good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. right now the supreme court is hearing a case that will affect millions of people. and then we will tell you about the sensitive information

hackers stole from one of the agency computer networks. and researchers show the program that kept millions out of poverty is expiring. plus the biden administration is reacting after several reports revealed how migrant children are being exploited for cheap labor here in the u.s. and as the defense rests in the alex murdaugh trial. we begin at the u.s. supreme court. right now the justices are hearing arguments on whether president biden has the authority to wipe out more than $400 billion in student loan debt. the president's plan is being challenged by six states that

say only congress could act on that. the plan was announced last summer, but lower courts put it on hold. the high court is expected to announce a decision later this year. with us now to talk about this, nbc news washington correspondent our reporter outside the u.s. court, and lindsey reiser. >> reporter: essentially what you have is two parties arguing that the biden administration didn't follow the proper procedures when it launched this student loan relief program in august, so you have biden v nebraska, and that involves six gop led states saying it was overreach to try and cancel the student loan debt. then you have two student borrowers, the department of education v. brown, and they are

saying they did not have a say, and we have an attorney that has been arguing against this, and we have a non-profit worker saying it's a critical program. take a listen. >> it's going to saddle current high school students applying to college and future high school students applying to college with higher loan debts, and it's going to create more people in need. >> this helps us out so much in achieving the american dream. you know, all we essentially want to do is really just make a difference in different folks' lives. >> reporter: there's a lot of interest in this case. if you can hear a little bit of it, there have been protesters here, people camping out overnight, and people making the most noise are in favor of keeping the student debt loan relief program in place, and this could impact up to 40

million american student loan borrowers. big implications depending on what the court here decides, and it's a conservative majority report and a lot of worried if it's going to be seen as a campaign promise and they will rule against him, and a lot of big questions. definitely a case to watch, josé. >> lindsey, give us a bigger picture of what is at stake in today's cases? >> let's give people a crash course. we are talking about forgiveness for federal loans, and 10,000 earning up to $125,000, or households up to $250,000. when we talk about the timeline of how we got here, it was then-presidential candidate senator elizabeth warren that first proposed student debt

forgiveness up to $50,000, and then candidate biden proposed up to a minimum of $10,000. he officially ordered forgiveness in 2022, but during the pandemic student loan repayments were halted when then president trump signed the cares act and interest stopped accruing. that's the foundation of why president biden says he has the authority to do it with the 2023 heroes act saying the pandemic caused all the hardship, and then we started to see the fights, two graduate students sued and two states sued. when we look at the debt, mortgage is number one and student debt is number two. we went from half a trillion dollars in 2007 to present day with more than $1.6 trillion of out standing debt. this is why the white house says this is needed. this is from their office. you can see the trajectory of

how much the costs of universities have grown, and when you talk to people about why they want this kind of debt forgiveness, you have megan from illinois saying it feels like it will never go away. you have christopher from connecticut saying it's about economic justice, and we are struggling with inflation and the cost of living, and then you have the republican opposition, which was swift when first announced, and one senator said if we are canceling student loan, we the people would not be paying for it and president biden is just passing the buck to hard-working americans. >> thank you both so very much. turning to the major security breach of the u.s. marshall service and it's the government's main arm for investigating fugitives. it was a breach that happened over a week ago.

joining us now, tom winter, part of the team that broke this story. tom, good morning. what exactly happened here? >> good morning, josé. what essentially happened is about a week ago the u.s. marshals had a random breach, and they shutdown the system and try to force you to pay them to get access to it, and what happened here, is not only did they install the ransomware but took the information off the u.s. marshals servers, and some of that information includes their investigative files. what does that mean? if you are looking for a particular individual, you might have background information about them and details on their family members and places where they might be hiding out, and the same if they have an active arrest warrant for that person. when you look at this, it's something where a number of peoples' personal information, including, we're told, information belonging to u.s.

