good morning, i'm peter alexander in washington. we're looking at a busy hour an in a number of major stories. president biden set to take the podium at the united nations general assembly. that should happen in the next 30 minutes where he is likely to show his support for ukraine and ask for more assistance from the global community. we'll bring you his remarks as soon as they start. aids tell nbc news the president will respond to russian president vladimir putin's overnight speech announcing his plan to mobilize more russian troops. and again raising the speck tort of nuclear retaliation in the conflict. putin warning the west during a rare address that, quote, this is not a bluff. the question now how will russia's escalation factor into president biden's message at the u.n. this morning. plus hurricane fiona now a devastating category 4 storm with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. the national hurricane center

warns its next target appears to be bermuda after lashing the turks and caicos islands. we're live in the caribbean in minutes. and new developments in the mar-a-lago investigation. the special master tasked with reviewing those materials seized from the former president's hom water on one of the trump team's key arguments. what it could signal about where the investigation goes next. we begin with the president's speech at the united nations happening this hour. joining me now is erin mclayoff lint in ukraine. ambassador william taylor is with us as well. and michael, let me get to you if i can can. we have a little guidance about the upcoming address. we do expect to hear the president respond to vladimir putin's nuclear threat. we are told that this is not going to be a tit for tat response. what do you expect to hear from

the president? what makes this speech unique and significant? >> presidents give addresses to the united nations general assembly every year. it's an annual event. it's rare that you have a speech that comes at such an electric moment following so closely on the heels of vladimir putin's remarkable speech to his nation. there will be an interesting challenge for president biden here. he wants to forcefully rebuke what russia is doing in ukraine generally. i think also show that specifically in response to putin's speech, to say that we're not intimidated. the west is not backing down. you can't bully us. at the same time throughout this process and this conflict, president biden has been determined not to see it escalate. for obvious reasons, he wants to completely minimize the risk that there could be a direct confrontation with russia that could lead to the use of nuclear weapons and potentially, as

biden himself as said, a nuclear war. so had has to walk a line where he's standing up to putin, signaling that the west cannot be bullied. at the same time, wanting to avoid escalation. will there be any offering to putin, any talk of an end game or an off ramp for the russian president. we haven't heard much about that. or will it be defiance and tough talk. i'll be watching to see that very carefully. >> i want to add to this conversation carol lee, my colleague at the u.n. evelyn farkus, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine. you have been speaking to senior officials within the white house today. we heard from john kirby, one of the president's top national skirt advisers, how are they reacting to what they are hearing from vladimir putin at this time? >> reporter: we're told that as of this morning, the president's

aids added a line to his speech to address vladimir putin's most recent comments. however, they are not going to get into this tit for tat with putin. the president has this really large platform on the world stage. rather, you're going to hear from the president a defense of what the u.s. and its al ray lies have done in terms of support for ukraine, but also in terms of isolating russia. you're going to hear him try to rally the world to stick with that program to not divert attention away from ukraine and to continue to try to do things to support ukrainian people, to support ukraine in its efforts to try to beat back russian offenses. and then also to continue to isolate russia. that's the context in which you'll be hearing from the president in terms of how he addresses putin's latest remarks. now going back to earlier this week, the president responded, was asked a question in his interview that aired on sunday how the u.s. would respond if

vladimir putin did turn to nuclear weapons. he said there would be a response. he wouldn't go into any detail about that, that's how there's been this effort to try to balance things where he's not escalating things and yet also trying to put out there the u.s. would respond in some way. they heard this saber rattling from putin before. the real question is, and this is what administration officials are keeping a close eye on, is there any action behind the rhetoric? is there any movement of weapons, is there any steps that the russian leader is taking to try to back up what he's saying with actual action. so that's where things stand now. i think what you're going to hear from the president's speech beyond ukraine is just generally some of the issues that he's been touting on the world stage, particularly food security. we're learning that the white house plans to announce $3 billion in additional assistance to deal with food security, which is something that has been

exacerbated, according to administration officials, by the war in ukraine. we'll hear other issues, global health, things like that. but ukraine is really the thing that's happening over this entire gathering of world leaders for the first time in person in some time. >> iran, china, taiwan, so many issues for the president to address when we hear from him. ambassador taylor, you know this region as well as anybody. john kirby with the national security council at the white house just shed light on the u.s. response to these new nuclear threats from vladimir putin. here's what he said. >> we always have to take this kind of rhetoric seriously. it's irresponsible rhetoric for a nuclear power to talk that way, but it's not atypical for how he's been talking the last serve months. we take it seriously. we're monitoring as best we can their strategic posture so we can alter ours. we see no indication that's required right now. >> what should the american level of concern be right now? not just our concern, the

