me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on twitter and instagram at jdbalart. please follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. lindsey reiser picks up with more news right now. good thursday morning. i'm lindsey reiser in new york. right now our eyes are on the white house and a critical meeting with the leader of america's oldest ally. emmanuel macron and president biden are holding a bilateral meeting right now. so far this morning there's been pomp, certainly circumstance, but more importantly, there are many serious matters both men need to discuss. global energy pressure, concerns over iran's nuclear program, chinese aggression in the indo-pacific and, of course, the war in ukraine. this is what president biden said earlier about the alliance.

>> france and the united states will meet the future just as we always have confident in our shared capacity, sustained by the strength of our shared values, and undaunted by any challenge that lies ahead. >> we'll know more about that meeting in 45 minutes when both leaders are expected to hold a joint news conference at the white house. not far from 1600 pennsylvania avenue, congress is racing to avert a potentially catastrophic rail strike. legislation passed by the house now heads to the senate where we're already seeing some big sticking points. plus, democrats in the lower chamber just notched a win after a year's long legal battle. the house ways and means committee got six years worth of donald trump's tax returns. in moments, i'll speak with a lawmaker on that committee about what they're looking for in those returns. we start, though, at the

white house where president biden and french president macron are meeting right now. carol lee is there and also with me is executive director of the mccain institute, also a former senior adviser to the supreme allied commander of europe. what are the dynamics at play between the two countries and the two men that will come into play here as they talk through some of those major agenda items? >> well, really, lindsey, the history of this alliance, these two countries that stand for similar values when it comes to democracy, human rights and other issues, all of which is in the context of russia's war in ukraine, and so that's going to be the main topic that the two leaders discuss. this is something that is top of mind for president biden, has been for some time, and french president emmanuel macron is seen as the u.s.'s most reliable partner in that, one of the reliable, at least. in that sense, the idea is for

them to try to remain solidified in terms of helping ukraine through that while thinking about the future down the road and what a piece might look like. we heard from the two leaders and a pool was brought into the oval office where president biden said that the -- we're at an inflection point where president macron talked about the need for a sustainable piece and to fix the wrongs that have been done by the war in ukraine. and so that's the backdrop of all of this. and then there's a lot of other topics that they have to discuss and some disagreements. they have a disagreement over provisions in the inflation reduction act and so that's something that they're going to have to resolve. other issues that they'll discuss are china, iran, other things. but really they're just focusing on the positive emphasis of those -- >> sorry, i'm sorry to interrupt you.

it looks like we're going to get a sneak peek inside the oval office. let's listen. >> always stood together. and i can say that president macron and i have stood together since we worked together in the g-7 meetings, the g-20, and france's incredibly, incredibly valued ally. and i know it sounds like hyperbole, but from the revolutionary war to world wars to today, we've been locked at the hips what we've been doing. our efforts are continuing at nato, the g-7, the g-20 and there's a lot going on as i constantly am probably boring you all with. we're at a real inflection point. things are changing rapidly. really rapidly. and it's really important we stay in close communication. it doesn't mean that every single solitary thing we agree on. but it does mean we agree on

almost everything. and we're working together to strengthen the security and prosperity across the atlantic and in each of our countries, but also europe as a whole. he's not just the leader of france, he's one of the leaders of europe. he's been very outspoken and been very, very commanding in europe. and this morning we're going to discuss our cooperation on all the issues from high-tech commerce to defense to cyber to space, to a whole range of issues that are both on our agendas. mr. president, i look forward to our conversation today. i know you've had some good conversations already with some of our senior administration officials, and i look forward to the day. >> thank you. thank you, mr. president. let me first say that i'm extremely happy to be here for the first day visit of your

administration and this is from the best evidence of this long friendship and partnership and this is exactly the basis of our relation. obviously we are together in challenging times and with the war in ukraine launched by russia, since the very beginning of this war, we worked very hard together to help ukraine to resist and to be resilient and we will reinforce this action, but what we want to do as well and i want really to pay tribute to a lot of statements you made. we want to build peace and sustainable peace means full respect of sovereignty and integrity of ukraine. but at the same time you want to be sure that we have sustainable peace in the long run and we're very much committed on this issue. we will discuss about as well