marshals staff, and we don't know who took them, and they don't have a clear handle on that just yet. sometimes the investigations take time, and that's something we will continue to ask about. one thing a senior law enforcement official has told us, we know the witness protective program, better known as the witness protection service is something that has not been breached here as a result of that. for those individuals who are under threat of their life, frankly, testifying either pretrial or already testified, it does not appear they are in any danger at this point, and it's something they are watching and they are calling it a major incident and they are trying to figure out who did this and why and what exactly was taken. >> tom winter, thank you so much. millions of americans are

under winter alerts as a week of wild weather stretches across the country. in michigan, yet another brutal storm swept across the state as 150,000 customers are still without power from another storm last week. yesterday two massive tornadoes touched down in the suburbs of chicago. in the northeast, residents saw the first significant snowfall of the season. joining us now with more is nbc news correspondent, kristin dahlgren live from connecticut. what are the conditions like where you are? >> reporter: hey, there, josé. it's transitioning to more of a rain mix or a freezing rain, and we have four or five inches of snow that we have gotten since last night here. the connecticut state police says over the past 24 hours they have gotten more than 40 calls for car accidents that they responded to and luckily those

have just been minor injuries. the road is certainly slick here. as we see the first significant snow in this area of this winter, even boston seeing snow now, and it has not seen a whole lot of snow this winter. new york has only seen half an inch so far this winter and then today got another inch to two inches, so it's finally beginning to look a little more like winter in new england, josé. >> i thank you so much. coming up, new details coming out about classified documents found at the trump, biden and pence homes. what top lawmakers are expected to learn today. plus, the war in ukraine pushing russian men to extreme lengths. why hundreds of them are showing up at the u.s. southern border. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. u]

oh, my daughter gives the best hugs! we're just passing through on our way to the jazz jamboree. [ imitates trumpet playing ] and we wanted to thank america's number-one motorcycle insurer -for saving us money. -thank you. [ laughs ] mara, your parents are -- exactly like me? i know, right? well, cherish your friends and loved ones. let's roll, daddio! let's boogie-woogie! think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage? no. he's making real-time money moves with merrill. so no matter what the market's doing, he's ready. and that's... how you collect coins. your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. choosing a treatment for your chronic migraine - your money never stops working for you with merrill, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more - can be overwhelming. so, ask your doctor about botox®.

botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start. it's the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. so far, more than 5 million botox® treatments have been given to over eight hundred and fifty thousand chronic migraine patients. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®.

14 past the hour now. to capitol hill with china will be taking center stage today. the house foreign affairs committee will be looking at the social media app, tiktok. they will hold their first hearing on the strategic competition between the u.s. and china, and among the witnesses will be two former trump administration officials. there's so much to talk about when it comes to china, the spy balloon, taiwan, ukraine, and their influence in latin america. what can we likely expect to be hearing in this hearing tonight? >> well, a few things. number one, i think the committee, as we reported, wants to kind of bring home what this threat is. mike gallagher, the chairman of

the committee, the wisconsin republican tapped by kevin mccarthy to lead the committee, told us to make it seem like a threat to the united states and not a far-off threat, and that's what he told us and that's what they are going to try and do, and it's going to take on multiple facets, technology and it's going to be corporations and investments in the united states and a whole host of facets about how china tries to either participate in the global economy or interfere in the global scene, depending on which side you take. >> we know that lawmakers on both sides of the aisles called for tiktok to be banned, and what are the prospects putting together a bill that would allow that to happen? >> i would say it would pass the house and senate with flying colors, but does congress want

to go that far? there's a worry about precedent here from some members of congress, although they won't say that publicly, but tiktok as a general proposition is running into huge headwinds on capitol hill in a major way. this legislation the foreign affairs committee will consider tonight -- or today, rather, it does not ban tiktok but gives joe biden the ability to ban tiktok. it's not as direct as some might hope it would be, but it's a sign of where this conversation is going that tiktok just faces tremendous headwinds, political and substantive on capitol hill. it's not just the foreign affairs committee, you can imagine this coming up in homeland security, the arms judicial service, and it's a investigation being conducted by the chinese and tiktok, which is a chinese-owned entity.

