it before, and there was a lot of talk coming out of the election of, okay, if pennsylvania is going to start having substantial number of mail ballots, will they change the law? will they do what the other states do? as the mail ballots come in a week or two ahead of time, they can process them, certify them, validate them, have them ready to put them into the voting machines. a lot of states do that. it runs smoothly. they never did that in pennsylvania. instead, the issue that emerged in pennsylvania, and when you see especially the gubernatorial candidates interviewed here, ask

them the question, do they want to do away with extensive mail voting in pennsylvania, you're actually finding a partisan divide on the question. the republican position tends to be, no, we shouldn't have the kind of mail-in voting we're doing. the democratic position is yes. that seems to be the issue there. whether there should be this expansive and extensive mail voting, not the processing questions that emerge from 2020. that's where the debate has fallen in pennsylvania. >> steve kornacki on the airtight race still in pennsylvania, thanks so much. let's bring into the conversation attorney george conway. he is a contributing columnist for the "washington post." good to have you at the table this morning. perhaps the most predictable move of all time, donald trump said yesterday dr. oz should declare victory. it makes it harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they happen to find. those ballots are the mail-in ballots, which are not counted in the state of pennsylvania until election day or after. you have local county officials who would love to count them earlier, but the law says they can't.

what do you make of these laws that allow all this space for donald trump and others to step in and say it was stolen from us? >> i do think the law should be changed. i think it should be changed. we're going to have a lot of mail-in ballots, we should be counting them as quickly as possible and pre-counting them or at least preparing them to be counted. people like donald trump are going to turn every election like this into an s-show, for want of a better word. he's now set the tone for all of this. he doesn't care about the law. he doesn't care about the facts. he doesn't care about the truth. all he wants to do is basically say whatever he can say that's to his advantage, or what he thinks is to his advantage, or to a candidate he supports. it's a terrible thing for democracy. >> george, do you have any theories why donald trump has dug in so deep with dr. oz? what is the connection there? why does he really care, frankly? >> i don't know. maybe it has something to do

with the opponent who has a connection to the administration in an indirect way. i don't know. i don't know what it is, why he feels so vested in oz. i just -- i don't know. >> television star solsolidarit? >> maybe. >> he said that, great ratings means you're popular and you'll get elected to office. i'll support that guy. >> it's everything we learned about trump as we watched him choose people. sometimes we were able to watch very close up. he looks at people's looks, at how much popularity they get on television, how malleable they may be to following his orders, that loyalty oath. i mean, dr. oz is kind of a perfect prey for a cult-like figure like trump. chances are, he will follow his directions, and he will hold on to that endorsement and that support with a very tight grip. but he has sort of the shallow

qualities that trump loves to trey upon. >> mika, i think you just nailed it though. pliable when it comes to the 2024 election. who is going to be more pliable, dr. oz or david mccormick? david mccormick will uphold a free and fair election result. >> correct. >> whereas, dr. oz is more likely to go with donald trump. >> george, dr. oz, at least on election night, said, okay, it is not over yet. he didn't declare victory. we'll see what he does now with the pressure from trump. i want to get you on the other race in pennsylvania, the other republican primary, the governors. with doug mastriano being the candidate there, and he is a fuldenier. he said he'd order his secretary of state, which he would get to appoint, a reset of the voter roles. seemingly, he's made it very clear that he would have not certified joe biden's victory in 2020 and would likely,

potentially, not certify any democratic victory in 2024. talk to us about the threat he poses if he follows through on that. >> that is a serious threat. one of the things that saved our democracy in 2020 was state officials in arizona and georgia doing the right thing and certifying votes that had been counted properly and not, you know, applying partisan measures to it and not lying and doing the right thing. when you have this man, who is an election denier, who was outside the capitol on january 6th, who is going to have the legal right to appoint the secretary of state who certifies the vote, that is a very, very concerning thing. that's a problem that we're going to see in other states as well, as some of the election denier candidates gain public office. >> george, while we have you, the justice department this week asked for transcripts from the january 6th committee.

the january 6th committee holding back a little bit, but they didn't say no. i think it is a matter of when. i want to get your take on that move. what does it tell us about the department of justice and how they're looking at the january 6th attack on the capitol and their investigation? >> i think it means they may be looking at the investigation in much the same way as the january 6th committee, but they're choosing to devote their resources to working more specifically from the bottom up than the committee. they're basically drafting, like a bicyclist in a tour de france, drafting off the committee. who can blame them? it is a very resource -- you know, they're limited -- both are limited in resources. the congressional committee is very, very well staffed, and so why duplicate the effort? let the -- let congress do some of the work and see what comes out. i think that's a very sensible approach. clearly, that's what they have been intending to do, and that's what they're following through

on, that plan. >> i was just going to say, george, does that request from doj for these transcripts signal to you that they're looking past the people who breached the capitol and went inside and people who were inside the building? >> absolutely. given the breadth of the january 6th committee's investigation, talking about housing people, including aides to senior white house officials who basically can tell you exactly what everybody was doing and saying that day in the white house. >> do you think they're looking at prosecutions of members of congress, for example, or aides around president trump? >> impossible to say, but the evidence that they are going to be looking at raises that question. >> all right. george conway, thank you so much for being with us this morning. still to come on "morning joe," a lot to cover. the white house makes a major move in addressing the baby formula shortage which is getting more and more grave. we'll give you the latest on that. also, wow, the stock market, with all the red on the futures

board right now, it is shaping up to be another awful day on wall street. we're going to have live coverage from cnbc with more on what's fueling the massive sell-off this week. what it means for the overall economy. also ahead, ukrainian forces make gains in other parts of the country after losing a months long fight in mariupol. national security analyst for msnbc and nbc, clint watts at the big board for us. plus, a shocking, new story from the buffalo mass shooting. we'll hear from an employee who called 911 while the gunman was inside the store. "morning joe" is coming right back. g right back ♪ ♪ bonnie boon i'm calling you out. everybody be cool, alright? we've got bonnie right here on a call.

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welcome back to "morning joe." 2 past the hour. lots of headlines this morning. live look at the white house. president biden and house lawmakers are taking action to address the baby formula shortage. the house passed two bills aimed at ending this crisis. the first one passed overwhelmingly, allowing people in the wic federal program to buy more formula. $28 million will be sent to the fda to increase formula supply. it'd also allow the fda to hire more inspectors to prevent future shortages, something we need to talk more about. only 12 republicans in the house voted for the second bill. senate majority leader chuck schumer said he would try to pass both bills quickly, but it's not clear if republicans will support the legislation that gives more money to the fda. meanwhile, president biden invoked the defense production act.

the action will prioritize the manufacturing of formula in the private industry, as milk banks report a 20% increase in demand. nbc news senior and national correspondent kate snow has more. >> reporter: invoking the defense production act allows the president to direct private companies to produce more baby formula. >> i'm directing my team to do everything possible to ensure there is enough safe baby formula and that it is quickly reaching families that need it the most. >> we want to pursue every avenue possible to get formula back on shelves for parents. that is our goal. again, we come at this not just as public servants but parents and grandparents. >> reporter: the baby formula shortage has gotten so severe, it is leading to hospitalizations. 11-week-old cloe is doing better after surgery monday. born with allergies to dairy and soy, her parents couldn't find the special amino acid formula she needed. >> we looked everywhere. places that said they'd have it,

like a cvs 45 minutes from our house, we called them and went this. >> reporter: mom savannah wheatley pleaed on facebook. i'm trying to keep cloe out of the hospital. we're desperate. >> yeah, we tried everything for her. sorry. um -- we need to have her on the most hypoallergenic formula to see if this will help keep her out of the hospital. >> reporter: their dietitian at south carolina children's health says cloe is one of at least four babies here in part because of the formula shortage. >> there was a family who tried to make homemade baby formula and did have to go to the pediatric icu due to having some -- that formula providing not enough of what a baby needed. >> reporter: google searches in the u.s. for homemade baby

formula are up 250% over the last week. recipes are circulating on youtube. >> we do not recommend that parents make their own formula. >> reporter: it is not just in south carolina. >> this is a crisis for us in health care. >> reporter: at he bonheur children's hospital in tennessee, children were hospitalized after parents couldn't find the formula they take. >> we're out of the special formulas. >> reporter: the house expected to vote on a bill that would allow families receiving support the flexibility to buy any brand of formula. up to 68% of all infant formula sold in the u.s. is purchased by wic. there is still confusion and stores with no supply. the white house sharply criticized by members of its own party. >> i give everybody an f on the spectrum of this, from the company to the fda oversight to the interagencies who didn't talk to each other to the entire problem.

nobody focused on this like they needed to. >> reporter: people should also know that from the president on down, everyone is laser focused on addressing this issue and pulling every lever possible to do so. that's why we are working to import formula from abroad, to get manufacturers to increase production. to get the plant that was shutdown back online quickly. >> this is a big problem for the white house. this is as basic as it gets. feeding your baby. the surgeon general, you heard there in kate snow's report, talking about importing baby formula from abroad. that needs to be fast tracked. ahead, we'll speak live with the surgeon general about the latest moves by the administration, how to get baby formula available to all babies in the united states of america, in stores across america. we'll be covering this, and we'll get more answers coming up on "morning joe." willie? >> elise, you and i were watching that piece as parents. you with a young daughter at

home. it is outrageous in the united states, a woman has to speak through tears, asking for baby formula to keep her baby out of the hospital. >> i can't imagine a more desperate situation for a parent. you're trying to keep your infant alive, happy, and healthy. to worry about what you're going to feed your child, i just -- a year ago, i would have been in the same position, struggling and scrambling for formula. luckily, we didn't have to have a special formula, but my heart goes out to every mother and father in the country who is in this horrible position. i hope to god that they just hurry up importing from overseas. do whatever it takes because this is so fundamental. >> we're going to talk to the surgeon general about this in a few minutes. meanwhile, the dow jones industrial average yesterday suffered its worst day since the dark days of march 2020. the dow plunging 1,100 points amid renewed concerns with inflation, with experts blaming the sell-off on disappointing

earnings reports from target, wag mart, and other retailers. the s&p 500 and nasdaq also closing yesterday. rising costs are hurting corp it rat profits and consumer demand. joining us now, cnbc's brian sullivan to help sort through all of this. good to see you. what went into what we're seeing, not just yesterday, but expect to see today, as well? >> yeah, it is a dramatic turn in the consumer, willie and mika. good morning, everybody. inflation is out of control on so many levels. you did the baby formula story, powerful stuff. those costs, if you can find it, are also going up. the cost to manufacturer, deliver, transport everything just continues to rise. it is really, in many ways, guys, just an energy story. we talk about oil and gas and the energy transition. the price of diesel fuel at certain gas stations around the new york city area is $7 per gallon. that is the rough equivalent of $300 per barrel oil.