concern in ukraine and throughout that region of the potential for nuclear retaliation from vladimir putin, who is increasingly cornered as the counteroffensive from ukraine prooumpb to be a real problem for vladimir putin. >> it's offensive. he's had to respond by saying he's going to call up more troops. he's having a hard time finding troops. he's clearly having a difficult time both at home and abroad. he's losing support from his allies. so he can talk about having a nuclear weapon, as you pointed out. he's done this before. and ukrainians have not been deterred. ukrainians have attacked russian forces that are attacking them. ukrainian forces have attacked russian forces in crimea. the russians claim that there's

been no real response. so even though president putin says this is not a bluff, when someone says this is not a bluff. >> for sure. we're still in the zoom era as evidenced by the ambassador's audio there. we're going to try to sort that out. erin, let me ask you quickly. you're on the ground in ukraine. give us a sense of what you're hearing from folks there. they are seven months into this awful war. vladimir putin's message overnight, has it got ton the people on the ground there? they probably don't care a lot about what he says on the day-to-day basis given they are experiencing this in such haunting detail. >> reporter: ukrainian officials that i have been speaking to see this speech by russian president vladimir putin as very much signaling a new phase in this war. the idea that russia would annex occupied portions of ukraine, essentially meaning that russia is constitutionally be required

to defend those areas as its own, moving this from a so-called special operation into a full-scale war would mark a new phase. at the same time, one official telling me he sees this as a thinly veiled attempt to try to get the west to back off its support. this particular official telling me he does not believe it will work. he sees this also as a sign of weakness. the idea that they are calling up some 300,000 reservists, something that is a politically fraught decision there in russia is a sign that russia is lose ing this war to ukrainians here. and he also pointed to the fact that they maybe able to call up these reservists, but equipping them is quite another matter. from what ukrainians have been seeing, russia is struggling in a big way to kwipt the soldiers that it has now. and ukrainians also say they

know what's at stake here. we have seen the recently liberated town not far from where i'm at now, the atrocities that unfolded there. in the words of one soldier, they know what's at stake and they are willing to fight. and fight for as long as and as hard as it takes. >> let me ask about this. yesterday i had a chance to speak to the deputy secretary of state. we were speaking about what the white house had teed up saying they were anticipating the potential for a mobilization of more russian troops. vladimir putin right on cue made that type of an announcement today. 300,000 plus troops that could include reinstating the draft in that country. here's what she said about its potential impact. >> it does have the potential to extend, but it also is going to send a signal to the people in russia that their leader is

desperate, that he needs to draft people. >> cob scripts meaning they have to start basically picking up people throughout their country. they have been using mercenaries to get this war back in their favor. what is the potential that this will impact russians at home, that there will finally be some outrage within that country as more mothers and fathers are seeing their sons are not coming home. now others are watching their sons and perhaps even their daughters heading off to this war. >> this is a general mass mobilization. 300,000, these are people who served at some point. they will need equipment and some refreshment training. it will take time to get them into the battlefield. to me, this is more signaling political signaling to vladimir putin's hard right, to the nationalists that i'm not giving up this fight. but i'm not sure what it will change on the battlefield. what he's not doing is calling

up a general mass mobilization because that, i think, he knows has the potential to bring people out to the streets in big protests. we see people already afraid that he's going to take that next step at some point soon because apparently the planes out of russia are booked. it's really hard to get a flight. and prices are going up. certain counties are looking at who they are looking at. so there is a sense of unease among the russian population. thus far, putin has recruited. he's used conscripts. he's done this mainly in the skpooes in rural parts of russia. he has kept the large population centers where there's more middle class, moscow, st. petersburg isolated.

there are few casualties. people don't see and feel the war. that's what he's trying to prevent. this would not be a popular war. they think it's a special military operation that will be over soon. >> mr. ambassador, what is it going to take for this to change? for the calculous of vladimir putin to change here? >> they will have to continue to lose on the battlefield. he's going to lose big as ukrainians continue to push. ukrainians are advancing on their counteroffensive around kharkiv, continuing to push the success they have seen over the last couple days. that's what's going to convince him. it's not enough to call up reserves that might be available. and not well trained and equipped. so what will convince him will be the continuing success of the ukrainian forces on the battlefield. >> which is why as we heard from president biden over the course of the weekend, an interview saying the u.s. is in this for

the long haul. thank you all for your time. we're going to bring you president biden's address to the united nations general assembly when that happens this hour. it's scheduled to take place roughly 20 minutes from now. plus skepticism today from the special master in the mar-a-lago classified documents case. why it could spell bad news for the trump legal team and their claims that those documents were declassified. but first, hurricane fiona now as we have been reporting a category 4 storm churning toward bermuda after battering turk and cay coats. more than a million people in puerto rico remain without power. i'll speak to the u.s. house delegate for puerto rico about the aid that the people there need urgently right now. need ur.