>> yeah. so they want tiktok to possibly be banned but they don't want to do it, let's let the president handle something like that, because it's quite a popular app. >> it is. i have seen that kind of pop-up on social media in the last couple of days what younger people would do if tiktok were banned. there are serious national security concerns on the hill from republicans and democrats about what kind of data the chinese government can -- not saying they do, but they can get their hands on from apps like tiktok, and members of congress's liking has not been sufficient enough. >> the top democrats and republicans in the house and senate are set to get a preliminary briefing on the classified documents found at

the home of president biden, former president trump and former vice president pence. >> what they are getting is a briefing from the justice department on the reasoning behind what -- why they did what they did. this is a preliminary briefing. mark warner said on repeat that he believes his committee and members of congress deserve access to the documents. he says the intelligence committees have already seen many of the documents, or at least understand what is it in and then can be trusted with this kind of information. we don't expect it will be the last briefing on the matter but a preliminary -- was said, a preliminary briefing on why the justice department did what they did. >> always a pleasure to see you. thank you. >> thank you. one of the last programs to help those suffering from the

pandemic, they are expiring and many will see their incomes reduced by $95. darsha burns. what impact will the end of this program have? >> josé, experts we talked to said food insecurity will increase as this program expires, especially as families have already seen other pandemic-era programs like the child tax credit and universal free school meals and the eviction moratorium also come to an end, and food prices remain sky high. and i want to introduce you to jessica ramos, and she became a single mom when her partner died a year ago, and now she's navigating all this on her own. jessica ramos is a single mom. feeding her six kids has always been a struggle. what do you think about when you

go to bed at night? >> we're going to be okay for the next week. >> her family is among 42 million americans that received snap benefits, what used to be known as food stamps, and she received an extra $300 a month. >> they came in handy. they really did. prices are going so high that we need them. >> these benefits kept 4.2 million people out of poverty and reduced child poverty by 14%, according to the urban institute, and this month marks the end of the program. >> the scary part of next month is how are we going to live? what is going to happen? >> what sort of decisions will you have to make to keep feeding your kids? >> either pay a bill or buy some groceries. >> that's where you are at? >> yes. >> jessica is not alone. food banks across the country

are preparing for a rise in food insecurity. >> we had people calling our organization every day and looking for more food resources. >> the executive director of share food program, one of the largest food banks in philadelphia. he says they have already seen a 70% increase in demand over the last as food prices have skyrocketed. >> for organizations like ours, that means we have to work around the clock to serve more people. >> the typical snap household will see their benefits drop at least by $95. >> the people in washington making these decisions, what do you want them to understand about what life is like you? >> for them to put themselves in our shoes, and we are struggling out here. please, consider the children, mostly the children. >> important to note, josé, food banks are also facing the

increased prices and they too have to figure out how to make the dollars go further especially with donations down as folks unable to give as much as they used to, josé. >> thank you so much. joining us from the northwest arkansas food bank in spring springdale, the ceo of a network that runs 200 food banks across america. thank you for being here. as grocery bills remain high and continue to go higher, what is the need among people struggling to feed their families? >> it's rather severe for so many people. we have already seen snap benefits expire in some places, and we are seeing significant increases in demand, and i was just in georgia last week, and there we saw in the atlanta area, they are seeing about a 40% increase just since snap benefits expired.