now, oil itself is about $110 per barrel. that's the new york area, but there are real fears of shortages of diesel fuel, jet fuel, and gasoline this summer. that's driving up the price of everything. when you factor in making something, shipping something, driving something to the store, it's going to be incredibly inflationary. the consumer has really slowed down. that just absolutely crushed the stock market, not just yesterday, but really all year. it's one of the fastest turns in consumer sentiment i have seen in 25 years. >> brian, i'm trying to think of what exactly control the united states government has. the fed chair probably has options here to stem the tide of inflation. but we're looking at rising interest rates, aren't we? how does that help? ultimately, i still see a lot of americans getting locked out of this economy, not having homes,

not being able to afford anything as the government tries to fix the problem. >> the problem is, and i think you nailed it, mika, is that the only solution is to bring the economy to a halt. maybe force a recession. i know that sounds ridiculous as a, quote, solution, but we learned in the late 1970s that when inflation is out of control and unemployment is pretty much maxed out, pretty much anybody who wants a job can get one, the only way to slow inflation is slow down the entire economy. that's basically what the fed chair yesterday said that they were willing to do. so the double-whammy is that, and sort of the sad paradox of this, is as inflation rages, the only way to slow it down -- well, there's two ways. demand destruction. people simply saying, i'm not flying. i can't deal. or you raise interest rates, which means, to your point, if you have credit card debt, which has gone up 21% year-over-year, if you want to buy a home, if

you have any kind of loan and it's not fixed forever, the rates on those are also going up. you have inflation already on everything, and now inflation on your debt. it is going to be a tough combo. >> we're looking at -- and let's break this down, what you just said. it seems to me, unless there's some sort of external solution to this, but i'm only seeing outside of the united states of america, a food crisis coming our way due to the war in ukraine. but we're talking about housing prices having interest rates, maybe, what, 7%, 8%? how high would the fed chair raise them to slow down the economy? and buying a car. so housing, cars, food, credit cards, this is going to be a nightmare. >> if you can find a car, i mean, we still have the supply chain issues, mika. in fact, there are a number of used cars that are going for

higher prices than the same version new. a two-year-old car with 20,000 miles costing more than the new one. sounds insane but it is. to your point, this is going to be the story. i was in the uk back in november talking about the impact of energy inflation on things like food and electric bills. don't leave out people's electricity bills. they're going to spine. it'll reset a lot higher. what people may not realize, fertilizers are almost entirely chemical. it is not cow poop anymore. it is chemical. those chemicals are made from things like natural gas. the ingredient costs are soaring. the price of fertilizers is $1300 to $1500 per ton. used to be $300. we're lucky to be here in the united states where we can probably largely afford this. to your point, the food costs in emerging markets, lower income nations are going to be out of control. ukraine is a major producer and exporter of these fertilizers.

wheat, certain types of corn and certain types of oils. there are very real possibilities, and it is starting in places like sri lanka, mika, that we are going to see critical -- not baby formula shortages but food shortages for hundreds of millions of potentially billions of people, the longer this drags on. it is a terrifying story. i hate to say it, but we need to acknowledge it. it is real, and it could happen. we need to get the markets reopened. >> cnbc's brian sullivan, thank you very, very much for coming on this morning. we'll be in touch. still ahead, the pentagon says russia has shifted toward using smaller attack units in ukraine. clint watts is standing by at the big board with more on moscow's movements. plus, we'll be joined by a russian writer who describes the journey of those who, like himself, chose exile rather than remain in russia amid the invasion. also ahead, on the heels of the mass shooting in buffalo, new york governor kathy hochul

is taking steps to tighten gun control measures in her state. she has her eye on social media companies, too. that new reporting is ahead. and coronavirus cases climbing in states across the country. we're seeing nearly 100,000 new infections per day. we'll have more on those concerning new numbers. "morning joe" is back in a moment. > "morning joe" is back a moment

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soldier pleaded guilty to fatally shooting an unarmed civilian in a war crimes trial. richard engel is in ukraine with the latest. we should warn you, some of the images you will see in his piece are disturbing. >> reporter: ukrainian rescue crews saved a 9-year-old boy after a russian strike on an apartment building in the eastern region known as the donbas. russia is now concentrating its military efforts there after taking over mariupol this week. but elsewhere, russia's war is faltering again. the u.s. reopened its embassy in kyiv, where ukrainian troops drove russian forces back two months ago. now, ukraine is pushing the russians back from the eastern capital, kharkiv. in the nearby village, all that is left of the russian troops is the devastation they brought. shockingly, some ukrainians stayed here throughout the

battles, including niccolai, living in the wreck of his home, having survived on canned food and pickles. what happened here? the russians came and said they were liberating us, he says. next door, tatiana, a teacher, stayed, but not her husband. he took up the russian's offer to go to russia to escape the shelling. tatiana chose her country over her husband, and she's unsure if she'll ever see him again. do you think you made the right choice? i love my husband, but i also love my land and my country. so i stayed. now, investigators have a whole new region to search for evidence of russian war crimes. >> richard engel reporting for us this morning from ukraine. joining us now, national security analyst for nbc news and msnbc, clint watts. good morning. let's start in mariupol, where the reports are that russia has

now formally seized that city with the last of the soldiers coming out or surrendering at that steel plant. is that your assessment of what's going on there? >> yeah, willie. i think in terms of the -- if you just look at where mariupol is at, they are completely surrounded. we've talked about the remaining soldiers. remember the soldiers there are a mix of -- you'll hear about the azov battalions from the russians. that is true, many of them are there. this is also ukrainian naval infantry who descended into the steel plant. the plant is gone essentially at this point. what you're going to see is the russians start to reposition troops. they want to move their troops to the north, but there's some questions about these russian military units and their will to fight, their capacity to. many of the units that we're seeing, particularly here in the east on these fronts, instead of the large armored columns that are trying to move very, very quickly, the way we saw in and around kyiv, we're seeing small advances of smaller units. that suggests that at least here in this part of the donbas, we

have weakness in the russian military advances. you're seeing these small units move in. they're taking small towns here and there, but separately, you're seeing the ukrainians continue to build up defenses. one place in particular, this izyum area, you're not seeing the russians advance anymore. small reconnaissance moving from there. i think that speaks to the bigger picture of what we see in the east. the ukrainians have pushed all the way through here, taken this part of the eastern section of kharkiv. they pushed russian artillery out. if you went on social media today, you'll even see ukrainian soldiers running right up to the russian border at this point. they're trying to maintain this corridor from belgorod to izyum. i'm not sure they can advance. the plan for russia, i think, is stalled. you saw signaling yesterday from inside russia that they may be thinking about what the end game is. sanctions are hitting. ammunition supplies, manpower, russia is having a hard time

continuing to reinforce those groups. separately, the ukrainians are building combat power. a lot of that u.s. military equipment, the m-777, switchblade drones, it's making its way to the eastern front at the donbas. i'd like to talk about the bigger picture and how we think this might end or what it could look like when it ends. this is two months ago, talking about what is putin's big plan? historically, this was russian area. they call it novorossiya. they want to control this. we hear the russians talk about this kherson area, one of the first areas the russians took. it secures the northern part of crimea. the other is zaporizhzhia region. here is luhansk. where they struggled is the donbas. they've not been able to take the donetsk region. don't be surprised if you hear

vladimir putin talking about independence republics rejoining russia. we all need to watch the blockade in the black sea. if we can't open the blockade, that means all supplies have to move over ground. this will impact things like global wheat and food supplies and ukraine in the future. >> so much going on at once. we should remind people, too, as russia captures mariupol, there's still about 100,000 civilians inside that city. ukrainian civilians need food, water, and medicine. clint watts at the big board, thanks so much. jonathan lemire, the president of the united states headed to asia in a few hours. he'll fly west to anchorage, alaska, then land in seoul, korea overnight. what are you expecting to see? a five-day trip appears to be as much about china as anything else. >> his first visit to china as president. finally allows him to focus on china, which had been his number one foreign policy goal since

taking off. but in 2021, the first months including his first foreign trip which was to europe, was all about reassuring allies that the united states could be counted upon again after four tumultuous years of donald trump. then waylayed by the botched initial rollout of the withdrawal from afghanistan. of course, for so many months now, the focus has been the war in ukraine. the president has a few goals in asia. we will be in seoul and tokyo, two staunch allies there. first of all, thanking them for their support, backing up ukraine and joining the alliance there. also to reassure them the united states is there as a bull work for china. they've been placing economic pressure on other neighbors, and the u.s. is trying to signal, hey, we're here and we want to focus on both, you know, our alliances but also our economic policy in the region. while biden is over there, he'll

have a quad meeting with the leaders that will also include the leaders of india and australia to go along with japan and, of course, the united states. as a late note, willie, any trip to asia, of course, is shadowed by whatever possible provocations may come from north korea. they have stepped up their weapons tests in resent weeks. in fact, i was in the white house yesterday, and national security adviser jake sullivan told me they would not be surprised, mika, even while the president of the united states is over there in asia, it is possible that kim jong-un, the north korean dictator, would order some sort of weapons test while he is there, in order to rattle the cages that much further. expect a strong u.s. response if that were to happen. >> of course. pertaining to the war in ukraine, there's so many angles, as russian tanks rolled into ukraine in february, many russians back home questioned the legitimacy of the kremlin's invasion. as the war raged on, thousands

started fleeing the country, making a difficult journey to safer destinations across europe. our next guest is a russian writer and cardiologist who left his hometown eight days after moscow's invasion of ukraine. maxim joins us now. i want to read from your article that's in the "atlantic." it's entitled "cold, ashamed, relieved: on leaving russia." you write, in part, this, "the first days of the war were spent numbly listening to the news, writing and signing anti-war letters. those who have relatives in ukraine, a minority, are terribly depressed. but a great many are belligerent, explaining away the failures of attacks on kyiv by stressing the humanity of the russian army. but this is a war, partly a civil one, and we, the dissenters, did not start it. the time for talking is over. everyone must choose a side.