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we're back this morning. hurricane fiona keeps getting stronger. now a cattle goir 4 storm set to make track in bermuda. it ripped through the turks and caicos reaching winds of 130 miles per hour as residents there sheltered in place. widespread power outages and water levels could rise five to eight feet above normal levels. it left a past of destruction behind in the dominican republic and puerto rico.

almost 2 million people in the dr are still without water and 600 homes have been destroyed. in puerto rico, 1.1 million puerto ricans remain without power. 60% of customers there have not yet had had their water restored. so far at least five people throughout the caribbean have died from the hurricane. it will take time to fully grasp the impact of this awful storm. nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez is joining me live from puerto rico. you have a pretty good look at some of the devastation that's going to impact that island for more than just the next several days, but far beyond that. >> reporter: good morning. we're here in puerto rico. we have just pulled up here. take a look. this is a collapsed road heading up the side of a mountain here. this is some of the devastation that we're really going to have to see. we're just starting to see the full scope of this disaster. down below, there's a river. we're told that more than a

dozen famiies that lived on the top of this mountain were actually evacuated, rescued if you will, by local authorities after being trapped on the top of that mountain after hurricane fiona swept through here dumping so much rain. now these are communities that have essentially been cut off from hurricane fiona. thankfully, around the island, i was able to take an aerial tour yesterday. the flood waters have mostly receded. but peter, as you know, 20% of this island only has power at this point. about half of the island is still without drinking water. so that is the concern right now. more than 2,000 people were in emergency shelters at last check. and right now, the concern here today is that the heat index will reach over 100 degrees. with so many people without power, that's a big concern.

also in the southern part of this island, there's a rush on fuel as people need it not just to get around, but also for portable generators. so the the power is slowly coming back on in some parts of the island. but still the majority of this island is without power as hurricane fiona now moves on from the caribbean. as you mentioned is strengthening as it heads north. >> this is some of the damage that we can see. you can only imagine the damage in places that are still a challenge to access right now. we appreciate your reporting there on the ground. joining us now is the u.s. house deegate for puerto rico. i appreciate your being with us. give us a sense of what you're hearing from the people on your island about the destruction there and specifically what they need right now. >> good morning, peter. thank you for covering this issue. like you were saying earlier in this report, we still have

around 381,000 customers with power. so that's a number that's not as high as we expected. the power grid is really fragile. it's at a point where category 1 hurricane like this one. good news is that the numbers are up for the water services up 55%. with still have 8,500 of the coast guard chapter making sure they are not connected by roads get autoall the food and water they need. we're working to push this bill. once the skull scope is done, fema is on the ground work ing to get power to the hospitals. and then as much customers we can add to the grd as possible. >> yesterday sadly marked five

years since hurricane maria. here we are staring down the aftermath of another awful storm. what lessons did the island learn from five years ago that might have changed the response to this storm? are we better off because of some of those lessons? to a lot of people, it feels like the power grid remains just too vulnerable to damage like this. >> so yes, some lessons have been learned. things like generators are put in place on all hospitals in first responders. teams have been on the ground. that part has been in place. but we still have a long way to go in terms of recovery on the power grid. some of it has been replaced after the hurricane, but we have a long way to go. we have to do underground power lines and change those old poles and put in stronger, tougher poles in most of the areas. right now, the northern part of puerto rico, it got mostly rain.

so the power grid is still sort of in place in most of the areas. we have to get that energized and power to the homes. in the southern and western part of puerto rico, we do have a lot of damage, like you were showing on the images. so we need to bring support from the mainland, from the parent company. we still have 250 men right now that came from the states. and there's more to come. we're working as fast as we can around the clock to make sure we can get out of the people in puerto rico as soon as possible. >> there's so many americans watching this conversation seeing these pictures now days after the storm. moving towards bermuda as we speak. what specifically can those americans do who want to try to help the folks of puerto rico? >> so right now, we have all the food and water we need. we have enough supplies in terms of gas and diesel fuels.