i was in augusta, i was in savannah, and the same types of things were happening all across the state of georgia. people are in need. demand is high. prices are high. donations are low. food is -- donations of food as well as funds have decreased. this is particularly a bad time for people right now as this expiration is happening. >> so i have been fortunate enough to be by your side when you visited, you know, some of the 200-plus food banks that you all are in charge of, and it's just the need that is so great. how has your organization been affected by the increase, the increase in prices, you know, inflation, the cost of everything going up, how has your organization dealt with this? >> we are doing everything we can. i don't know if your audience is catching the fact that when

donations are down, that means that we have to buy more food in order to meet this demand. we're out there trying to purchase food while prices are high, so it's really been a challenge. as these -- as snap benefits expire, knowing how powerful a tool it is against poverty, we will need the american public to step up as they have throughout the pandemic, and recognize the game is not over so don't leave the field. talk to their members of congress and other influencers in the state. >> how can we help you and the folks that are making a difference? >> well, we talk about it in three ways, josé. we need food. we need funds. we need friends. go to feedingamerica.org, and

you can access all three of those. if you have access to food and want to donate it, find your local food bank at feedingamerica.org. just put in your zip code and it will tell you which food bank is serving your community. your local food bank needs access to funds as does the national organization, and we also need friends. we need people, really rallying, talking to their members of congress and making certain people understand that this is a 100% issue. when we do something about food insecurity, we lift up the whole community, everybody wins. when we don't, everybody loses. we hope people will show up the way they did, as i said, at the peak of the pandemic. my biggest concern, josé, and i think we talked about this when i had a chance to talk to you before, my concern back then was those lines were going to go on the insides of buildings and people were going to forget they

exist, and that has happened. we are seeing lower and lower donations, activations at a time when people need us to stay on the field. >> i thank you, thank you for everything and thank you for being with us this morning. >> thanks for having me, josé. up next, an update on a story we have been following. thousands and thousands of migrant children working brutal jobs at plants across the country. we will tell you about the new measures the biden administration says its putting in place. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports." get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence.

from the network america relies on. [sneezing] theo's nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion... ...and brings soothing relief. don't let your nose get burned. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. i think i'm ready for this. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. heck ya! with e*trade you're ready for anything. marriage. kids. college. kids moving back in after college. ♪ finally we can eat.

♪ you know you make me wanna...♪ and then we looked around and said, wait a minute, this isn't even our stroller! (laughing) you live with your parents, but you own a house in the metaverse? mhm. cool...i don't get it. here's to getting financially ready for anything! and here's to being single and ready to mingle. who's ready to cha-cha?! ♪ yeah, yeah ♪

oh booking.com, ♪ i'm going to somewhere, anywhere. ♪ ♪ a beach house, a treehouse, ♪ ♪ honestly i don't care ♪

find the perfect vacation rental for you booking.com, booking. yeah. ever leave your clothes in the dryer and find a wrinkled mess? try downy wrinkle guard fabric softener! wrinkle guard penetrates deep into fibers, leaving clothes so soft, wrinkles don't want to stick around. make mornings smoother with downy wrinkle guard fabric softener. 30 past the hour. new information about consumer spending. retail giant target reported stronger than expected earnings, and they also reported habits are changing. cnbc spoke exclusively to target ceo. >> brian cornell, target ceo,

said the food was the strongest category, and beauty -- take a listen. >> inflation has been very stubborn. sitting here today it's down from the highest rates, but inflation is still a factor in the business and impacting the consumer and their spending so we have to watch that carefully. it's impacting costs and still impacting transportation, and they are still faraway from a more normalized environment. >> walmart said last week, americans are feeling the pressure and becoming more cost conscious, and the target private band tends to be cheaper than national brands. cornell says they are taking bold actions to invest on a type of inventory they have on hand

given that consumer preferences are changing. the biden administration announced its launched a major crackdown on child labor. the announcement comes in the wake of reports by nbc news and others that thousands of children, particularly migrant children, have been working long shifts in grueling jobs here in our country. joining us to talk about this, is julia ainsley. you have been reporting on this for a long time, and last month you reported on 100 children working at slaughter houses. >> this story just keeps getting bigger. we now learned, josé, in the last year there were 3,800 children found to be working in the united states, and that's what the labor department could find. they also have 600 ongoing open investigations now, and that's

an increase in case you are wondering, a 69% increase in incidents of child labor, and an investigator said this is a perfect storm. you have more children crossing the border unaccompanied and that started as another uptick we saw in march of 2021, and there are some labor shortages and companies are taking advantage of that and hiring unaccompanied minors for less pay they would pay adults, and it's a company here that says they are cooperating with labor department investigators, and it's not just limited to this one company. there are children who are working on conveyor belts stuffing a lot of the food packaging that you and i are consuming every day. it's staggering when we are learning that this is happening in 2023 in the united states.