suffocation, shame, and hatred are the words that characterize those days. at the very beginning of march, a rumor spread that martial law was about to be declared. the letter z appeared on the streets, along with the previously unimaginable slogan, we are not ashamed. you felt your internal spring compressing, refusing to decompress. we were again being driven into a filthy, stuffy pigpen, even filthier than the one in which we were born. would you let your children and grandchildren line up in z formation?" that's the question you had to ask yourself, maxim. can you tell us more about your decisions and the factors that went into your decision to leave? >> it was sort of, as i put it down, suffocation. when you feel there is no air,

you just leave. that was more instinctive than -- i didn't have time to think it over really. and i do not regret -- well, i'm here in europe, in a very good position. although, of course, i miss my hometown, and i miss my friends. i miss very close friends. so yeah, this is what i feel. >> what are the challenges that people like you faced getting out of the country? it wasn't just buy a ticket and go, was it? >> well, in my situation, it was just to buy a ticket and go,

yes. well, there were some difficulties, but i wouldn't complain. they are incomparable with ukrainians. >> a lot of questions you get along the way. were there discussions with those who decided to stay, and what were they like? >> well, close friends, they understand perfectly well, my decision. mainly, people stay, people who belong to -- i can call it my circle, friends. no one, of course, supports this war and supports putin, so they mainly stay because they have elderly parents or they have -- they feel they cannot go now.

you know, the border between people is now -- lays in different place. those who are against this war and those who are supporting it. >> so you mentioned that there were friends that you had that understood why you were leaving and didn't support the war. >> and -- >> how much -- >> no one supports the war -- or no one of my friends supports the war. >> from inside russia? >> no, no, i am talking about my friends, about my circle. of course, there are a lot of people who support the war in russia. >> willie? >> mr. osipov, to follow up, now that you're on the outside

looking in, what is your sense of the feeling about the war generally speaking in russia? we know that independent media has been cut off so they're getting -- the people there are getting the state's version of what's happened. they're heralding a great victory in mariupol this morning, for example. as you talk to people privately, how do they really feel, by and large, about russia's invasion of ukraine? >> well, i don't talk to people who support war at all. i had -- for example, i had a cousin with whom i broke after this crimea thing happened in 2014. those who watch television, they support war. i talk to people who have access to the internet, which still works. so youtube channels, telegram channels, other things, they are available in russia.

so we cannot say that only television is available. although, of course, too many people watch television. that's correct. >> maxim osipov, thank you very much. we will be reading your piece in the "atlantic." still ahead on "morning joe," u.s. surgeon general cere vivek murthy joins us the top of the hour to talk about how the administration will tackle the baby formula shortage. we'll have new details about the mass shooting in buffalo. what we're learning about the alleged gunman this morning, and how new york state officials are responding. plus, the story behind a reunion more than 70 years in the making between a pair of holocaust survivors, whose paths likely crossed at a slave labor camp in 1944. "morning joe" is coming right

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just before the top of the hour, with memorial day weekend approaching, top health officials are warning about a rise in coronavirus cases across the country. the 7-day average for new infections has climbed to about 94,000 per day. about 3,000 people are being hospitalized with covid each day. the cdc director and other officials are urging americans to take steps to protect themselves, like masking indoors if you're in a public setting, and more frequent testing. we're going to speak with the u.s. surgeon general in a moment. also ahead, we have an update on the aid package for ukraine that is being blocked by one republican senator. meanwhile, in the house, there is a push to address domestic terrorism following the shooting in buffalo.

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according to a new poll, one in three americans say the coronavirus pandemic is over. unfortunately, he's sitting between the other two. welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, may 19th. we have a lot to get to this

morning. the pennsylvania republican senate primary is likely headed to a recount. former president donald trump is urging his candidate, dr. oz, to declare victory before the votes can be counted. sound familiar? hmm. will oz take trump's advice, or will he let the process play out? that's a defining decision for dr. oz. plus, president biden takes new action to address the baby formula shortage. this is not just a consumer crisis, it is a health crisis and it is a women's crisis. we'll speak to the u.s. surgeon general in just a moment. and the latest from buffalo as the mass shooting suspect's social media takes center stage in both state and federal investigations. jonathan lemire and elise jordan are still with us. joining the conversation, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle and former u.s.

senator, now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill joins us. we start with president biden and house lawmakers taking action to address the baby formula shortage. >> i'm invoking what they call the defense production act to ensure that manufacturers have the necessary ingredients to make safe, healthy infant formula here at home. the defense production act gives the government the ability to require suppliers to direct immediate resources to infant formula manufacturers before any other customer who may have ordered that good. i've directed the department of defense and the department of health and human services to send aircraft planes overseas to pick up infant formula that meets u.s. health and safety standards so we can get it on store shelves faster. and i've directed my team to do everything possible to ensure there is enough safe baby formula and that it is quickly reaching families who need it the most.

>> house lawmakers passed two bills aimed at ending this crisis. the first passed overwhelming, allowing people in the wic federal program to buy more formula. the second bill, which was much more partisan, sends $28 million to the fda to increase formula supply and would allow the fda to hire more inspectors to prevent future shortages. joining us now, the surgeon general of the united states, dr. vivek murthy. dr. murthy, thank you for being on. bottom line here, this is an emergency. how do we get infant formula to the american people as fast as possible? it seems to me bringing it from abroad might be the answer. >> well, mika, i'm glad we're talking about this because this is an issue for me that is personal. i have two small kids myself. a couple years ago, my son was, in fact, on infant formula. i know how important it is for parents to have the security of knowing that they can feed their

children. this is a big priority for the president, as well. there are multiple things we are actually doing right now to get more formula onto shelves. number one is working with the manufacturers to increase production. what you heard from the president yesterday about invoking the defense production act will help do that by ensuring those manufacturers have the supplies and infwreed ye ingredients they need to produce more. we are working to import formula. the arrangement the president announced where we will be using our commercial cargo contracts to bring the formula physically from plants abroad to the united states more quickly, that'll also help. the fda is also working with the company itself that shut down the plant voluntarily in michigan, to get that plant back up and running. finally, the president has been on the phone himself with retailers. we have some parts of the country that have adequate supply and other parts of the country where there is scarcity. we need to redistribute evenly so everyone has access to supply.

>> there is criticism that it took too long for the administration to act and for congress to act, but we are in this situation. a lot of people think and say openly, this is completely unacceptable. did the white house and did the government take too long to act? >> well, mika, the fda began acting as soon as they knew that the plant was going to shut down. in fact, they started working on a couple things. one, increasing the manufacturing, working in partnership with companies, but also working with states to ensure that people what depend on the wic program to get their baby formula, that they had flexibility to choose any brand and not be restricted to the brand that they previously for restricted to purchasing. so they were already taking action several months ago. they've continued to ramp up the actions that they're taking, the fda and the president, as well. here's the bottom line, we want to make sure that there is more formula on shelves. that every child and family that needs formula can get it.

we will continue to pull out the stops until we reach that goal. make no mistake, this is a top priority for all of us. it is not just an issue that we come at as public servants. it is personal. many of us are parents and grandparents. we want children to have what they need to thrive, and in this case, it is infant formula. >> good morning, it is willie geist. there's been such frustration with this, as we've been hearing this morning even from parents who don't just need it for the regular reasons that a mother needs formula for the baby, but for medical reasons. you know, there's certain kinds of formula that will keep a baby out of the icu, for example. they can't get their hands on it. so they don't have time to wait for legislation. they don't want to hear about the supply chain and all that. what can you say to those mothers and fathers who are waiting to see formula on the shelves, about how soon it might be there? >> well, willie, i certainly feel for those parents. having had a child who was in the hospital at one point myself, i know when your child

is in crisis, nothing else matters in that moment. we want to make sure that we are there for those parents, as well. that's one of the reasons why the fda very early on worked with the company whose plant had to be shut down to ensure that they could provide more services to get specialty formula, you know, to families that needed it, that may be at risk if they didn't have access. we're going to continue to work on all of these measuresfamilie. we set up a site with resources for parents. we want parents to reach out to doctors, as well, if they have concerns about what formula they switch to. also, we want parents to know that in many circumstances, it is okay to switch brands, as well. i know sometimes that can be a big decision. it can feel scary to parents. i certainly remember that decision myself when my kids were small. but people should know that if formula is on the shelf, it is because it has met the standards that the fda has for safety. therefore, for most infants, it

should be okay to use. >> right. >> these are some measures we can take in the short term. willie, i should also finally mention that the work the fda was doing to increase production, you know, with the president, that's already started to bear fruit. production has increased above the levels overall that it was at prior to the closure of the plant. we still have to do more. we're going to continue to do more. we're not going to rest until every child has the formulastep. again, to the mom, is it next week, next month? when will they walk into the walmart or cvs and see formula on the shelf? >> we anticipate over the next several weeks, people will see increasing amounts of formula on the shelf because of these multiple paths of action we're taking to increase production, improve distribution, and bring product in from abroad. >> several weeks, okay. mike. >> general murthy -- >> ah -- >> -- in the interim, if you're

out there and you're a mother, you're parents, you have this infant and you don't have the formula and you're not going to get the formula for a while, what are the options if you have difficulty breastfeeding? what are the options, the healthy options that a mother, a parent, might have to feed that child? >> it is a good question, mike. so there are several things we're recommending. if you go to the store and you can't find the formula that you're used to getting, a few things we recommend. number one is consider switching brands. many people are encountering other brands on the shelves, not necessarily in some cases the brand they were used to. we want people to know that, for most infants, it is okay to switch brands in a circumstance like this temporarily. the second thing we're urging people to do is look at other locations, as well, including smaller stores, which sometimes will have product. that includes smaller pharmacies, as well. third, we're also recommending to people that they reach out to

their doctors and to use the website we have set up. hhs.gov/formula. we have resources that can help people find other locations, food banks and other locations that may have supply that they can utilize, as well. we're not asking people to do, mike, specifically what we are recommending against, we don't want people to dilute the infant formula. i understand how that would be an instinct for people to preserve supply. we're also asking people not to make their own formula at home. the infant formula has a number of components that have to be mixed in the right proportions, which is why the fda regulates this so carefully. we don't want to create another safety issue for kids. >> dr. murthy, with respect, i'm missing something here. i'm not feeling an intensity. do you want the know where there is not a baby formula crisis? in poland on the border, where they took in almost 4 million people in three months.