energy, economy, space, nuclear and i spoke about the synchronization and i think this is extremely important to have close coordination between us on the -- on these different issues because we want to fix the direct and undistrict consequences of the war on our economies and our people. but at the same time we want to prepare for future generations, the economy, creating a lot of jobs, which means investing a lot in our economies, and we have too synchronize our action on the -- on this issue and it will be an important topic. beyond that, we will discuss climate change and the common actions in this field, health, and a lot of global topics where alliance is so critical. let me once again thank you and your wife for the wonderful dinner we had yesterday. for the friendship and really for the quality of the

discussion we have together and to come on action and to come on the decisions we take in this so difficult times. because i think when we look at our common history, this friendship always prevailed. with quite good results, by the way. >> yes. >> so it will prevail. >> folks, we're -- hold on. hold on a second. we're going to do a press conference. so we'll answer your questions at the press conference and that's going to be shortly. i don't know how shortly. but shortly. okay? >> can we ask one quick question? >> thank you. let's go. thank you so much. thank you. >> all right. not answering any questions there. that press conference now is supposed to start about 11:45 eastern. i want to bring back carol lee

and evelyn farkas. talking about the enduring lasting friendship and allyship saying we will prevail. but each leader does have separate goals going into this meeting? >> reporter: that's right, to a certain extent, they have some disagreements namely on some economic issues. what they tried to do there was put their best front forward. they really emphasized where they agreed, the importance of the close coordination. you had the president casting president macron as a key leader in europe. you heard president macron saying he was honored to have this place as the president's first state visit since he took office and then they really talked a lot about ukraine and what that's going to look like and that's really -- that really is the dominating issue of their conversations here and i think we'll hear a lot more about that at that news conference. >> and president macron talking about energy, economy, space.

on the economic front, evelyn, we know, that, for example, "politico" is reporting that many macron has been one of the more vocal critics of the inflation reduction act. just on wednesday he sat down with members of congress, also company executives and government officials in washington, he warned that such help for u.s. firms could kill a lot of jobs. how does president biden thread this needle? >> yeah, lindsay, i think what's really important about this meeting, first of all, it's the first state visit, but these two gentlemen know each other really well. and we have strong shared values with france and we've been working well with them on ukraine to a lesser extent on china. that's what they're going to have to talk about. but, you know, facing off against russia and china means having to protect our

technology, our edge, our military edge. when i say our, it's a transatlantic edge, against russia and china. obviously we also have the oil embargo to try and squeeze the russian income that they're using to fuel the war against ukraine. the more subtle and difficult part of this is what you mentioned just now. this attempt by the biden administration now to make sure that we maintain a competitive edge against china, that we have access to the supplies that we need for our domestic economy, it's something that needs a lot of finessing. because we may end up running into -- we may end up being protectionists. and the people we do not want to be protectionists against are our allies in europe and asia. the people who are fighting with us, the countries who are fighting with us to protect democracy for ukraine and taiwan and elsewhere. we need to make sure that they're actually in our tent. that when we are protectionist,

we're not protectionist towards our allies and partners and frankly we need to make sure that any protectionism that we use, any advantage we give or any blocking action that we take against china and russia, that that is something that's limited to those technological areas where we really need to protect ourselves. we need to be able to buy pants and board games and who knows what for the holidays from china and other places where they can manufacture them more cheaply were the american consumer. it's a really delicate dance. and bottom line is, that the united states and france and our european, asian allies, we need to come up with agreed rules of the road about how we challenge china and russia, china in particular, on trade. >> you mentioned democracies, evelyn. president macron spoke about that. here's one tidbit he said this morning. >> i imagine a lot of democrats were not happy in 2016.