>> julia, something you have been covering for such a long period of time as well, this increase in the number of children coming to the united states without their parents. once they get here, they are supposed to have a relative or sponsor, somebody to look after them, and in so many cases nobody is watching what happens. they are essentially left on their own in the hands of people that, well, could be exploiting them or worse. >> yeah, josé, i have been covering this issue since 2014 when we first saw families and unaccompanied children increase in numbers in crossing the southern border, and the pendulum continues to swing if the administration is going to try and fast track them to relatives and sponsors and maybe take short cuts, or they slow it down. the trump administration had one of the slowest records, but in

that case they were enhancing the process to do criminal background checks on everybody in the house, and somebody said that was a deterrent to catch illegal migrants that wanted to come and claim their children. once they leave hhs custody, even if they do a good job on the front end to make sure they are going to a vetted sponsor, and just yesterday labor and hhs said they are trying to crack down on the issue and they want to track the children that leave their care, and the labor department wants congress to pass enhanced penalties on companies that hire these children. >> thank you so much. good to see you. up next, why the history-making mayor of the nation's third largest city would be voted out of office. plus, alex murdaugh talks

about who could have really killed his wife and son. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports." [ spray, spray ] you can astepro and go. subway keeps upping their game with the subway series. an all-star menu of delicious subs. there's the philly, the monster, the boss. if i hadn't seen it in person, i wouldn't have believed it. eating is believing steph. the subway series. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. - psst! susan! the subway series. with paycom, employees do their own payroll.

- what's paycom? a magic payroll genie? - it's a payroll app. - payroll is way too complicated for the average person. - paycom guides them through it. missing or duplicate punches, pending expenses, unapproved pto, on and on. - why would employees wanna do all that? - this could be a stretch, but i think it's 'cause they wanna get paid correctly. i like getting paid correctly. what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. and an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it. but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit makeapdplan.com today. ♪ i'm gonna hold you forever... ♪

♪ i'll be there... ♪ ♪ you don't... ♪ ♪ you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey, man. nice pace! clearly, you're a safe driver. you could save hundreds for safe driving with liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! [sfx: limu squawks] whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

second date, wish me luck buddy. mouth to mission control. we have a denture problem. over. roger that. with polident cleanser and polident adhesive refresh and secure for any close encounter. if your mouth could talk it would ask for polident and poligrip. here, is cvs health. if your mouth could talk here, we'll never be told our concerns are all in our head. here, we don't think we should pay more than men for the same thing. or pay taxes for period products. here, we can ask tough questions, day or night. and here, we're actually heard. and because of that, we can focus on getting healthier together. together. here, healthier happens together. cvs health. (vo) if you've had thyroid eye disease for years and you can't get any shut eye because you can't shut your eyes, it's not too late for another treatment option. to learn more visit treatted.com. that's treatt-e-d.com.

40 past the hour. right now residents of chicago at the polls voting in what could be a consequential local election. lori lightfoot is looking at eight challengers. we are already seeing a record number of mail-in and early ballots? >> reporter: yeah, and actually in terms of what we have seen so far at last check, triple the amount that we have seen in the previous two municipal elections here when it comes to early voting and record numbers when it comes to mail-in voting. we could know who is going into the runoff election, since that is looking likely. let's talk about why it's

looking likely. nine different candidates, including incumbent mayor lori lightfoot competing against others. and this is a former chicago public school ceo is leading the forefront there, and then you see in place for second, it's kind of a narrow margin between incumbent lightfoot in addition to brandon johnson, and local representative garcia. we have spoken to a number of people that showed up to the polling site we are at right now, and 50 people have shown up so far this morning. the people we have spoken to said there's a wide variety of things that went into those factors, but every one of them said there was one voting issue they focused on the most. take a listen to two people that we spoke to. >> i was just making sure our kids are safe, making sure we