there's enough formula there. there's food. they've set up housing. they've been able to do all of this. by the way, with the help, with the fundamental help of the u.s. military. so my question is, why isn't there the same mobilization here in america for this crisis? i mean, mothers are being told to go to websites or to drive hours or to try formula that might make their baies sick. are we really here? what is solving the problem, not in a matter of weeks, but when are we going to see formula in the mouths of babies in america without any stress in terms of getting it? >> mika, i understand the concern. let me assure you that every conversation i've had with people at the fda, in the white house, has reflected the intensity you are talking about. again, this is not just a policy issue. this is personal for many people. the steps that have been taken, especially the last two steps yesterday, the president announcing the dpa to use the commercial contracts and the government's full resources to

bring that supply from abroad as quickly as possible to american shelves, that just reflects the intensity, as well. we want to pull every lever we can to get formula here. we've already seen an increase in production above the levels that we saw before the plant closed down in michigan. there is a production increase. we are seeing an impact. we want more of that. that is why we are pulling more of the levers. we're not going to stop, mika, until every baby has the formula it needs to thrive. >> all right. u.s. surgeon general dr. vivek murthy, thank you very much for being on this morning. claire mccaskill, i've got a question for you about women and voting. ultimately, in a lot of elections, it's the women who turn out and save the day. right now, if you are a woman in america, you've just been through the covid pandemic. maybe you're finally getting your bearings. maybe not. maybe you've been locked out of the economy for that. you are facing losing a

fundamental right to -- a constitutional right to the abortion. okay, now you can't find formula to feed babies. either your sister, your daughter, yourself, you have someone that you love who is struggling with being able to feed their own babies which, by the way, that formula allows them to work, allows them to have options, allows them to have flexibility, to be able to be a woman in america who works, takes care of their family, and has rights, equal rights. i don't know. i guess my question is, what do democrats need to do to inspire women to vote in the next election? because i can see a lot of women just opting out, feeling discouraged, feeling like, you know what, what's next? >> well, first of all, i think the supreme court has helped motivate women. let's start with that. i think that's really fundamental to recognize. and what is really helping is

that many states are going so far -- republican legislators in many states are going so far with really extreme positions on the abortion issue. like my state, where there will be no exception for rape or incest. when life will begin at the moment an egg is fertilized, which also affects idv and other things. for the biden administration, this formula thing is, maybe not fairly, but it is on their lap. >> yup. >> they have got to -- like you said, there has to be more of a sense of urgency. i appreciate the surgeon general is calm and factual. it's what he needs to be. >> yup. >> but there needs to be some passion here. there needs to be some anger. what no one is talking about here, and i'll get angry about that, is we have allowed the concentration of food to be in the handful of corporations. the monopolies in this country are jeopardizing our ability to

recover from one factory shutting down. that's ridiculous. where is doj? why aren't they on this from an anti-trust perspective? we have got to get back to where there are more companies that are in control of our food supply, including infant formula, or we're going to be susceptible for this kind of shortages for other products that might also be life-endangering in the future. >> absolutely nuts. >> elise, you've been cheering on claire. >> yes, go, claire. i mean, she just nailed it. >> also showing some of the rage of a mother. i think all of us are feeling as parents right now, when you ask the question, when will the formula be on the shelf. they say, well, it could be weeks. go to a website, talk to your pediatrician. the pediatrician doesn't have formula. they have it for emergencies, but there are children going to the hospital with intestinal problems because they don't have the special formula they need. this is urgent, urgent, urgent to families in this country. >> do you know what an infant that doesn't have milk does?

they scream. they cry very loudly. they don't stop until they are satiated. that is the urgency parents feel. then the surgeon general is telling you to go around and shop at smaller outlets, which parents of a newborn really don't have the time to do, to go around and try to see where something actually is in supply. i just couldn't be more in agreement with claire, that this is out of control, that our food supply is controlled by so many big corporations. when there is one snafu, something like this happens. the most vulnerable among us are really struggling right now and threatened because of this supply shortage. and i hope that they just get the urgency and the fire in their bellies to just get -- make it work. make it happen. get trucks filled with formula to major distribution centers and cities. just start handing it out to

women who need it. >> it is just not there. i assure the surgeon general and others that parents have looked in their pharmacies and small stores. it's not there. jonathan lemire, where is this on the radar of the president? it jumped up yet when he invoked the production act. how is the white house approaching this crisis? >> it is a significant escalation in their response. privately, democrats feel the white house was slow to react to this. this has been a growing crisis for weeks. we've seen mothers come forward, saying they have had trouble finding formula for weeks now. it seemed like it only caught the attention of the federal government and the white house, in particular, in the last handful of days. certainly, a significant step yesterday to invoke the defense production act, a world war ii mechanism, which was used at the height of covid and now here. what it means, manufacturers, suppliers are now ordered by the federal government to serve formula producers first.

the supply chain issues should be eased some, but it is not a guarantee. it could have ripple effects down the road. that should speed things up shortly. the president also announced operation fly formula, which is the effort to send military aircraft across the worldpies o from other countries that are not having shortages right now. but this is all going to take a little bit of time. i think that as you and mika were so effectively pressing the surgeon general here, they know they can't snap their fingers and restock their shelves. this is going to be a couple of weeks. they know there's going to be, first and foremost, a growing health crisis of young babies, you know, potentially being unable to eat and have to go to the hospital. but a growing political pressure, as well. there's no doubt that this white house is going to take some blame here. it is these domestic issues, the kitchen table issues, that are going to determine the president's fate, but also

democrats in the midterms. inflation and now, for the time being, we have to add the baby formula shortage to the list. >> claire mccaskill, i want to circle back to you on the politics of this. i am not sure women are -- i hope that women mobilize for the midterms and run for office and do what they've done in the past, which is if you can't get someone else to do it, they'll do it themselves and run for office. but i'm just worried that we're going to see polls showing that they're discouraged, that the supreme court news is just so unbelievably discouraging that, like, why even bother? that's my worry at this point. what would your advice be for the white house on the baby formula shortage? i'm thinking the military jets need to be landing soon, and there needs to be a lot of pictures of baby formula being rolled out of those jets. >> well, first of all, mika, there's always a knife edge

between apathy and enthusiasm. just one thing can push it one way or the other. i'm of the belief that the extremism of the republican party, how far they have gone down the rabbit hole, will push that knife edge toward enthusiasm. i think there are many women who are very uncomfortable with how extreme some of these measures are and how extreme some of the rhetoric is from the republican party, that is so embraced a man who thought lying was part of his role as president. but i also believe that the white house should have, if i were advising them, i would have said, don't do the president calmly at a desk. do the president in front of everybody in the government you're mobilizing, and be angry. be angry at these companies that have allowed this to happen. >> yes. >> because they knew when they shut down that manufacturing facility there was going to be a ripple effect.

people knew in business which was going to be a problem. clearly, they didn't care enough. so this should have been a place to channel anger and frustration, that we have this concentration of food in just a handful of companies. it should have been an announcement, that there is going to be a look. he should have had people from congress there saying, we're going to have hearings. this cannot stand. this cannot be reality in america. so i think the calmness, i get, but i think a little bit of, man, we're really you-know-what off, and it's time that somebody pays a price for this. >> all right. still ahead on "morning joe," nbc's tom winter joins us with his new reporting about how new york fs officials are looki into tech platforms as part of the investigation into the buffalo shooting. also this morning, sweden and finland formally submitted their applications to join nato,

but turkey threw a wrench into the membership process yesterday. we'll talk about that. senate and foreign relations committee chris coons is heading to brussels this weekend for talks on nato's expansion, and he joins us ahead, right here on "morning joe." plus, a russian soldier pleads guilty in the first war crimes trial related to the invasion of ukraine. and a reunion between two holocaust survivors. that's more than 70 years in the making. the emotional story ahead. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. we'll be right back. dude, you should really check in with your team on ringcentral. i was thinking like... oh hi, caesar. we were just talking about ha ha ha. yeah, you should probably get out of here.

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encounter with the suspect the day before the shooting. he planned his hate-filled ram pain for months. >> i met him in the department area, saying he couldn't be soliciting in the store. >> reporter: this employee had no idea she'd see him the next day, too. >> i could hear the gun shooting. people screaming. people crying. >> reporter: jerome bridges was also inside. >> as i was barricading the door, i heard more gunshots. he kept getting closer and closer to the back room. >> reporter: people hiding anywhere they could in an act of desperation. one employee calling for help but only to be hung up on on the 911 operator. >> why are you whispering? i'm saying, he's in the store shooting. she said something crazy and hung up in my face. erie county said the individual who took that call is on

administrator leave. investigators zeroing in. a series of online rants appeared to be written by the suspect, incluing a statement he made where he was sent to a mental health evaluation. it lasted 15 minutes, saying he lied and the threat was a joke. >> in response to the mass shooting there, the governor of new york is take steps to strengthen the state's gun laws. at a news conference yesterday, democratic governor kahochul announced a series of moves to combat the easy access to military style weapons and the mainstream of hate speech and racism. to address the first of the issues, new york state police will be required to file what is known as an extreme risk protection order. this will allow them to seize weapons and prevent the buying of guns by people who may be considered a threat to themselves or others. the suspect in saturday's

shooting reportedly bought the gun legally this past december, just months after police investigated him allegedly after writing of plans of murder-suicide which he said was a joke. hochul also said she'll work with legislators to pass laws to have police report gun crimes in 24 hours and require identifying stamps of semiautomatic weapons sold in new york. additionally, the governor announced an investigation yesterday in coordination with the state's attorney general into several social media companies that allowed the alleged shooter to livestream his attack. joining us now, nbc news investigation reporter tim winter. also, jonathan capehart. tom, the investigation into social media, companies that allowed the posting of that material, the manifesto, which we believe could be attributed to the shooter, and the

livestreaming of the event itself. what do they propose to do here? >> right. under new york executive law of 63.8, the governor and attorney general have the ability to investigate companies if they pose a threat to the citizens of new york. under that law, they're taking a look at this and saying, look, when we talk about twitch, 4chan, discord, are these platforms that allow threats to be made on them -- i think the answer to that at this point is yes. the second component of that is should they be doing something to mitigate those threats? right now there is not a specific target of the investigation, saying we're investigating this and will go after that. it is the moment where they're trying to figure out, what do we have going on here? what steps are the companies taking? what steps might they need to take under new york law? i think this is a much more wide-ranging, not targeted, not from the standpoint of grasping

at straws, but they'll see what should be done with the companies. you talk about twitch livestreaming this video. this video is going to continue to pop up long after we're dead and gone. it is just going to always be out there. we see this with every single mass shooting. it just kind of propagates and fuels the people that want to commit this violence. people still talk about -- that commit the mass shootings still talk about columbine. that didn't have the video medium that, for instance, saturday's incident had. >> yeah. twitch says they took it down 2 minutes into the shooting as they heard that it was taking place, which raises the question, what are the controls in place? what are the guardrails? in other words, this young man puts up on 4chan an explicitly racist, anti-semitic document, explaining what he is going to do and what led him up to that moment. do they not see that? is that not flagged? do they not have the facebook or youtube regulators in place? >> right. you talk about twitch, the video

taken down in 2 minutes. yet, we continue to see that pop up. >> right. >> it is our understanding the manifesto was posted days before the incident even occurred, so it is not an instantaneous thing. this is something that had been out there a long period of time. some of these platforms kind of cater to this idea that you can come here, you can say what you want, think what you want, and you can get it out there and speak to people that are like-minded. the question is, now will they go against their entire ethos? >> it is one thing to say crazy things, but it is another to say, i'm going to kill a bunch of people. they have nothing in place to flag that? >> exactly. that'll be the challenge for them. i think that'll be what may come out of this investigation. what specific, concrete steps do you have in place? are you looking for specific key words? are you looking for specific things that people are saying? who do you have on top of this to monitor when something goes from just saying speech we might all find abhorrent to an actual, specific, credible threat?