so you can help by donating through red cross and organizations that are locally in puerto rico helping throughout the communities, making sure that we help on the southern and western part of the islands. we need to help the people that are in agriculture that have lost everything, all the crops are gone because of the flooding. and a lot of people that their houses flooded and they need to buy everything new. so to nat to local organizations, donate to the red cross and people that are on the ground. >> we watched these storms happen. you like to think there are once in a lifetime, but now for places like puerto rico, this is happening every five years. roberto, we appreciate your being with us. our best to the people of puerto rico. >> thank you. you're welcome. we are keeping our eyes on the united nations as we have been saying. president biden will address the general assembly soon. it should happen in the next ten

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we're back now with a live look at the united nations there in new york. any minute now, president biden set to speak and urge fellow world leaders to do more in support of ukraine. the address comes at what is an extremely tense time in this war. overnight the russian president vladimir putin announced that he's mobiizing more troops in the conflict and backing annexation of kremlin-controlled parts in the eastern part of ukraine. he's also threatening new retaliation. all of that will impact what we hear from the president any moment now. we're going to bring you those remarks as soon as he starts. we're waiting to see his motorcade head over to the united nations. about an hour from now, the new york attorney general is set to make what she describes as a, quote, major announcement about what it is not entirely clear yet. we do know her office is at the center of one of the key

investigations into former president trump and the trump organization. we're keeping a close eye on that. meanwhile in the mar-a-lago investigation, the special master there tasked with reviewing the classified documents seized from donald trump's florida estate just held his first meeting in court with lawyers for the former president and for the toj. in a because sign for the trump team, the judge, their hand picked special master, appeared to express doubt that the documents were declassified before the fbi's search. he also indicated he took the government's concerns about national security seriously. he's a former fisa judge. he said, let's not belittle the fact we're dealing with classified information. the government has a very strong obligation, as do all of us, to see it that information did you want doesn't get into the wrong hands.

joining me now is justice correspondent ken dilanian. lisa rubin is msnbc legal analyst. walk us through what we know about yesterday's conference and why it was significant. i think it was striking to a lot of people to hear from the trump team, they are refusing to provide any information about the declassifying of these documents. the judge effectively said to them, put up or shut up. >> put up or shut up, that's exactly right. i would frame it differently. i wouldn't say he's etc. expressing doubt or skepticism. the judge is saying if you want to say that you declassified these documents, that's fine. but you need to show me some evidence of that. and in the absence of that evidence, the only thing i have to go by is the markings on the documents. he called it a prima facie case. he pointed out that it's the executive branch of the u.s. government that decides what is and what isn'ts classified. the justice department has gone into court and said these are classified documents. he's saying to the trump team,

unless you show me how you think president trump declassified these documents, i have no choice but to consider them classified. whatever i believe, that's what the evidence is in front of them. it underscore this is whole dance that the trump team is trying to do where president trump has been saying publicly, i declassified these documents, and his lawyers have been trying to raise that question without actually asserting it or offering evidence that trump did that. it's going to be a big problem, i think, going forward. >> the bottom line, the judge basically said, unless you show me otherwise, these documents say they are classified. they have markings to that effect. why would i believe otherwise. what's your impression of how the judge cut through some of trump's lawyers' legal arguments? this was one of the two names they suggested that the doj said they would be okay with. this is not the way they anticipated this going. >> it's not. and as you know, there was public reporting last week that one of the reasons the trump team really wanted him to be

their special master is they thought that he felt somewhat deceived by the fbi when he was on the fisa court. one of the applications in the carter page situation, one that had been altered by a lawyer, was presented to the judge and he would have hard feelings about that. i spoke with a lawyer who knows him well. he said he's a grown up and won't hold that against the fbi. and yesterday was proof positive of that. he told them these documents are classified. the law says that. and until you show me evidence to the contrary, i don't have any reason to believe that they are not. and two things were said that i thought was interesting. one, i don't have a list of me telling me what was in those boxes. . is there an index on the trump side of what exactly the former president and maybe some of his allies put in the boxes. and then trusty also said until i see those documents, i can't, in fact, make a declassification

argument to you. that's basically saying i don't want to lie to you as an officer of the court, and i can't take my own client's word for it. he can't remember or he doesn't have a list of what he declassified. and i'm not willing to take his representation for it. i need to see it for myself before i make that argument to you. >> ray also made it clear he haugt this process could be resolved quicker than the prosecutors anticipated. he said he thought he could get through these documents in four weeks when others anticipated this could be a month's among process. how should we watch this play out? >> the objective of the trump team is delay, delay, delay. and you saw jim trusty in court yesterday complaining that it would take his team 220 man hours to go through all 11,000 documents. and that sounds like a lot. but that's five or six lawyers working for a week. we know from public reporting again that trump paid a $3 million retainer.