have programming and making sure we have after school programs and making sure they can go to school safely, and keeping the violence down in chicago. that's my main issue. >> just deciding what to do about crime. there's a lot of graffiti around the expressways and city, and figuring out what we are going to do about it. >> reporter: what is the number one issue for you as a chicagoan? >> crime, for sure. >> reporter: when we talk about the competition that lightfoot is facing, just the shear number of candidates in addition to the fact that it has been a tough run for mayors across the country, right? this has been a tough few years. it was nearly four years ago she was elected but then we had the covid-19 pandemic, and then the spike in gun violence especially here in chicago, and then square offs between the teachers' union and the city, and she has a

large playing field and other candidates, josé. it could mean that not only is it a steep uphill battle for mayor lightfoot, we may not know at 7:00 when the polls close who is going to the runoff. >> thank you so much. turning now to the high profile murder trial of murdaugh is going on. today the pathologist is on the stand. the jurors can travel to murdaugh's estate at the request of murdaugh's attorneys. the theory is there was not one but two killers of his wife and son. we have a civil attorney and former prosecutor, and also a

msnbc legal analyst. what are you using to support the theory that there were two shooters there? >> the person that brought up the theory was the defense witness, a pathology they had testify yesterday. when he was on the stand he requested a lot of the findings from the autopsy report, the state pathologists that previously testified is now back on the stand right now defending a lot of her findings. the big issue that he seemed to use in part -- he said he felt the totality of the evidence suggested that a two-shooter scenario, but one thing he focused on yesterday with the defense pathologist, was a gunshot wound on paul murdaugh's head. the state's pathology said that's an exit wound. in the defense's theory when they were talking about the possibility of a shooting that yet has not been found, they

argue and have implied so far that alec murdaugh would have been too tall, and so it would shift perhaps where a shooter was. the defense was trying to make that case, and that's also, which we can talk about in a minute, part of why they want to have the jury visit the murder scene. what we are hearing the state's pathology do is go hard to defending her work to begin with, saying there is no way this wound on paul murdaugh's head is a contact wound. she has given a couple reasons. one, there are wounds on his neck and shoulder that suggests those are the entry wound, and she graphically described if the gunshot wound on his head was, in fact, a contact wound, that essentially a contact wound from

a shotgun would have caused so much gas to enter into his head that the damage to paul murdaugh would have been so much more severe. you are seeing a back and forth on whether or not there was a contact wound on paul murdaugh's head or if it was, in fact, an exit wound. there has been contentious moment as the pathologist tries to defender work and testimony. >> what do you make of the fact that murdaugh's team got this victory by going out and visit the crime scene. what does that tell you? >> that's huge. in addition to the battle of the experts, there's also going to be a contention that murdaugh could not have done this with the feed room being so tiny where paul murdaugh's murder took place, there would have to be blood spatter or brain matter

on his clothing to support he, in fact, committed the murder. the estate is huge, and the defense's theory, and the prosecution corroborates, two different weapons were used. it would be difficult for one person to lug both of the weapons across the sprawling estate, and it gives an excuse as to why murdaugh was unable to hear anybody entering the property to commit the murders. >> thank you. up next, why more russian men are fleeing their country and heading to the u.s. southern border. you are watching "josé diaz-balart reports." t reports.

y'all wayfair's got just what you need for your home. do they have stylish beds at great prices? whoo, this bed is dreamy. you're kelly clarkson?