did they invade capitol hill? no. >> how has january 6th impacted our global image and our abilities if this is our oldest ally making this comment? >> yeah, i mean, clearly we've suffered incredibly in terms of loss of credibility. people around the world, leaders around the world wonder whether the united states can remain a democratic country. we came close on january 6th to having a mob and some judicial maneuvers, illegal maneuvers on paper, take over our democracy. president biden won fair and square, but there was a group of people led by former president trump who wanted to actually subvert the election, to overturn the will of the american people and the whole world was watching. so we need to do a lot to demonstrate that we are, in fact, a strong democracy. i think our midterm elections helped because there was a general repudiation of many -- a

majority, i would say, of the people who had denied the elections. i could be a little bit wrong on my numbers. but in any event, we certainly stood up for democracy in our midterm elections and hopefully we will do that going forward. but the world is watching. now, it is most important that we defeat russia because russia provides cover. france is going to talk about africa and other parts of the world where we have terrorist movements and we have military coups and russia provides cover for all of those autocrats. it's important for our credibility worldwide that we actually prevail against the autocrats like russia and china. >> the world is watching. my thanks to both of you. meanwhile on capitol hill, the deal to avert a potentially catastrophic rail strike is headed to the senate. the house passed the measure with bipartisan support yesterday. but as of this hour, votes have not been locked in to take up the legislation in the senate. senate leader mitch mcconnell

and chuck schumer have both suggested they wanted to pass it quickly but some lawmakers say the legislation does not go far enough. transportation secretary pete buttigieg had this grim outlook on what a rail strike would mean for the industry. >> we estimate 765,000 layoffs in the first two weeks of a shutdown with more to come after that. and there's no guarantee that those laid-off workers would get their jobs back after a disruption ended. >> ryan nobles joins me now from capitol hill. what are the potential holdups in the senate? >> reporter: the big holdup right now is to what -- is what they plan to do about paid sick leave. there's a group of democrats and even a couple of republicans who have expressed concern that this deal that was negotiated doesn't include enough sick time. in fact, it's only one day of paid sick leave. however, there does appear to be a breakthrough on that front. the democrats passed two

separate bills yesterday in the house, one that would approve the underlying bill, the agreement, and then a separate piece of legislation that would install seven days of paid sick leave. those bills are both here in the senate now and they're working out a timeline as to when they could be voted on. and it looks like -- we just heard from john thune that those votes could happen as soon as this evening. everyone seems confident that the underlying agreement will be passed. the open question right now, lindsey, is whether or not that sick leave portion will be passed. it doesn't seem likely that there are 60 votes to make that happen. we'll have to wait and see how that shakes out this afternoon. >> ryan, i also want to ask you, it appears that the representative jim clyburn has survived his challenge to his leadership position this morning. >> he kind of got a late minute -- a last-minute challenge from representative david sis lee -- cicilline who said they did not have a

representative from the lgbtq community. he suggested that clyburn who is kind of hanging on to leadership after the other members stepped aside, that clyburn should follow them as well. that challenge didn't have a lot of legs behind it. clyburn has a lot of support from many members in congress, including the powerful congressional black caucus. cicilline read the room before the vote took place, stood up and withdrew from the contest and clyburn ended up being elected to that position unanimously. this was the first hiccup they had and it looks like they've gotten past it and remain unified. lindsey? >> ryan nobles, much appreciated. we'll be watching the white house this hour for that press conference with president biden and french president macron. we will bring you that live. first, it took years, but house democrats have finally gotten their hands on former president trump's tax returns.

so what are they looking for? i'll talk to a member of the committee investigating those documents. and with just five days until georgia's senate runoff, senator raphael warnock is bringing in the star power. his rally tonight with former president obama and the massive early voting turnout so far. a a early voting turnout so far. a pfizer vaccine! so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. i'm asking about prevnar 20® because there's a chance pneumococcal pneumonia could put me in the hospital. if you're 19 or older, with certain chronic conditions like copd, asthma, diabetes, or heart disease or are 65 or older, you may be at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. prevnar 20® is approved in adults to help prevent infections from 20 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. in just one dose. don't get prevnar 20® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were