if they don't have the man power to devote to to that review for five or six lawyers, why not? i expect that he will continue to press the trump lawyers to do this much more expeditiously than they wish. even though they are dragging their feet on everything from how long it should take to review to even retaining a vendor to put up these documents electronically on a platform for their special master's review. >> ken, let me put you on the spot. i know we don't know what the major announcement is coming from the new york attorney general. we expect to hear from her in an hour from now. can you give us understanding of what she's been focused on as it relates to the former president and the trump organization? this is one of multiple series of investigations in so many different dictions that hasn't gotten as much attention. >> there's so many investigations, viewers can be forgiven for getting them confused. this is a civil inquiry into the trump organization's business

practices. so potentially, what she could be announcing, we don't have information about this, but a lawsuit against the trump organization or individuals alleging fraudulent business practices. she's already said she has evidence of fraud in the evaluation of properties for tax purposes and for loan purposes. again, there's a parallel criminal investigation by the manhattan da into the same pressures, but this one is a civil case. and ultimately, her remedy could be experts have said even trying to shut down the trump organization if she believes they have violated the laws of new york. but no jail time here. no criminal penalties. a civil case that could cost them some money if it goes to trial and goes against trump. that's a long way off. but we await the announcement. >> as you wisely note, we don't know what she's going to announce, but she's the one billing it as a major announce. ment. there's nothing more major than that of the former president. we'll keep a close eye.

thank you both. stick around for a moment. coming up, a new lawsuit against the florida governor ron desantis. the migrants flown to martha's vineyard are now suing in a class action alleging fraud. plus the biggest covid fraud scheme to date. 47 people are accused of exploiting the program desiged to feed needy children. the staggering details about those alleged schemes. next. you see, son, with a lie elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the way. you said it, flo. and don't forget to floss before you brush. your gums will thank you. -that's right, dr. gary. -jamie? sorry, i had another thought so i got back in line. what was it? [ sighs ] i can't remember.

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purpose of advancing their own personal financial and political interests. kerry sanders is live now in fort lauderdale, florida. back with me is legal analyst lisa rubin. how is the governor responding to this lawsuit? >> reporter: just remember how this all began. the governor of florida last week got two planes and those planes flew 48 migrants from texas. they landed in florida, refuelled and made their way to martha's vineyard. now a group, a rights group for migrants, has decided that they are going to file this lawsuit in massachusetts federal court, along with what in the profession they call jean and john does, three unnamed members in that group alleging they had been defrauded, they had been lured on to these planes with false promises in part given mcdonald's certificates of $10

for food just to get them to agree to do this. the governor has responded in a statement saying in part, the transportation of the immigrants to martha's vineyard was done on a voluntary basis. the immigrants were homeless, hungry, and abandoned. florida's program gave them a fresh start in a sanctuary state. here we can show you this is what they signed. this is the apparent voluntary agreement to get on to the plane. although, some of the migrants say that not only did they not fully understand what they were signing, that sometimes they were looking at it in english, one lawyer saying it's akin to when you get an agreement for a streaming service with netflix and it's like 50 pages and you run to the bottom and click yes. they did what they thought they needed to be do because they were told by a person who had lured them on to the planes to

go ahead and sign this. there's going to be jobs. there's going to be food. there's going to be housing. all those sorts of things. we're getting the back and forth. the big question is where the lawsuit goes from here. >> lisa, i want to get to that question with you about where the lawsuit goes from here. help us resolve the question americans are asking. do migrants regardless of their legal status, are they entitled to equal access before the courts if they alleged they were mistreated, that they were treated in some way that's not protected by the constitution? >> they are. in fact, there's a statute that's at issue in this lawsuit that says, you can't treat people timpbtly on account of their ail naj. if you receive federal funds as a state program, you can't discriminate on the basis of race or sex or gender orientation. but you can't discriminate on alienage. that's one of the things that the plaintiffs here are saying.