that's something law enforcement would certainly be happy to partner with some of the companies on. >> jonathan, most of these platforms that tom and willie are talking about now, most people, i would assume, have never heard of them. my question to you is, they're out there, obviously, and people do view them. i don't know the numbers of people who are viewing them, but there are significant numbers who view them. it gets to the license, the license of language, license of activities, that people view things on channels like these, and what it's done to our culture and our country. >> right. social media companies have altered our country and our culture in ways that i don't think we still fully understand. in listening to tom, and all these conversations we're having right now, we don't seem to understand that our laws, such as they are right now, do not match the problems and the

issues that have been surfaced as a result of social media, as a result of sites like 4chan. this is a larger first amendment conversation that congress needs to have, that the american people need to have, because the way we go about free expression, the way we go about freedom of speech is completely different in the 21st century than it was when the nation was founded. it'll require difficult conversations. who are the people who are going to be the regulators? can we trust the algorithms? do we trust the humans at the companies who have to eyeball these postings and these videos? whose judgment do we trust when it comes to that? there are organizations and foundations like the knight foundation, where the first amendment is top of mind. they've been grappling with these issues, actually, for years, a whole lot more years than we realize.

there still aren't any concrete solutions that don't -- that don't end up causing controversy in another area. sort of like a first amendment whack-a-mole. you think you have it solved, where it treats people equitably. when you start gaming it out, another issue pops up. so this is something that's going to require not just, you know, after one horrific incident as happened in buffalo, but it is going to require us to really sit down over years to figure out what kind of america do we want to have in a social media world? >> nbc news investigations correspondent tom winter, thank you for joining us with your reporting. we appreciate it. good questions raised in that conversation. still ahead, georgia's primary elections are coming up on tuesday. elise jordan was just there, and she got some eye-opening responses from democratic and republican voters.

also ahead, a landmark victory off the field for u.s. women's soccer. we'll have more on the deal that finally closes the pay gap. and we'll be joined by the president of u.s. soccer in our third hour of "morning joe." we'll be right back. "morning jo" we'll be right back.

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welcome back to "morning joe." 7:41 on the east coast. that looks to me like centennial park in atlanta. what a great park that is. elise jordan, you spent some time in georgia the last few days. if this week was about pennsylvania, next week, tuesday, will be about the state of georgia. big governors race down there. senate race. of course, the statewide races.

what'd you find talking to voters of both parties in georgia? >> i'm really excited about this. it's the first time that on "morning joe" we had "morning joe" focus groups. over the last couple years, since 2016, i've done hundreds of these groups with a british polling group. so one of my partners on that project, we teamed up and we surveyed the local electorate. we have a group of democrats and a group of republicans. we fine-tuned it using a deeper survey with this great device called question pro. so then you're going to get to see the result of that. these group of democratic voters sitting around, talking their their world view, and then republican voters. let's start with the republican voters we talked to in atlanta, georgia, this weekend. >> it's a crap show right now. with all the political -- or the social media we have, you can see it at the click of a button. we are, i think, as a nation, a joke. that's unfortunate, because we are a powerhouse.

we do help other countries, other nations around the world. we're just a laughingstock, i think, unfortunately. >> sarah, i see you nodding. >> i'm embarrassed. >> yeah. >> i cannot believe who is the head of our country is not the head of our country at all. he's not a leader. he's a puppet. i worry about his mental stability. he hasn't done what he said he was going to do, so i really want to take these democratic voters and say, are you happy now? are you happy now? >> i really feel like covid-19 was a big catalyst in dividing people politically. with democrats supporting the vaccine mandates and the mask mandates, then republicans were the opposite. when it really didn't necessarily have to be that way for a health issue. >> a lot of it started when they started pulling down all the statues, the stuff about removing everything from history. i think a lot of that started,

in my opinion, started splitting it more and more. it was more of a race thing, who is right and who is wrong, who they want in the -- you know, to be taking care of their sides. >> i mean, does anyone really care that much about statues? >> yeah. >> i care about history. >> they're wanting to take away the carving and everything with stone mountain, and there's been a lot there. >> i do not think we are headed in the right direction. i am 38 years old. i'll be 39. up until the last four years of my life, i've never been called a racial slur. now, all of a sudden, individuals are comfortable with doing that. >> a lot of things are excused that shouldn't be excused. growing up in new york, i wasn't really exposed to a lot of, you know, racism or things of that nature. when it comes to politics down here, i feel like it is kind of everywhere now. you look left, you look right, you don't know who feels what way. i don't think that america is

progressing in the way that it should be. a lot of the times, i think that i should leave. >> it's gotten really divided because people have either not learned or forgotten or it feels better not to assess the credibility of stuff. it just feels good to sit in a group of people like this and say, screw them. you know, screw the other. you know, i don't want to hear what they have to say. it is really hard to empathize. i think we've just lost that empathy for the other. >> it's kind of hard to say we're going in the right direction. on one hand, yes, on the other, no. i'm hopeful. you know, in the past four years, you know, being prior military, i kind of felt like, you know, those folks who came back from the vietnam war or whatever, being black and coming back, and your country hating. the years i put into the military, it seems like it was for nothing. to come back, it's like, wow, you know, what did i do?

i saw the klan flags and, you know, that stuff is very, you know, disrespectful to people who served or even just regular americans, you know? and so i just kind of feel, you know, i don't know. sometimes i regret joining the military. i don't even want to call myself a patriot because it seems like that word was demonized, you know? now, i'm just a veteran that served my country, but it's kind of hard to determine, you know, what the future is like. >> wow, fascinating. that's the tip of the iceberg. you spent so much time, and we'll hear more from that. what were you as you sat with them, you spent a lot of time with voters. disgust among both sides with the way the country is going, for different reasons. >> republican voters really focus on the dysfunction and on

what they see as joe biden's mental state, frankly. what they called his incompetence. democratic voters, especially since our group was reflective of the atlanta electorate, was primarily african-american. they focused on racial division and how it really impacted their life. how the temperature had gotten raised over the last few years, especially in how they felt that. >> there are a couple of -- more than a couple of really relevant observations that both focus groups made. the republican focus groups, they want to remove our history, one woman said, talking about statues being taken down. we're a laughingstock. i'm embarrassed. president biden's mental status, they're referring to that. the democrats were also -- the woman who talked about being called a racial slur for the first time. finally, now around me, people

feel comfortable. again, it gets back to the license of language. many people hear cable tv talking about things like the replacement theory and feeling free to use that language on the sidewalk. >> let's bring into the conversation erin hanes, editor at large for the non-profit newsroom the nineteenth. importantly, an atlanta native. erin, so good to see you. you sat and listened to the portion of the focus groups from your fellow atlanta residents. what was your take away? >> much like all of you, you have fascinated to hear both sides really talking about how they feel, for different reasons, that the country is not headed in the right direction. how racially divided they feel like our politics are and how that's really impacting what they're thinking politically. the mutual disgust, really, that you talked about, willie, i thought it was so fascinating to

hear. when elise asked specifically, you know, what did you -- does anybody really care that much about statues, and, willie, you know, how sacred stone mountain is to so many people in the metro atlanta area. also, the idea that for black and white people in atlanta, stone mountain means two very different things. i mean, these are literally confederate generals carved onto this huge piece of granite in metro atlanta. yes, you have people going to that monument and seeing two very different things. i thought it was a very illuminating conversation from both parties, and i do love a focus group. looking forward to more of those. >> yeah, that jumped out at me, too, erin. i've been to stone mountain many times, as i know you have, and, mika, you go. it is the face of a mountain, jefferson davis and robert e. lee and stonewall jackson, heros of the confederacy. >> one of the big issues for democrats has been to really

find a message that has clarity, to find words and phrases that match the reality that the republicans have to offer. they come up with ultra maga. they've been using that over the past few weeks. here's the focus group response. and these are republicans. responding to the democratic strategy of using the term ultra maga to describe them. >> ultra maga. does anybody mind being called ultra maga? some of you identified as maga republicans, show of hands who identifies as a maga republican. conservative republican? america first republican? but being called ultra maga, that is not going to sway your opinion to vote. >> that is supposed to be an insult. >> it is a badge of courage. >> claire mccaskill, you're response to that?

>> well, first of all, i got to tell elise, that watching snippets of focus groups is flash backs for me, i remember watching one about my campaign where one woman called me cruella deville. that is a memorable moment for me. so they are always interesting. but i will tell you one thing that really rings out from these two focus groups and you find it all over america, these focus groups are a byproduct for the first time a leader of a country using division as a political tool. up until donald trump, most presidents wouldn't -- the country and most talked in aspirational terms about all of the things we have in common and how we could agree on things. donald trump took a radical different position. his idea was i'm going to divide the country and blame mexicans and muslims and i'm going to blame others and call racism

even when there isn't racism and somehow white people are being disenfranchised. this is his theory. and by the way, it is become now a cornerstone to the republican party. division is now their political choice and i think the country will respond to more people talking about what i think is a really american value and that is how can we come together and focus on the things that we agree on. >> and our viewers may not realize but a lot of what we heard from the republicans in elise's focus group are the kind of things you hear every night. it is a narrative taking place on different networks and websites about president biden's mental state, about the statutes and everything else. it was interesting, elise, i noted we were talking earlier about democrats, the democrats and the way they feel about president biden. may be surprising. listen. >> it feels like politics as usual. prior to trump, prior to obama,

it just seemed like he fell right in line with what i saw a politician as. you didn't add anything to it. you didn't -- you didn't take anything away as well either. so for me it is kind of -- it is politics as usual. another politician doing what they. >> governing to be re-elected, basically. he's just playing it safe. he's doing just enough, i think he thinks that he's doing just enough in his opinion for the left and not doing enough just as miss to piss off the right so he could be re-elected again. i think he's erring on the side of caution. >> what grade would you give him, if you had to give him a grade. a to f? >> there is a lot of grade for just -- >> just overall how do you approve of him. >> i think two of you strongly approved. does anyone who strongly approved, do you want to talk about why you strongly approve.