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octogenarian. octogenarian after many attempts and years of lengthy court battles, former president trump's tax returns are finally in the hands of the democrat-led house ways and means committee. the treasury department says it has complied with the supreme court's decision to hand over six years of trump's returns. ali vitali joins me now from capitol hill with more. now that they have the returns, do we know what they plan to do with them? >> reporter: that is the next question here, lindsey. and they're governed a little bit by rules about what they can and can't say in terms of where these records actually are. i've had several people joke to

me you're not going to see the chairman of the committee walking around with a box that says trump tax returns. the treasury department says they've complied with the court order to transmit those records to the ways and means committee and that the committee now has access to them. in terms of what they do with them, though, that's sort of an open question. there is the possibility that they could release them. this is a committee that doesn't want to prejudge what it might find in its oversight capacity. but they are on the look here in terms of what they're able to do as democrats still lead this committee. i think it's important to note, though, that during the interfere convening years, a lot more information is out there about trump's tax returns. the manhattan da has obtained some of those returns, we also know new york state's attorney general is suing trump and his three children accusing them of lying and the news from the "new

york times" several years ago about the returns that trump had, that they were able to obtain. he paid no federal taxes in some of those key years. but this committee may get a better sense of that. >> thank you. let's try to get some answers now. joining me now is congressman bill pascrell. >> i'm honored to be here. it's quite a day, as you can imagine. >> your committee is meeting later this afternoon. will that be the first time you expect to see these returns? >> yes. they were just delivered yesterday to the chairman. as the law says, it's very clear what rights we have as members of the legislative branch, but what we do with them if we get them because we are legally able to get them. so we're legally here because that's the right thing to do.

now we got to meet and say and think together with our chairman, what we're going to do with the -- with what we've come up with all the records of the six years. >> what are you going to be looking for, congressman? >> i want them all released. i think these records are so important. the delay has been as long as the civil war. i mean, this is unprecedented in every way. this isn't about one man. this is not about just one part of the law. this is whether we affirm that there is no one in this country, be it the president, a congressman, or whomever, that is above the law. and we are -- intend to follow through on this. we're going to change majority in a few days, with all due respect, we'll be there. republicans will be there. the fact of the matter is, we

believe that this is our constitutional obligation. they were invited to attend. they were invited six years ago. i sent the letter to both mr. kevin brady when they were in charge at the time and i sent it also to the senate side and they laughed. well, who is laughing now? >> congressman, when republicans do take control of the house, how will that impact in committee's work and decision-making? >> that's a terrific question. i can't give the full answer. i probably should be able to, but as i've studied the law of that particular law, and i'm not a lawyer, but i studied that law pretty clearly. our responsibilities are laid out very clearly. the chairman's responsibilities are, we must decide quickly before january 3rd what we want

released, what we want not to be released because we have that authority as well. and we have the authority to say we're not going to release anything. this whole story is about transparent -- >> when you say transparency, do you want the public to see some of these tax returns before the new congress takes over? >> i believe that the public has a right to see this, but typically waiting the time we had to wait, the delays that we had to go through, the supreme court was pretty clear. the treasury department under joe biden was very clear. again, this is not to be a partisan thing. i asked the other side join us, let's make it from the beginning nonpartisan. and the response was what i told you, a big laugh. >> all right. >> well, this is serious business. and the issue that has not really been discussed is the power of the executive and the power of the legislative branch.

if we're equal parts of the government and the law and the constitution treats us that way, then don't try to sweep it under the law. >> you're welcome to come here tomorrow, same time, and let us know what you've been able to glean so far. we appreciate your time today. thank you. >> thank you. coming up, we are watching the white house where we expect president biden to take questions this hour with french president macron. we will go there live as soon as it starts. first, though, a big assist tonight on the campaign trail for georgia senator raphael warnock. what to know about his rally with former president obama. and the january 6th committee is getting closer to wrapping up its work. but when republicans take control, the investigators could be investigated. we'll explain next. plain next (scrooge) bah humbug! my signal is totally ghosting me! (cecily) you need a better network. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. they'll give you the new iphone 14 pro.