yes. and you're in our bed? yes. what about five star dining sets? sorry i didn't have a reservation. you're kelly clarkson. i love your work. thank you. find just what you need at wayfair! even a personal sauna. oh! can we do the wayfair song? yes you can. wayfair! ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ wow. it'd be better if you did it. subway keeps upping their game with the subway series. an all-star menu of delicious subs. like #4 supreme meats. black forest ham and genoa salami. you can't stop that much meat. you can only hope to contain it - in freshly baked bread. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. come here! you know why people are always looking at their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. see cousin jimmy over there? his girlfriend just caught the bouquet so... he might need a little more help saving. for that engagement ring... the groom's parents. you think they're looking at photos of their handsome boy? they're not! she just saw how much they spent on ballroom dance classes...

won't be needing those anymore. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking.

i think i changed my mind about these glasses. digital tools so impressive, yeah, it happens. that's why visionworks gives you 100 days to change your mind. it's simple. anything else i can help you with? like what? visionworks. see the difference. if your business kept on employees through the pandemic, getrefunds.com can see if it may qualify for a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee. all it takes is eight minutes to get started. then work with professionals to assist your business with its forms and submit the application. go to getrefunds.com to learn more. . 52 past the hour. new reporting about an increase of russian men trying to enter the u.s. by crossing the border with mexico. vice news followed russian men in mexico who were fleeing putin's military draft.

>> go ahead. >> did you ever imagine since the very first day you stepped out of your home in russia that you would finally come here? >> it was our dream. and step by step, now we're here. >> joining us now, paula ramos. how are russians traveling to the u.s./mexico border? >> the typical journey entails a flight from russia, then to istanbul. a flight to cancun. in cancun, many russians are able to go there with a tourist visa. they make their way to the u.s./mexico border. at the end of the day, they're going through the same patterns and experiences that many asylum seekers go through.

these extraordinary lengths to reach the border with the intention of seeking political asylum. what we found is that russians, as you can see, have more resources and more money to mostly spend their days inside motels, hostiles, hotels. they lay low. they don't want to become victims of the cartels. that's one of the trends we found. they make their lives inside these hostiles. >> so many questions here. they go to cancun. clearly, it's different than what you have covered so brilliantly, people who have to go through the jungles and up through columbia and central america and into mexico and then to the united states, or the cubans who for 62 years have been getting on innertubes and

rafts or haitians because the island is unlivable. >> they have a completely different migrant experience from the ones you and i are used to talking about. one of the questions i had is why the u.s./mexico border? why go thousands of miles away from russia? this route to the u.s./mexico border is becoming one of the only and safest options for the russian men trying to dodge the draft. they told me that russia's neighboring countries don't feel safe. the baltic make its have closed the borders to russians. getting visas to eu nations, it's very costly. they have figured out that this route to mexico is cheaper, in a sense. it's safest. again, they can navigate the country as tourists. of course, that's a very, very stark contrast to other asylum seekers. >> it seems they may be treated differently once they get to the u.s. side asking for asylum?

>> absolutely. i think from what we noticed on the ground, many of them are spending up to three to four months in the dangerous border towns but they seek asylum. the image at the border is pretty stark. at least since october, more than 17,000 russians have been processed. that's a big number. these border towns are starting to look different. 17,000, at least 21,000 since october, compared to at least -- a little over 4,000 in all of fiscal year 2021. russians are there. it's an image i believe putin doesn't want people to see, which is his men fleeing his draft, threefleeing his empire,g to the west. that's something he doesn't want anyone to see. >> thank you so much. always great work. i appreciate it. that wraps up the hour for me. watch highlights from today's show online.

i thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news after a quick break. q. you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. we all have a purpose in life - a “why.” no matter your purpose, at pnc private bank we will work with you every step of the way to help you achieve it. so let us focus on the how. just tell us - what's your why?

♪♪ inner voice (kombucha brewer): if i just stare at these payroll forms... my business' payroll taxes will calculate themselves. right? uhh...nope. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes, cheers! with 100% accurate tax calculations guaranteed. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®.

ask your doctor about tremfya® today.

right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the student debt showdown makes its way to the supreme court. the justices hearing about the loan forgiveness that could affect 40 million americans. top congressional intelligence leaders from both