you can always reach me on twitter and instagram @jdbalart. andrea mitchell will have an interview with ukraine's ambassador to the united states. don't miss it. i will see you. thanks. and right now on "andrea mitchell reports," better than expected jobs numbers for april, 253,000 jobs added means the fed's fight against inflation may not be over. even as the debt ceiling deadline looms and the banking sector remains shaky. the justice department probe into donald trump's handling of classified documents is intensifying with a wave of new subpoenas according to the "new york times." new reporting from the "washington post" has uncovered payments to clarence thomas' wife from a judicial power player with interest in the high court. more migrants are already

heading to the southern border days before covid restrictions are headed next week. congresswoman concern have a escobar joins me here. and i will talk to ukraine's ambassador to the united states on new threats from russia. good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where the white house is lauding a jobs new that outpaced expectations. 253,000 jobs added in april. unemployment down slightly to 3.4%. the lowest level since 1969. the good jobs numbers could complicate the fed's plan to pause hiking interest rates as the president and speaker are preparing to hold their first talks next week on that fast approaching debt ceiling deadline. and turmoil in the regional bank sector as well could be spreading. with all of that joining me now nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli outside the white house, committee for responsible federal budget maya mcginnis and

former barack obama white house press secretary michael gibbs. we are going to hear from the president shortly. what about a way to have both sides declare victory with the president commit to go budget cuts that proceed on a parallel track with the debt ceiling boost. >> officials are being careful. when we hear from the president we're likely to hear him focus on the positive jobs number and highlight what he sees is the benefits of his so-called investing in america agenda, the infrastructure law, the chips act, the investments in clean energy, prescription drug savings from the inflation reduction act, all of which the president is eager to tout the economic benefits of and say he is responsible for the strong job growth. he's also likely to warn about the economic harm that could come with even approaching a debt default. even if we find a resolution, there's the loss of 200,000 jobs

even if they narrowly avoid a default, 500,000 jobs if there is a brief debt default. a doomsday scenario, more than 8 million job loss in the case of an extended debt ceiling default. that's the warning coming from the council of economic advisers that the president is likely to highlight. we're also likely to see the president traveling next week to underscore the degree to which the president believes they have the politics on their side as republicans have proposed steep spending cuts. that's the politics. what is the actual outcome here? we have reporting that indicates that what the white house is coalescing around is pushing for a short-term extension here in the debt ceiling that would more closely link up the spending fights that are not likely to resolve until september around funding the government with the debt default, that would enable the white house to find some way to give into republican demands for cost savings, some of the most obvious pots of money available include the unspent covid relief funds which would be one pool, but then linking

that which is really what republicans are insisting on, where speaker mccarthy may have to get some sort of give from the white house in order to save his speakership. >> maya, i was speaking to a former obama budget director and jack liu who went through this twice in 2011, 2013. you've been warning of exactly what he said happened in 2011, the united states got downgraded by standards and poor and it cost the government $1.3 billion just because of the higher interest rates even without a total crash. what would be the worst-case scenario if they don't come to some resolution? >> well, i don't think it's at all impossible that we do get downgraded again because the risk isn't as far as defaulting, the risk is it demonstrates our political system is so broken that we are even getting close to it and it's even a discussion. i think there is a real risk and

a risk that markets start to get spooked and we have all sorts of huge swings in the market which cause a lot of uncertainty and a lot of losses throughout the economy. it is critical that these discussions get started. i think it's productive we're starting to talk about how to separate lifting the debt ceiling and putting in place a package of savings. frankly it's always been pretty clear that that would be a smart way forward so both sides are able to kind of talk about this in the frame they choose. and maybe hopefully there is a process which will have short-term savings that they are talking about from discretionary spending but also a commission or something else that will look at bigger issues including how to stave off insolvency in social security and medicare, what to do with revenues and hopefully reform the debt ceiling. we can't continue to be in this kind of a situation. >> robert gibbs, how can the markets possibly think that our politics are broken? >> yeah, no, what are they watching? i mean, that's crazy, right? no, look, i think this is going