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and you have a partner that always puts you first. no way! godaddy. tools and support for every small business first. ben isn't worried about retirement. his personalized plan is backed by the team at fidelity. godaddy. his ira is professionally managed, and he gets one-on-one coaching when he needs it. so ben is feeling pretty zen. that's the planning effect from fidelity former president barack obama is headed back to georgia today in the final push to tuesday's senate runoff election. obama will join senator raphael warnock for a rally this evening on the eve of the last day of early voting. the number of people who have cast their ballots early surpassed 1 million yesterday. this comes as republican allies are expressing concerns about gop candidate herschel walker's performance in the final days according to multiple reports. joining me now, political reporter greg bluestein, alaina

beverly, and former congressman david jolly. greg, i mentioned early voting for this runoff has topped 1 million. and your reporting this morning says some voters are waiting in line for more than two hours. talk to us about the situation at polling locations and which party could have the advantage. >> look, the early voting numbers are encouraging to democrats. you have to remember, the early voting process has been convinced from three weeks to one week. they're trying to get more voters through a much tighter window right now. that said, democrats have reason to be encouraged because more people are voting in counties that went democratic in november than counties that went republican in november as well as higher than -- a disproportionate number of african americans are voting. the big warning for democrats is also this, on election day, republicans tend to come out in droves. in november, herschel walker

beat raphael warnock by double digits on election day itself. >> president obama has traveled to georgia to campaign during the general election. and he called this race a study in contrast. how effective can he be in the final push? >> well, as greg mentioned, this is really important because we are entering the very final day of early voting. he can be -- he can be critical and hoping to get the ambassadors out on the doors. this is a push and pull people to the polls operation at this point. this is about trying to get as many people as part of the democratic base energized to not only go to the polls themselves, but also to bring one or more of their friends, their colleagues, their neighbors, their associates to the polls with them to vote early before they hit the election day rush. as greg mentioned, does tend to benefit the republican party.

there's been a lot of talk recently about herschel walker backing away from the campaign and not being out front. i am not -- i'm not lulled into complacency because of that because we know he has a machinery behind him with a republican party that is also going to be on the doors and getting people out on election day. >> so, david, let's talk about where herschel walker stands at this moment. the "new york times" reports, skipping campaigning over the thanksgiving holiday weekend raises concerns about his campaign tragedy in the final stretch of the overtime election against senator raphael warnock? was it a mistake and what does it say these concerns are being raised within walker's own party. >> you can argue it was a mistake for republicans to in a moment herschel walker.

so their party has a candidate they have to put out in what could be a very close runoff. as greg said, there's a scenario in which warnock and the democrats really win this in a walkaway. the wind is out of the sails of republicans. the insiders know there's a lot on the line. you'll see national republicans really still invest in this race. but in generic terms. republicans want to go and clearly the criticisms of joe biden and his direction. democrats have a lot of reason to feel very good and in some ways is it a continuation or is this the first test after -- >> we're having a tough time hearing some of what you're saying. i want to play for everybody what georgia's republican

lieutenant governor said last night. >> i showed up to vote this morning. i was one of those folks who got in line and spent about an hour waiting. it was the most disappointing ballot i ever stared at in my life. i had two candidates that i couldn't find anything that made sense for me to put my vote behind. i walked out of that ballot box showing up to vote but not voting for either one of them. >> a republican elected official did not cast a ballot in the u.s. senate race. greg, what do you make of this? >> i talked to the lieutenant governor this morning. he said essentially that herschel walker is an embarrassment and it was nominated based on his football prowess and donald trump's endorsement. this is something that embodies why republicans are so nervous about this race. there are 200,000 republicans who voted for brian kemp but did not vote for herschel walker in the midterm and there's countless more that are soft

supporters of herschel walker who voted but held their nose. and the question of this midterm -- this runoff is going to be whether they came -- they come back out on tuesday to support him. whether they stay home or back senator warnock. >> my thanks to all of you. well, presumptive next house speaker kevin mccarthy is issuing a warning to the january 6th committee. save your records. in a new letter to committee chairman bennie thompson, mccarthy told the panel to preserve all records during the investigation as they wind down their work and he pledges to hold hearings on the select committee once republicans take control of the house. let's bring in a congressional reporter for the "new york times." congressman thompson responded by saying that not only will their work will be preserved, it will be made available to the public. and then on the possible hearings into the select