>> my biggest fear was the other guy possibly winning. >> agreed. >> and when we got the results that he won, i was like ah. >> it was not the other guy. >> biden, i have to give him credit, he's brought back the normalcy of putting people in positions and surrounding people with credibility, that we could start to trust again. trying to bring some trust back to the government. >> so it seems like, elise, that is the best they could say, restoring government to what it used to be, a baseline of expertise and decorum of a president. >> and if there is a way to sum it up, treading water. so they're happy that we don't seem to be sinking any more. as they perceive it. but they're not exactly feeling just that things are going swimmingly and they certainly don't have then enthusiasm that republicans have for donald trump and other potential rising

candidates like ron desantis. >> jonathan capehart, you've been listen to this. what are your impressions? >> wow, wow on the part of listening to the republicans in the focus group and i'm glad that you brought up the fact that a lot of what we heard from them are things that have been said on fox news for years now. excuse me. and then on the democratic side, i hear the frustration of those democratic voters who either voted for joe biden, because they wanted to return to normalcy, or in the case of that one young woman who i think she said she was 38 years old, her frustration with him not fulfilling some of the promises that he made simply playing it safe. i think that -- but i did notice that she was nodding her head up and down in agreement with the comment that the president has put in people who are expert, who know what they're doing, relatively to who was there four

years earlier. but i think in her initial comment, the frustration has always been a frustration among democratic voters, they view the president basically in a lot of ways like a monarch. if the president said this is what he wants to do, then this is what he -- what he can do and not understanding or realizing that the focuses in the building behind me have just as much say. and as we've seen over the last year and a half there are folks on capitol hill who have been able to put a stop to the president's agenda and they are people in the president's own party. >> so errin, big election day coming up in a few short days in the state of georgia. politics there you know so well. what dwou expect to see on tuesday? we have the fascinating governor race where governor kemp has a sizable margin on perdue. what does it look like right now

in georgia? >> well, so you've got early voting triple what it was in 2018 right now. we're seeing record turnout with early voting in georgia which end this is weekend. that is mostly in person as opposed to absentee and republicans are roting early more than democrats. some people that are many as 600,000 people could vote by early voting. but that is not super surprising because democrats are united in this primary. stacy abrams is going to be the presumptive for governor and raphael warnock is the nominee for his senate seat. so you do have this contested race which we've written about this morn between lucy mcbath and lisa board row. now mcbath chose to challenge bordeaux, because it was drawn

to be more favorable to democrats. but the big lie is on the ballot on tuesday and it looks like president trump could split the difference. you said herschel walker was challenging warknock in the fall. but with stacey abrams, right, she's in the cross-hairs of president trump because he was not willing to go along with the big lie. but because of his front-runner status, the best his opponents could hope for is probably that he doesn't win out right and they could force a runoff. which would really only delay the inevitable. former vice president mike pence said that he would be stumping for kemp ahead of tuesday's election and so with trump supporting his rival david perdue, this is probably looking to be quite the showdown. but again, kemp and abrams are already acing like --

>> thank you all very much for your insight this morning. and over the next few days we're going to have much more from elise's fascinating focus group. i love these. these are out of georgia and we're going to continue to show them to you as we count down to tuesday's primary election. we're going to hear the voters thoughts on challenge to roe v. wade and donald trump and the january 6 attack on the capitol. can't wait to see those. and also coming up, on "morning joe," willie, you need to help me with this tease. i'm cringing even talking about it. >> what happened? >> well george w. bush in dallas. i can't -- do you know what i'm talking about? >> i do. i do. this is a tease. yes. >> i don't know. i might have to leave the room when we show it. it is a serious issue, number one.

but so -- i mean, i've never seen a gaf like this ever. how would you tease it, willie? hell me out? >> it's a former president of the united states making a fraudy an slip and a painful one about the war in iraq. >> really painful. we'll also have that. and the latest from the war in eastern europe and a new hurdle for finland and sweden to clear in order to join nato. why turkey is standing in the way of their memberships. we'll speak with a member of the senate foreign relations committee senator chris coons about that as well as today's expected vote on the new $40 billion aid package for ukraine. plus tuesday's republican primary race for u.s. senate in pennsylvania is still too close to call. and it appears to be headed for a recount. but the former president, donald trump pushing his candidate to

declare victory anyway. will doctor oz take a page from donald trump's old playbook. we're back in just one minute. we're back in just one minute. - common percy! - yeah let's go! on a trip. book with ine. you save more, so you can “woooo” more. - wooo. - wooo. wooooo!!!!! woohooooo!!!! w-o-o-o-o-o... yeah, feel the savings. priceline. -hi, i'm smokey bear and i made an assistant to help you out.

because only you can prevent wildfires. -hey assistant smokey bear, call me papa bear because i'm "grrr-illing" up dinner. haha, do you get it? -yes. good job. -so, what should i do with all of these coals? -don't just toss them out. put them in a metal container because those embers can start a wildfire. -i understand, the stakes are high. assistant smokey vo: ha-ha, ha-ha. -see, smokey think's im funny! welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, may 19th. job mayor and elise jordan and mike barnicle are with us.

a lot to get to this morning. trump urging his candidate in pennsylvania, dr. oz, to declare victory. even though the race is still too close to call. well will dr. oz do that, will he bend to trump's demands. plus a look ahead not next primary day. this one coming tuesday in georgia. where trump is working to oust the governor and the tate's top elections official for refusing to back the big lie. we're also following several major developments from ukraine. a russian soldier pleads guilty in the first war crimes trial of the conflict. and what is next for the 1,000 ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to russian forces in mariupol. nbc's richard engle joins us from ukraine. plus president biden turns his attention asia. with china at the center of his visit to south korea and to

japan. we'll talk to the president's closest ally in the senate chris coops about that. and later this hour, the president of u.s. soccer will be our guest after reaching a landmark deal for equal pay and a major win for women's soccer. a true know your value moment. willie. >> and a victory a long time coming for those women. couldn't wait for that conversation. but we begin this hour with the midterm elections in a case of history repeating itself. a race in pennsylvania once again coming down to mail-in ballots. the republican senate prime minister between dr. memez oz and henl fund ceo and military veteran david mccormick. still too close to call. with the candidates separated by a just over a thousand votes. they are saying to wait until every vote is counted, former president trump taking a page out of his 2020 playbook. telling supporters on his truth social page, dr. oz should

forget waiting and just say he want. it will make them hard tore cheat with the ballots they just happened to find. during the 2020 election, trump trying the same tactic saying he won the state of pennsylvania despite more than a million ballots still uncounted. he ended up losing pennsylvania to president biden. let's go straight to eaton, jordan, let's take a step back vaughn and talk about pennsylvania and the state of the race there. >> reporter: we're talking about a margin of just over 1,000 voters here. this is going to a recount. if in the state of pennsylvania the margin is within half a percentage point between the two leading candidates, a recount is going to take place. and i think it is also important, when we talk about the former president's statements there, you may know specific allegation of cheating

or fraud, but his past ones have had any legitimacy related to 2020, but he simply urged mehmet oz to take the stage and declare victory. his own words were oz won. manipulating the public perception of this race here with still 10, 20,000 ballots yet to be counted and which puts into question any legitimacy or attempts to argue there was fraud in the 2020 election. >> jonathan lemire. >> sorry, vaughn. i couldn't hear the last bit. i apologize for that, you could say it again, vaughn, i'm sorry. >> reporter: i think the issue here is that he didn't even -- >> coy hear you now. go ahead. >> reporter: the issue with this here in his statements or there was not even an attempt this go around here to suggest there was any specificin -- instance of

fraud or cheating, just an outright declaration that oz had won, and in the margin of 10,000 votes saying that oz won and told him to take the stage and declare victory. >> so, dr. oz has a real moment of truth here, doesn't he. very well known guy. lots of people believe in him and followed him and watched his show. co do what donald trump said to do and declare victory. or he could take this moment and do something that would me very important not just for pennsylvania but for the country and say let's count the votes. if i won i won, if lost, i lost. >> well that is his moment of truth. is his compelling loyalty to his principal sponsor donald trump who got him where he is today, largely. or does he do the right thing,

something that would have obviously been done, 10, 15, 20 years ago, let's count all of the votes. we no longer do that in this country, though. because you hesitate to harp on it. and donald trump is not the first person to sow divisions in this country but he's been an accelerant on the divisions that do exist in this country and this damage that he's done to the principal core of our democracy, voting is enormous. >> so elise jordan, interesting, think willie and mike just bring up such a great point. because this is really -- i mean dr. oz has a huge choice here. the votes are in. are you going to be a joke, are you going to be a trump stooge, or are you going to step up and say you know this is a moment for democracy, this is a moment not just foroy constitution but for our process. i have respect in the process

and i want to wait until the votes are counted. and he could do that. i mean, it is not going to change the outcome or he could make himself the joke that donald trump is and it still could be successful but it keeps him locked in that trump wing of the party. and does he want to be locked in that when he heads to the u.s. senate, if he wins? >> well it is such a conundrum for dr. oz, because is he going to do what his benefactor donald trump wants him to do. or, as you say, is he going to do the right thing and probably the more advantageous move of just cooling his heels, letting the votes be counted, let this go for another round, another runoff where frankly the odds are probably stacked in his favor because he's going to absorb a lot of kathy barnette's voters. and she got a very significant share in this primary. that is the big question. does donald trump, how much does

he control dr. oz and is going to dictate his behavior over the next week. >> right. so if he wins, jonathan lemire, if he wins the primary, what is more helpful? sticking with trump or sticking up for the process? i mean it is kind of an interesting conundrum. because if he wins, then the process worked and if he doesn't win, i mean -- but for the ultimate race, after the primary, what is more beneficial? being a trump follower and taking his orders, or standing up for the process today? >> mikas it is an interesting moment, he'll have to make a decision as to pivot and i'm glad audio is working here in d.c. again. vaughn, i wanted to go to you on this because there is no question here that to be a republican winning a primary, it is a different set of the political calculations than a