to be a big week and i think this jobs number makes this week an even bigger one really for both sides. i mean, it would be heartening certainly if somehow the decoupling of the budget and the debt ceiling could happen. we know that's probably at least one off-ramp to what's going on now. and, look, i think the strong jobs numbers, now everybody will wait for the next set of numbers what happens with consumer prices, but, again t just makes resolving this in a smooth way all the more important because we are running this gauntlet of continuing to grow the economy, trying to get inflation under control and not having a risk of recession. the hard landing that we've been talking about really for six months. so big meetings next week in washington for a big solution that has to happen relatively quickly. >> it's a pretty dire situation. maya, don't go far, we are going to need you for the next couple

of weeks. you've been the one truth teller for months and months. thank you very much from the committee for responsible federal budget and of course robert gibbs as always and mike memoli. we will be seeing the president any moment. we will see what he has to say about this. first convicted the four members of the far right proud boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy. what their convictions mean or could mean for the president coming up next. former january 6th committee member congresswoman zoe lofgren will be here when andrea mitchell returns in just 60 seconds. don't go away. seconds. don't go away. one prilosec otc each morning blocks heartburn all day and all night. prilosec otc reduces excess acid for 24 hours, blocking heartburn before it starts. one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

and now after three trials we have secured the convictions of leaders of both the proud boys and the oath keepers for seditious conspiracy. our work will continue. of course that was attorney general merrick garland after four members of the proud boys

including their former leader enrique tarrio were found guilty of seditious conspiracy and other lesser charges for the attack on the capitol. and the attempt to overturn the election. a fifth member was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but found guilty on serious felonies related to the riot. legal experts say the conviction of enrique theriot even though he was in baltimore during the riot because of a court order against him in washington in an unrelated case is a caution flag for donald trump and others that they could possibly face charges even though they were not at the other end of pennsylvania avenue during the riot. joining me now is democratic congresswoman zoe lofgren who served on the january 6th select committee. great to see you. thank you very much for being here. first your immediate reaction to thursday's convictions. are you expecting that, quote, higher ups including the former president potentially could be next? >> well, it's possible. as you know, we referred

incitement charge to the doj from the committee. my reaction, frankly, was that this was justice when it comes to the proud boys following on the oath keepers. they did conspire to use violence to overflow the government and this is a righteous conviction. all of them if you follow the sentencing guidelines will be looking at a very substantial amount of the rest of their lives in prison and i think given what they tried to do to america, that is also fair. now, whether the evidence is sufficient to charge the ex-president with seditious conspiracy, you know, i don't know. that's a call the department of justice has to make, but certainly there are other offenses that he also committed and i'm confident that the department of justice is digging

up the evidence and making an assessment whether or not to charge. given the high profile of this case, i mean, a former president, i don't believe they will charge unless they feel confident that they have enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed a crime. so we are just going to have to wait and see on that, but i do hope that the doj while being thorough acts promptly. i think the country hanging to find out the answer is not a positive and whether they indict or not, it would be good to know. >> do you think it's significant that a jury admittedly a washington jury with a jury pool, because of the population is mostly democratic leaning, at least, but it was significant that a jury was willing to convict someone who was not present at the riot. enrique theriot was in baltimore because he is under a court

order in a separate case involving protests -- protests against black lives matter where there was desecration of a historic black church here so he is not allowed into the city, but this established certainly a precedent on a historically difficult charge, seditious conspiracy, to prove. >> that's the nature of conspiracy. i mean, you have the conspiracy charge is you were conspiring with others for the violent outcome of sedition. that doesn't require presence or an actual personal violence, it's the conspiracy, it's the agreement to do that thing that was proven here to the jury. if the former president has the same level of evidence, you know, presumably they could bring that charge. that would require evidence that

the president wasn't in agreement and was conspiring with individuals to overthrow through violence at the capitol the government. so we will see. >> and in the classified documents probe at mar-a-lago -- excuse me, congresswoman, i'm sorry, the president has now come into the roosevelt room so we're going to cut to that. >> so this morning we got some good news from the jobs report. we added 250,000 jobs last month. that's on top of the 12 million jobs we have already added just since we came in office a little over two years ago. unemployment rate is at 3.4% which is the lowest in 50 years. black employment has hit a record low and the really good news is working age americans are participating in the labor force at the highest rate in 15 years.