committee, he said if he wants to conduct whatever he wants to as speaker, it's his choice. so based on your reporting, what can we expect from a republican-controlled house investigation? >> right, so kevin mccarthy is under pressure from the right wing of his caucus as he tries to become speaker and shore up those votes. one thing that the folks on the right and the house want is this reinvestigation of january 6th but not actually of january 6th. they want it of the january 6th committee. and so i do think we will hear some sort of hearings and some sort of investigation going deep interfere some of the actions that the january 6th committee took. i think they're going to try to look for whether anybody lied under oath or, you know, maybe even misspoke and try to see if they can turn that into an accusation of perjury. and so -- and they also they say they're going to try to investigate security failures which is an interesting thing so

we'll see if they're able to turn up anything new in that regard. >> chairman thompson says he expects the committee's report to be released before the christmas holiday. and nbc news has reported it will include a lot about donald trump. and some staffers are reportedly not happy about what's not being included. what are you learning? >> right, yeah, there's been a lot of tension among staff about what will make the final cut for this report. remember, this committee has done more than 1,000 interviews and they have more than a million documents. they have so much evidence. to try to condense that all into a readable narrative that is a book form is a very difficult task to do and some stuff is getting left on the cutting room floor. i'm told it will include findings about security failures as well as donald trump's role in trying to overturn the election. >> thompson also said that the department of justice will have access to the committee's

findings at the same time as the public. why not let the doj have a head start on this information in order to see if it leads to any criminal cases. >> yeah, that's another -- that's been another big point of conflict. the justice department has wanted the transcripts from the january 6th committee for months now, the january 6th committee has refused to turn over those transcripts. i think largely for proprietary reasons. they view congress as an independent branch of government and they wanted to keep a lot of their findings for their own explosive set of hearings and their revelation in their final report and they didn't want any of that information getting out if they turned it over to the justice department. so, you know, washington isn't always the nicest town. there's fighting between the agencies. but i do think we will eventually see everything, once this final report is filed, and these transcripts are released at the end of this month. >> luke, thank you so much.

we are keeping an eye on the white house where president biden is expected to hold his news conference with french president macron soon. and one issue they are sure to face questions on, the war in ukraine. we're live from kyiv with the latest concerns on the ground next. e latest concerns on the ground next the new subway series menu. the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. for more on the new boss, here's patrick mahomes. incredible - meatballs, fresh mozzarella and pepperon- oh, the meatball's out! i thought he never fumbles. the new subway series. what's your pick?

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with french president emmanuel macron within the hour. we're going to take you there live as soon as it gets started. one of the issues likely to dominate the news conference will be the war in ukraine. just this morning, large-scale air alerts were issued for all of ukraine urging people to go to shelters. earlier, russia's foreign minister defended russia's use of drone and missiles strikes to destroy ukraine's infrastructure which is west has condemned. those attacks have plunged millions of ukrainians into darkness cutting power as the biting cold blasts the region. ellison barber joins us now from kyiv. tell us what you're seeing today. >> reporter: president zelenskyy has described the situation in eastern ukraine as difficult but he said ukrainian forces are hanging on.

the u.s.-based institute for the study of war says russian forces have expended combat strength on small settlements since the end of may. but in the last six months or so, they really haven't made any consequential gains there. the gains they have made, russian forces, they have been incremental. we're talking only a few kilometers every now and again. the fighting there remains intense. as you touched on at the beginning, the threat of a missile strike in this country is high across the country, particularly in big cities like kyiv. you mentioned the air alarms this afternoon that sounded all across the country. ukrainian citizens are being warned that a large scale missile strike could take place any day. the uk's ministry of defense, they're saying that this tactic, the use of large-scale missiles to target energy infrastructures

is likely the component of a russian military doctrine, a doctrine where russia envisions using long-range missiles striking a state's critical infrastructure rather than its military forces to demoralize the population and force the state's leaders to capitulate. russia's attacks on ukraine energy infrastructure has not done much if anything to change the course of war along the front lines in the south, in the time since they've started these large-scale missile strikes, we've seen russia lose grounds. they lost control of the city of kherson in the south. what these missile strikes have done and what they continue to do is terrorize ukrainian citizens and make life here all the more difficult. >> yesterday when we were talking you said there are reminders all the time of what's going on around you.