regular election. need that trump vote. even if his power in the party has diminished slightly, by far still the loudest voice in the gop. but that may hurt him come general election time. and doesn't oz run the risk that if he pivots too much to the center, that sort of old general election center move that we see a lot of times for candidates, but the problem is while we see that happen a lot, we don't see that happen a lot when donald trump is looming over his shoulder. and if oz were to distance himself from trump, wouldn't he risk incurring trump's wrath and losing supporters. >> trump has a history of throwing anybody that crosses him off the cliff. and i wonder how long this string is for mehmet oz, before the former president becomes frustrated. we're now down to 1100 is the margin. how long is that string for mehmet oz here. the issue for the former president is that that

frustration runs deep enough that he when we talk about david mccormick, don't forget what he said about him, calling him a man of wall street. he handed john fetterman sound bites galore. the former president can't afford to let david mccormick be the nominee because the extent to which he spoke out. but the other big question is this up coming tuesday right here in the state of georgia. and ultimately brian kemp, despite not having that endorsement, could he pull it off here. >> and in the polls, we're looking at polling that has him up by 30 points and david perdue has led every debate with the 2020 election was stolen. doing his best to hug donald trump close but it doesn't appear to be working there at least. vaughn hillyard in georgia for us. thank you so much. and mika, it is a measure of how low the bar has sunk that we're even having this conversation. will dr. oz do the right thing if the vote and perhaps a recount shows he lost, will he

say he lost and move on. i should point out that even madison cawthorn, the other night, night of the election, only lost by 1300 votes, he conceded defeat. so he's if even doing it, let's see what dr. oz does. >> the only concern that one would have and if you like the truth, about dr. oz is that he's been known to push questionable theories on national television for quite sometime. so, this might come naturally to him. we'll see. turning now to the war in ukraine. the russian military said more of the last remaining soldiers from inside of that steel plant in mariupol surrendered this morning. this as the u.s. embassy reopened in the capital of kyiv, after three months of closure. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engle as the latest from kharkiv. >> reporter: good morning, fighting continues out here in eastern ukraine. the u.s. embassy is back in

operation in this country. and the ukrainian government said it is now doing everything it can to try to secure the release of hundreds of ukrainian fighters who turned themselves into russian forces in the city of mariupol. but russia is now using them for propaganda purposes. to try to portray the ukrainian resistance as extremist. russia has been paraded surrendered ukraine fighters through the streets of mariupol. russian officials say nearly a thousand surrendered this week after they were surrounded and made a last stand at a steel factory. russia saying it will interrogate each one for possible crimes against civilians. moscow seems to be sending a message after ukraine put the first russian soldier on trial for a war crime. the 21-year-old russian sergeant pleaded guilty to shooting a ukrainian civilian outside of kyiv and is potentially facing

life in prison. his lawyer said he was ordered to shoot by his commander who thought the ukrainian would give away the russian's position. in kyiv, the united states is now back in business officially, raising the flag over the american embassy there. diplomats were ordered out of the country in the early days of the war. when it seemed russia might quickly take over the entire country. instead, russian troops were first driven back from kyiv, and now from around the eastern city of kharkiv where forces have been blowing up bridges to stop russian advances. but while russian troops are struggling to hold territory, their grip on the port city of mariupol and a naval blockade in the black sea are strangling ukraine. cutting off many imports and the export of the country's most important commodity, grain. the head of the world food program made a direct appeal to president putin, to let ukraine export its grain for the sake of

global food security. >> it is absolutely essential that we allow these ports to open because this is not just about ukraine, this is about the poorest of the poor around the world who are on the brink of starvation as we speak. so i ask president putin, if you have any heart at all, to please open these ports. >> reporter: president biden meets today with leaders from finland and sweden after the two countries formally submitted their applications to join nato and the senate approved ukraine's first u.s. ambassador since the last ambassador was forced out under the trump administration. mika. >> pretty amazing. richard engle reporting. thank you very much. joining us now, democratic member of the foreign relations committee senator chris coons of delaware. and i know you're heading to brussels to deal with the nato issue so i'll start there with sweden and finland applying. what is the u.s. message or what should it be to turkey, which is

using this moment to resolve some of their issues and they have many. what is the message to turkey about taking this time to slow down the process for sweden and finland. what should it be. >> think our message to turkey needs to be this is a moment for nato unity. and this is a water shed moment in the modern history of nato to have sweden and finland applying for full nato membership. these are sophisticated advanced economies that have the capabilities of an advanced military and will provide significant additional security to the three baltic states that are the very northernmost members of the eastern european line of nato. of course norway is also a member of nato. they would provide key additional security to nato. and i think we need to move swiftly. we should not allow turkey to leverage this moment and i think the conversations need to be forcefully and clear with

erdogan, turkey's leader. >> okay. and what do you make of the thousand or so soldiers that are right now that -- that were taken out of mariupol and are being held by the russians. how to resolve that? >> well president zelenskyy has asked for time to negotiate, hopefully they will be able to swap russian prisoners of war for those ukrainian defenders of steel plant in mariupol who have surrendered. it looks from your coverage that russia is in stead determined to parade them in front of cameras and use them for propaganda benefits. so, i'm very concerned about their security, they're safety, their health and their future. they fought bravely for ukraine. but russia does not fight fair. and so i think their future may be cloudy at this moment. >> senator, good morning. as we move around the world, the president of the united states, in a few hours will take off for a long trip to asia, stopping first in south korea, then going

on to japan with much of the focus of course around china. what do you expect to see him do there and what do you hope to hear from him? >> president biden will be reassuring several of our key allies in the endopacific about the united states ongoing support for them and for their security and for their open and democratic societies in the face of challenges. kim jong-un out of north korea continues to test weapons, ballistic missile systems. there are some reporting that he may consider a nuclear test during this trip as a way of just further rattling our cage and making it hard for us to focus on the war in eastern europe. russia's invasion of ukraine, i would expect that president biden will also urge our critical allies in the region to cooperate more closely and he will thank them for their support. >> and my question to you, is

there a role for the united states navy in keeping the port of odesa open? >> that is a critical question. as your report has just shown, part of the package of aid that the senate will take up and pass, later today, it will provide food assistance which is critically needed to dozens of countries because ukraine is such a big exporter of food, of wheat and of corn and sunflower oil. if the port of odesa could not open, both the ukrainian economy for the long-term be crippled and folks who are fed through the world food program, 400 million people in dozens of other countries will suffer critical foot shortages. so some of the conversations that i hope to have this weekend and those in the administration are having, how we might open the port of odesa for the export of grain. >> senator, good morning, jonathan lemire. one nation that has not fully

bought into the alliance to stand up to russia is india. and india will be part of the quad meeting that the president convenes over the weekend, while he is in asia. what directly should this president say to his counter pard in india as to -- to get them to cut their ties to moscow. >> well as you know, india has long relied on russian military equipment. they have a contested border with china. they have a long and challenging relationship with pakistan. and they have legitimate security concerns in their region. so i think the conversation needs to both respect india's legitimate security concerns, but also offer them a path forward for a better trade and immigration and economic integration into the quad, into the united states, there is a number of issues that have been minor irritants in the u.s./india relationship that we could and should resolve. we need an ambassador to india.

we have a very capable ambassador in japan who is made quite an impact in the few months that he's been there and our representatives around the world are critical. the senate just unanimously confirmed our new ambassador to ukraine last night. the reopening of our embassy in kyiv is a key step forward there. i think the quad and making a trip in person for the senior most in-person meeting of the quad leaders, that is i believe ever happened, is an important next step by president biden to bring together these four critical endopacific nations. >> senator chris coons, thank you very much for being on this morning. we look forward to hearing about your trip. okay, so former president george w. bush made a very awkward flub at an event at his presidential center at southern methodist university in dallas yesterday. according to the "dallas morning

news," the event was an examination of the state of democracy, and the safety of american elections following january 6th. but i just don't even know. i can't watch this. but here it is. here he is talking about the war in ukraine where he misspeaks. take a listen. >> in contrast, russian elections are rigged. political opponents are imprisoned or otherwise eliminated from participating in the electoral process. the result is an absence of checks and balances in russia and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of iraq. i mean of ukraine. iraq too, anyway.

75. >> nobody wants to talk about it. still ahead on "morning joe." we'll have the latest covid trends and concerns as we move closer to a big holiday weekend. and the future's board is lit up red this morning after another massive sell-off during yesterday's session. cnbc's brian sullivan is with us to make sense of what is happening on wall street. plus, the u.s. women's soccer team is finally getting paid. after years of fighting for equal compensation, the president of u.s. soccer joins us live in just a few minutes. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. stories of bipolar depression. i just couldn't find my way out of it. the lows of bipolar depression can take you to a dark place. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven ficantly reduce

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covid cases are rising sharply in some parts of the country but so far hospitalizations and deaths are now. suggesting while subvariants may be more contagious, they appear

to be less severe. nbc's stephanie gosk reports. >> reporter: a new wave of covid infections is sweeping the nation. federal officials calling the national uptick very substantial. with a third of the country experiencing high transmission rates. >> in areas where community levels are high, everyone should be using prevention measures and wearing a mask in public indoor settings. >> reporter: but the number of severe illnesses and deaths is lagging behind cases. thanks to the effectiveness of vaccines and pfizer's anti-viral medication paxlovid. >> the rate of hospital admissions is much lower than one would expect and we want to continue to drive that lower. >> reporter: some workplaces are reinstating mask requirements including the big three auto plants in michigan. >> it is to protect all of us. i don't mind. >> reporter: while some figured the u.s. would be close to herd immunity, that is complicated by

the unfortunate reality of reinfections. >> if you've just recovered from covid, you will have some short-term immunity against the strain that you got infected with and well as the new strains but how long that lasts we don't know. and with the traditional summer travel season around the corner, the cdc is recommending all americans test within three days of departure, even fully vaccinated people traveling in the u.s. >> it is tough and could be a huge inconvenience but it will prevent spread. >> a new recaution to prevent a summer surge. coming up, the markets open an hour from now on the heels of yesterday's major sell-off. brian sullivan has business before the bell when "morning joe" coming right back. ing ing joe" coming right back

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the dow jones industrial average yesterday suffered the worst day since the dark days of march 20. the dow plunging more than 1100 points amid renewed concerns over inflation with experts blaming the sell-off on disappointing first quarter earning from target and walmart and other major retailers. the s&p 500 and nasdaq also closing down yesterday. traders are concerned rising costs are hursting corporate profits and consumer demand. joining us now, cnbc's brian sullivan to sort through this. sully, it is good to see you. so what all went into what we're seeing not just yesterday but today as well? >> yeah, it is a dramatic turn in the consumer. good morning, everybody. i mean, inflation is just out of control on so many levels and you did the baby formula story, those costs are also going up if you could find it.