not just since the pandemic. in 15 years. and the working age women have participating at the highest rate in 75 years. inflation is now down 40% since last summer, it's come down in the last nine months in a row. we obviously have more work to do, but we are trending in the right direction. and i think we're making real progress. and we're doing it basically, which is the theme of everything we're internally working on, by investing in america. say it again, investing in america. as a matter of fact, the secretary and i were just talking about a project that was taking place in another state and we right hand having a significant investment in america. they said we can't build this unless we go ahead and contract out for a lot of work. he said i'm not going to do it that way. guess what, they figured out how to do it in mark at the right place, at the right time, at the

right date. we have a lot more work to do but we're making real progress. we've already tracked $470 billion in private sector commitments in manufacturing and clean energy technology and -- and we're bringing back the supply chain to the united states. i don't ever want to be in a position again where a major initiative we have and a major element of our economy is dependent on a supply chain somewhere else in the world, particularly if it's not particularly friendly. and we're doing all of this, having reduced -- having already in the first two years reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion. that's occurred. that's happened. it's done. and the budget i propose -- that i proposed back on march 9, i think it was, first couple weeks of march, that budget if it were to be passed would cut the deficit another $3 trillion. $3 trillion over the next ten years. unfortunately, our -- i won't

say republican because i think they are not -- they're pretty well divided but our maga republicans in congress are threatening to undo all of this progress by letting us, quote, default on the debt unless we agree to their demands. the two are totally unrelated. whether you pay the debt or not doesn't have a damn thing to do with what your budget s what your budget is. where you're going to spend money. how you're going to raise the money. what are you going to cut? that's the -- they are two separate issues. two. and let's get it straight. we're trying to hold the debt hajj to us to agree to some draconian cuts, magnificently difficult and damaging cuts but i will get into that in a little bit. but unfortunately they're threatening to undo -- undo all this progress by letting us default. and their budget that they promoted that was attached to their debt ceiling increase,

they're tied together now, i want to make that -- you all know this, i know, but the listeners they have tied it together, they said we're not going to increase the did et that every president has done for the last 6 million years, never having done anything but that unless you pass our budget as we are proposing. their budget would put 21 million people at risk of losing medicaid, it would cut federal law enforcement by 28,000 personnel. 28,000. dea, et cetera. it would cut 100,000 teachers and support staff. it would cut 30 million -- 30 million veterans health care visits. and i increased the va budget because the veterans were in such difficult shape, having so much trouble getting appointments and the like. according to moody's, not the democratic party, according to moody's, their budget plan would

eliminate 780,000 jobs. say it again. it would eliminate 780,000 jobs according to moody's. america's debt has accumulated over 200 years and my predecessor in the four years he was president increased it by that total debt by 40%. four years. four years. let's be clear -- and, by the way, even during that period all the republicans voted to -- the republican party voted to increase the debt limit, it was the only responsible thing you could do. any rate, let's be clear, this is no small part about paying our bills that we accumulated that were accumulated not by me, not by my administration but by former presidents and previous congresses. i was in the congress so i voted for some of them as well but i wasn't president. we are not a deadbeat nation. we pay our bills. some of you cover a lot of foreign policy in other

countries. you know this is becoming an issue in other countries. what's the united states going to do? are they really fooling around with not paying their debts? and so, look, next week i'm going to reiterate to congressional leaders that they should do what every other congress has done, that is, pass the debt limit. avoid default. as i've said all along, we can debate where to cut, how much to spend, how to finally move the tax stim where everybody will pay their fair share or continue the route they are on, but under -- not under the threat of default. let's have the normal arguments. we have a budget process to debate and open so you all can see it and know exactly what it is that they want to spend the money on, what they want to cut it on, who pays taxes, who doesn't pay taxes and us as well. we're ready for that debate.

we're ready for that debate. we've made enormous progress over the past two years and, again, just today reporting 250,000 new jobs just this last report. the last thing this country needs after all we've been through is a manufactured crisis and that's what this is. a manufactured crisis. and that's what it is from beginning to end. it's a manufactured crisis driven by the maga republicans in the congress. look, instead we should be debating a vision of our country's future. their vision versus our vision. totally legitimate. totally legitimate. it's legitimate the american people say we like their vision better than ours, but debate the vision. and whether or not we're going to take our country backward and certainly not whether or not we're going to default on our debt. i remind you under the previous president republicans voted three times to increase the debt limit.