and there were flickering lights at the gas station. any more of those stories today that you're noticing. >> it's constant. we've been working on a story talking to some people who are among the most vulnerable when the electricity goes out. we met just the other day two people who are in their late 60s, one in their late 80s and they were working with the u.n., other non-profit groups trying to get supplies, their own homes ready for winter. not so that they can stay really warm and toasty, but just so they can survive. there are a lot of people when the electricity goes out and we've seen it in images time and time again, there are life-threatening situation that is happen around it. and that's the case certainly for the vulnerable elderly population. and the last big missile strike, there was a photo that resonated with a lot of ukrainians here where it showed a little girl in a gas station because it was the only place they had power. her parents have brought her there so they could plug up her

inhaler. she used some sort of breathing device. couldn't charge it at home. they were having to sit in a gas station so that she could get that medical care that she needs. that's an everyday story here in ukraine and there's no indication that these attacks will let up. and because so much of the energy infrastructure has already been damaged, the ministry of energy told us today that 50% of the energy infrastructure here is damaged as of this morning because of that, the grid is under so much pressure. there are these constant rolling blackouts. and times people don't know when it's going to happen. >> just incredible. thank you so much. that does it for me this busy hour. andrea mitchell picks up coverage ahead of president biden's press conference with president macron right now. >> good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where we're awaiting president biden's joint press conference with france's president emmanuel macron

following their meeting and the official welcome for the biden's first state visitors. >> france is our oldest ally. our unwavering partner in freedom's cause. the alliance between our two nations remains essential for our mutual defense. france and the united states are facing down vladimir putin's grasping ambition for conquest and russia's brutal war against ukraine which is once more shattered peace on the continent of europe. france and the united states will meet the future just as we always have. >> this is all ahead of the biden administration's first state dinner and the first white house state dinner since former president trump hosted australia's prime minister in 2019 five months before the president suspended all travel

into the u.s. in response to the covid-19 pandemic. joining me now, chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host, kristen welker, ben rhodes, "new york times" pentagon correspondent helene cooper, and "new york times" diplomatic correspondent michael crowley. france is america's first ally in the revolution war as the president was alluding to. but there are some tensions with france and the rest of europe on just how to go forward with the war on ukraine. europe under huge pressure over energy, inflation on all fuel costs because of the war. what have you heard and seen today so far? >> reporter: you're absolutely right. top officials say that this visit is very much about reaffirming that alliance that you just talked about and you heard that referenced in the president's remarks and in president macron's remarks at that official welcome ceremony. i think it's going to be a key theme throughout the day,

particularly working in concert to try to pressure russia to pull out of ukraine. but as you point out, andrea, there are some real differences that they are going to address as well during this official visit, including the inflation reduction act which has called for new investments in climate and clean energy. and president macron as well as other european leaders have expressed some real concerns that that could hurt companies in europe. the u.s. pushback to that is that, look, we need to prioritize that as an agenda issue and also prioritize climate and companies here in the u.s., particularly given what we are seeing with the global economy. the other sticking point, andrea, that i would expect them to address is, of course, over a year ago, that submarine deal that the u.s. made which made france feel blindsided and out of the loop, president biden himself calling it clumsy. so this is a visit to talk about some of those tensions and to

reaffirm their commitment and, of course, the centerpiece will be tonight, andrea, with the official state dinner that you just talked about. >> and let's talk the biden/macron relationship that started off on the wrong foot. i was in paris secretary of state blinken was trying to repair the damage in that relationship. they thought that the submarine deal had been stolen from them right under their noses between australia and the u.s. and now a year later, i've just come back overnight from romania with secretary blinken when he was meeting with his french and other european counterparts and they are trying to solidify the european relationship, the nato relationship with the war in >> yeah, welcome back, andrea, from romania. your work ethic is an inspiration to us all. i think it's interesting that this relationship is quite strong right now. when there was that very

dramatic blowup over the submarines because of the deal the u.s. struck with australia, which cost france this military contract, infuriated the french. the french ambassador was withdrawn. that was worrisome, particularly because biden came into office with a top foreign policy to rebuild relations with the big countries that president trump had insulted and really caused a lot of damage in terms of the transatlantic relationship. here was this early problematic setback. in a way, vladimir putin solved the problem. the invasion of ukraine has brought the u.s. and europe and nato closer together, tighter cohesion than we have seen in decades really. i think right now, you see an extremely strong relationship.