we have every right to bring a lawsuit in this court because you have violated our constitutional rights too. we are no less entitled to the protections of the constitution when we are here. >> thank you, we appreciate it. there's other news we're watching now. the department of justice calling it the biggest theft of pandemic relief money ever. federal prosecutors are dhargeing dozens of people in minnesota with stealing nearly a quarter of a billion dollars buy ing items like luxury vehicles and real estate with money meant to feed children in need. justice correspondent ken dilanian has more on that story. >> reporter: prosecutors called it a staggering fraud. the theft of nearly a quarter of a billion tax dollars intended to feed hungry children instead being used to buy cars, houses and jewelry. >> the scheme that began with a simple idea in march of 2020 grew to become the largest pandemic fraud in the united states. >> reporter: 47 people now face

charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and bribery. the government alleging defendants connected to nonprofits and restaurants collected tax payer money through federal nutrition programs. >> their goal tofs make as much money for themselves as they could. >> reporter: at the center of the indictments, amy bock, founder of the nonprofit feeding our future. she was overseeing a massive fraud scheme. her organization recruited others to set up federally funded meal sites during covid, while oversight rules were relaxed. soon hundreds of sites in minnesota were reporting giving out thousands of meals a day, but prosecutors say it was a fraud. >> more than 125 million fake meals are at issue in this case. >> reporter: the organization received more than $had 18 million in administrative fees pleaded not guilty.

the justice departments's covid enforcement efforts. >> does it make you mad? >> reporter: had case stands out because the money was meant for children. >> the money went to purchases of hyperluxury vehicles, sports cars, real estate in turkey and kenya. >> that was ken dilanian there reporting. here a blast from the past. something we haven't seen since the 1980s. to tame inflation, the federal reserve is expected to deliver a third interest rate hike of three quarters of a point. what it means for your wallet, next. what it anmes for your wal, next

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auto loans at their highest point since 2012. and mortgage rates are now their highest levels since 2008. joining us now is nbc news business and data reporter brian chung. walk us through what this will mean. >> as you illustrated, it's going to impact all of those lending categories to credit cards, mortgages even further as we got data yesterday showing mortgage rates on the 30-year fixed at highest levels since 2008. the question naturally is how will the fed's decision later on today at 2:00 p.m. do anything to the inflationary story. that 8.3% year over year pace of price increases is unbearable for americans. how will these interest rate impacts bleed through? it's going to take some time. we're going to take a look at the economic projections that the fed will release later on this afternoon to see when we might expect to see inflation go

down to the paces that we saw prepandemic and the expectation based off of their last projections about three months ago might tell that we might not see inflation go back to those levels for another few years. something americans will not be happy about. >> they've been so volatile in the recent weeks. do we anticipate another interest rate hike coming from the fed or is the anticipation that this is sort of the end of it? >> that is the expectation. for what it's worth, if the fed does follow through on what the expected move is, which would be .75% points, it would raise interest rates to 3 and 3.25. but you have a lot of pricing showing that they're likely to raise the interest rates in the neighborhood of 4%. and that's what federal jay powell has said in the past. the point of these higher

interest rates is to make it more expensive for american businesses and households to borrow which they hope will lessen the demand pressure on higher prices. but there's a lag impact there and the timing of all this is the reason why you hear so much about that so-called soft landing. the federal reserve can't notch interest rates up by 2 or 3% in one meeting because if they overdo it, the medicine could be more painful than the actual sickness. >> that's a good way to describe it here. in terms of time horizon, is there any understanding -- what should americans be bracing for? >> indeed, the projections that we'll get from the nation's top economists from the fed will come out at 2:00 p.m. and the expectation is we won't see the fed's target of 2% year-over-year increases in prices for quite some time. that doesn't necessarily mean that the fight with inflation is essentially tossed. it means it's going to take a little bit of patience for the bite of these higher borrowing costs to bleed through to the

economy. also consider there are a lot of supply chain issues that have led to price increases as well. for example, china having shut down earlier this year is a big reason for the higher prices that we've seen in goods from that exporting country as well as obviously the oil pressures that came from the war in ukraine. that's something that remains an issue and the federal reserve is going to have to navigate as well. >> brian, we appreciate your being with us and your expertise on this topic that so many americans are watching right now. that's going to do it for me at this hour. we'll still keeping an eye at the united nations. moments ago president biden just entered the building. he's the next scheduled speaker at the podium there before that marble wall that is so recognizable. up next, jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage. he's live in arizona where he's getting a look at the migrant crisis firsthand. that right after a short break. k but when we realized she was battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide hygenic clean free.

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♪♪ good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern time in arizona, right outside phoenix. i'm jose diaz-balart coming to you from the top of the rock. we are waiting for president biden to speak at the united states general assembly any minute now. we will of course bring you his comments live. we're also awaiting a press conference from new york's attorney general letitia james