the cost to manufacture, deliver and transport everything continues to rise and it is just an energy story. we talk about energy transition, the price of diesel fuel at certain gas stations around the new york city area is $7 per gallon. that is the rough equivalent of $300 per barrel oil. now oil is -- itself is about $110 a barrel. but there are very real fears of shortages of jet fuel and gasoline this summer and that is driving up the price of everything and when you factor in making something, shipping something, driving something to the store, it is going to be incredibly inflationary and the consumer has really slowed down and that just absolutely crushed the stock market not just yesterday, but really all year. it is one of the fastest turns in consumer sentiment i've seen

in 25 years. >> so, brian, i'm trying to think of what exactly controls the united states government, i guess the fed chair probably has optioned here to stem the tide of inflation. but we're looking at rising interest rates, but ultimately i see a lot of americans getting locked out of this economy, not having homes or being able to afford anything as the government tries to fix the problem. >> the problem is, and i think you nailed it, mika, is that the only solution is to bring the economy to a halt. is to maybe force a recession. i know that sounds ridiculous as a quote solution, but we learn in the late 1970s that when inflation is out of control and unemployment is maxed out, anybody who wants a job could get one, the only way to slow inflation is to slow down the entire economy and that is basically what the fed chair yesterday said that they were

willing to do. so the double-whammy and the sad paradox is that as inflation rages, the only way to slow it down, well there is two ways, demand destruction and people say i'm not flying, i can't deal. or you raise interest rate which means to your point if you have credit card debt which has gone up 21% year-over-year, if you want to buy a home or if you have any kind of loan and it is not fixed forever, the rates on those are also going up. so you have inflation already on everything and now inflation on your debt. it is going to be a tough combo. >> so we're looking at, and let's just break this down what you just said. because it seems to me, unless there is some sort of external solution to this, but i'm only seeing outside of the united states of america a food crisis coming our way. due to the war in ukraine. but we're talking about housing prices having interest rates,

maybe, what, 7%, 8%? how high would you perhaps the fed chair have to raise them to slow down the economy and buying a car, so housing, cars, food, credit cards, this is going to be a nightmare. >> if you could find a car. i mean we still have the supply chain issues. there are a number of used cars that are going for higher prices than the same version new. a 2-year-old car with 20,000 miles costing more than the new one. it sounds insane. but it is. i was in the u.k. back in november talking about the impact of energy inflation on things like food and electric bills, don't leave out electricity bills and if you're on a fixed rate plan, it will re-set a lot higher. and fertilizer is almost entirely chemical. it is not cow poop, any more, it is chemical and those are made

by natural gas. the price of fertilizer is about $1,300 to $1,500 per ton. but to your point, the food costs, in emerging morkts, lower income nations are going to be out of control, and ukraine's a major producer and exporter of the fertilizers, wheat, certain types of corn and types of oils. there are very real possibilities and it is already starting in places like sri lanka, that we're going to see critical, not baby formula shortages but food shortages for hundreds of millions of potentially of billions of people the long they are drags on. it is a terrifying story. i hate to say it. but we need to acknowledge it. it is real and it could happen. we need to get these markets reopened. >> cnbc's brian sullivan, thank you. brian just mentioned the baby formula shortage. we'll go live to the white house for an update on how the biden

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russia's victory in mariupol now appears to be complete with nearly 1,000 additional ukrainian soldiers surrendering at that steel plant as the first russian soldier pleaded guilty to shooting an unarmed civilian in ukraine's first war crimes trial. an joining us now for nbc news and msnbc clint watts. good morning. let's start in mariupol where the reports are that russia has now formally seized that city with the last of the soldiers coming out or surrendering at that steel plant. is that your assessment of what is going on there? >> yeah, willie, i think in terms of the -- if you just look at where mariupol is at, they're completely surrounded. we've talked about these remaining soldiers and remember the soldiers that are a mix of

hear about the azov battalion from the russians and that is true but this is also ukrainian naval infantry, many of theme descended into the steel plant. it here is gone essentially at this point and what you're see is the russians start to reposition troops and they want to move to the north. but there is some questions about these russian military units and their will to fight. their capacity to. many of the units that we're seeing particularly here on the east on these fronts, instead of the large armors columns that are trying to move in and around kyiv, we're seeing small advances of smaller units and that suggests that at least in the donbas, we have weakness in the russian military advancement. they're taking small towns here and there but you're seeing the ukraines continue to build up defense and in one particular this izyum, small recognizance

moving out from there and that speaks to the bigger picture of what we see in the east. the ukrainians have pushed through here, taken this part of the eastern section of kharkiv, they push russian artillery out. if you went on social media you'll see ukrainian soldierers right up to the border and they're trying to maintain this corridor but i'm not sure they could advance. and the plan for russia is completely stalled. and you saw some signals from inside of russia that they may be thinking about a end game. sanctions are hitting and ammunition supplies and manpowerer and they're having a hard time to reinforce these groups an the ukrainians, their building combat power and a lot of that u.s. military equipment, the m 777 and the drones are making their way out to the eastern front of the donbas. would you like to talk about the

bigger picture on what this could look like it which it ends. this is two months ago we were talking about what is putin's big plan. historically, this was russian area and they call it nova rossia, they wanted to control it. there are two areas that we've heard them take and talk about. one is this kherson, one of the first cities they took, it secured the northern part of crimea and other is this zaporizhzhia and here is will you -- here is luhansk. and so don't be surprised in the coming days or weeks or months you heard vladimir putin talk about independent republics rejoining russia. they sent out some invitations and the last thing we need to watch is the blockade down here in the black sea. that means all of the supplies have to move over ground and this will impact things like

global wheat and food supplies and ukraine in the future. >> clint watts, thank you very much. and coming up, we'll talk to barry mccaffrey and former u.s. ambassador to russia michael mcfaul. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe." more "morning joe. (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

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we've proven our worth over the years. just coming off of a world cup win and the pay disparity between the men and women is just too large. and we want to continue to fight. the generation of players before us fought and now it is our job to keep on fighting. >> six years ago stars from the u.s. women's national soccer team decided they had had enough

of getting paid less than their male counterparts. what followed was a year's long bitter battle with their employer. but yesterday the news broke during our show that for the first time men and women who play professional soccer in the united states, will be paid equally. and nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk has the details. >> reporter: equal pay for making the team. for games and events and for playing in the world cup. which, by the way, the u.s. women's soccer team has won four times. >> to be able to say finally equal pay for equal work feels very, very good. >> reporter: the men and women national soccer player union announced the new historic bargaining agreement. it is a victory years in the making led about some of the biggest stars. a federal wage complaint was filed back in 2016. >> the pay disparity between the men and women is just too large. >> reporter: 28 players filed a lawsuit in 2019 against u.s. soccer. two years later, megan rapino

appeared in front of congress. >> we're still paid less than our male counterparts for each trophy of which there are many for each win or tie or for each time we play, less. >> reporter: this year settlement was reached in the lawsuit that included $22 million in back pay and now with the new agreement, u.s. soccer will do something that no other country does, prize money will be pooled and split between the men and women's teams. >> we believe so much in the women's team and we believe in the whole premise of equal pay. >> reporter: the men's team was a big part of final negotiations. >> it does mean that the men are giving up a little bit of money, though, potentially, right? >> not potentially. for sure. and i think we need to give the men a lot of credit. >> reporter: after years of frustration and pounding the table, now this playing field has been leveled. >> amazing. joining us now, the president of

u.s. soccer cindy parlow cone who you just saw in stephanie's report. congratulations. there is so many, so many different questions i have for you about how this came about. first of all, what were some of the hardest moments along the way in this battle? >> well, you know, cba negotiations are never easy. and for me i really wanted to lead on this and i wanted u.s. soccer to lead on this. as a former player, i've been in this equal pay battle for over two decades and i think really the turning point was when weer able to finally get the men's players and the women's players and their players associations in the same room with u.s. soccer so that we could all negotiate together. >> and what were some of the arguments against it? >> well, i think the challenges have been they've been on different calendars. so the men's cva would expire

and so we're negotiating that and then the women's cva would expire and then we negotiate that and so they were on different cycles so this presented a great opportunity to put them on the same cycle because the men were out of con track. so i think that was a challenge. and obviously the difference that fifa awarded in the royal cup prize money was the biggest obstacle. and to bring the team together, to be able to overcome that is historic. >> it is. hopefully, do you think it paves the way for other sports to step up? >> yeah, i mean, we wanted to lead on this. it will hopefully lead to maningful change and progress not only here in the u.s. and in soccer but around the world and in other sports as well as in society. >> cindy, good morning, it is willie geist. i want to take a step back for a moment if i can and just see how we got to this place. because let's be honest about soccer in the united states. the women are the stars. they are the household names.

they are the ones we all know. my daughter and my son, those are the players in soccer that they know. they are the ones that win the world cup, who win the gold medal, they are american soccer. so how did it ever begin to be that they were paid less because they also have bigger crowds and more marketing and endorsement deals and all of the things that we come to expect that lead to high pay. how did it get set up and sort of set in cement -- made more money. >> yeah. the difference was in the fifa world cup prize money. fifa awarded for the last world cup $38 million for the winner. and the women were awarded $4 million for winning. so, the way that we're combatting this difference is by pooling all of the money earned by both men's and women's team in the world cup and then splitting it eventually. >> and what were some of the concessions in the piece about the men coming in the room and sitting at the table and saying this isn't right, what could we

do to make it right. how did that negotiation play out? >> well, i don't know how it worked out on their side. they had to have a lot of conversations. but no matter how you look at it, the men are giving up a piece of their world cup prize money to help us get to true equal pay. >> cindy, congratulations. this is such a huge achievement for not just soccer players but just women at large so thank you so much. what happened here is also pretty amazing just in the sense that one group decided to give up something in the name of fairness and equity for another group. and how did that moment really come about? how was that sense of togetherness and unity nurtured? >> you know, i said it before, i have to give the men's players and their players association a lost credit. i've been pushing for a long time to get the three different parties together to negotiate to

one contract and i didn't quite make it to one contract, we do have to separate cva's, but that is okay. that really was the turning point, is getting everyone into the same room, having the players interact with each other, many of them didn't know each other even. and just really understanding the challenges that each team has and coming to the table and trying to achieve this goal. >> president of u.s. soccer, cindy parlow cone, thank you very much. congratulations and thank you very much for fighting this battle along with the rest of the team. >> thank you. >> take care. we are rolling right into the fourth hour of "morning joe" and we have a lot to get to. it is 9:00 a.m. on the east coast and 6:00 a.m. out west. president biden has a new plan to address the baby formula crisis sweeping the nation. in volking a law last used