there are disagreements over the inflation reduction act. i think there's a very important but private conversation going on about what diplomacy with russia should look like. macron is more interested in talking to vladimir putin. he did speak to him as recently as august and may do so again soon. president biden is not speaking to the russian leader. that's a very interesting difference of opinion. it's a friendly relationship and a very strong one. >> helene, with the war, there's tensions below the surface with president zelenskyy and with the u.s. and nato, because he wants more weaponry, as you know. he wants more defensive -- he wants patriot missiles against this carpetbagging they are experiencing. they are without food, water, electricity. they are pretty desperate. secretary blinken called it barbaric what putin is doing. when i asked him about the

patriot missiles, he was, you know, avoiding committing to that. i think they're waiting for the pentagon to announce that. what are you hearing over there? >> hi, andrea. thanks for having me. you know, the idea of sending both patriot missiles but also attackums and more long-range artillery and weaponry to ukraine is something that the administration has been extremely deliberate about. they continue to be concerned about supplying ukraine with anything that could have any sort of range into russia. so they have been taking a very cautious approach on this. at the same time, they have -- i spoke with a senior defense official just a few days ago who was talking about how as winter approaches, there is going to be very serious consideration given

to whether or not shoring up defense systems because you see the bombardment the ukrainian power grid has been undergoing because of the russian attacks. so they're going to look at shoring up the air defense systems. they're looking at -- they are continuing to work with other countries to see how they can continue to send more weaponry to ukraine. when it comes to france, that's an issue as well. i mean, france has sent, i think, a quarter of its own supply of this to them.

there's also an issue of not trying to cross any of vladimir putin's so-called red lines. >> to that point, the former president medvedev just this week said that if patriots were deployed to ukraine, that they would be legitimate military targets. ben rhodes, are we being too deliberate? should we be supplying more of the weaponry zelenskyy says he needs given what is happening with the carpetbombing of ukraine and elimination of so much of their power supply? >> i think that given the value of patriot missiles to the defense against the kind of bombardment that ukraine is facing, that this was probably the type of system that they were holding in reserve but are probably moving closer to delivering that to the ukrainians. you have seen them be very deliberate about some of the longer range systems. it took a while for the united states to take the step of providing longer range

artillery. i think it's appropriate to calibrate these weapon systems and these deliveries around other considerations like whether or not these could be seen as escalatory by russia, whether or not they are depleting vital stocks in the u.s. or europe. so there's a reason that the administration puts this through a process rather than just opening up the spigot. it's an important time for macron to come here and consult the way forward. we are entering a hard winter. ukraine, above all, people are suffering. so there's humanitarian assistance that has to get to the ukrainians. the u.s. and europe have to coordinate that. how do you decentralize the power grid so people have other access to electricity with the grid knocked out? then there's the situation in europe where they are bearing the cost of the living crisis, crunch on european consumers, you could see fatalities because of the energy crisis. there's a lot to talk about. it's notable that emanuel macron

is a leader who was invited here by president biden. since he became president, he wants to be seen as the premiere leader in europe. angela merkel was his counterpart and germany was the go to for the united states. i think now a less prominent world figure as chancellor of germany, although a capable leader, i think this is a signal macron is the first phone call that president biden is making to europe. i think that's notable. i think it's important for macron himself. >> it's very clear that this is a state visit anointing macron as the leader of the pack in europe, as far as the president is concerned. and the u.s. is concerned, obviously. don't go far. check back in on the other side of a quick break. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. (scrooge) bah humbug! my signal is totally ghosting me! (cecily) you need a better network. 'tis the season to switch to verizon. they'll give you the new iphone 14 pro.

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