three times. no one has ever not voted to increase the debt limit. there's a lot to discuss today about our vision for the country and investing in america is the core of what we're all about and to build our economy from the middle out and bottom up. i know it's not very appropriate for many of our friends on the other side of the aisle but decide your tax system. i would ask raise your hand anybody who thinks the tax system in america is fair. maybe you don't like the way we tax and how we tax, but this is about everybody beginning to pay their fair share from our standpoint. i understand the republican position, this is about cutting taxes, more taxes for the wealthy. i get it, but we should have the debate in the open not behind whether or not we are not going to discuss it because if we do we're not going to have the debt limit passed. so, you know, i think we've got

a lot of work to do and i'm doing a major press conference this afternoon so i love you all, but i'd like to ask you to leave so we can get down to business. >> reporter: russia has alleged that the drone attack over the kremlin -- [ inaudible ]. >> i would be happy to talk about that but not now. >> reporter: the dangers of ai. what are the dangers you see, sir, and did you hear anything from the executives that -- your concerns -- >> there are dangers, we will get a chance to talk about all of those things, i promise you. >> reporter: is the administration prepared for the lifting of title 42? >> you notice they put the guy with 18 inch biceps right in the

middle. >> well, someone pulled the plug. the president clearly saying that he's going to talk to the press later, but first he said that the two issues, the debt ceiling and the budget are totally separate issues. he repeated that he's willing to talk about budget cuts, but not the specific budget cuts that he said the maga republicans, that was in campaign mode, wanted. so they're far apart on that, but he said repeatedly that these are two separate issues so let's get it done. we are not a deadbeat nation. my predecessor increased the debt by 40%, referring to donald trump, but not by name. that was largely the trump tax cut. he said that there had been -- that this debt ceiling is to lift the debt accumulated by previous presidents, by other presidents and we are not a deadbeat nation again and let's not have a manufactured crisis. he's going to be speaking later today. that was in the roosevelt room. there were a lot of reporters

there, they're very close by and he did not answer any questions until, of course, the camera went down. that is a representing all of the networks. the only camera in the room. there are concerns about the expected rise in migrants crossings after covid restrictions are lifted next week. julia ainsley spoke to some of the migrants in the rio grande valley among the 2,000 apprehensions there at that crossing every day. >> we've been threatened for some time. this is my last resort. i couldn't live there anymore. >> i'm from mexico, from gaut lamar ra, there's a lot of crime, there is no work now, just a lot of crime. >> and joining us now is texas democratic congresswoman veronica escobar who represents el paso in her district, also national campaign co-chair for president biden's reelection campaign. good to see you again. thanks for being with us.

>> good to see you, andrea. thanks for having me on. >> we're going to hear from secretary mayorkas about the plans at the border later this afternoon. he is down there. by the way, happy cinco de mayo, a day of great celebration, not there but throughout the country for all of us as well. so let's talk about what the administration is doing, though. preparing for the people crossing the border, potentially doubling after the covid restrictions are lifted next week. are they ready? >> well, andrea, we have been working hard as a community, lots of communication and collaboration here in el paso, not just among local leaders, but also with the department of homeland security, with fema and other partners. we knew that this was going to be a tremendous challenge and even before the lifting of title 42 we have -- we are seeing about 2,000 people on the street

of -- streets of el paso, migrants who are surrounding a church, sacred heart church, who have been fed misinformation about what they can expect here in the united states, misinformation by their human traffickers, by the cartels, and, andrea, one of the things that no one is talking about that i think is really important to mention, you know, fema has been incredible in providing financial resources to local partners, our local governments and ngos, but the republican party, republican colleagues, wrote into pass legislation that we are not allowed to use fema or federal funds to provide emergency shelter for those vulnerable souls who are around the church because they are undocumented. so with that prohibition, we are having to look to private sources of funding, philanthropic sources to try to find enough money to provide emergency shelter for them.

next week republicans are going to be voting on a bill that will continue to exacerbate an already very challenging problem. they are looking to take away funding from ngos that help partner with the federal government to alleviate the human suffering at our nation's front door. so i'm afraid we're going in the wrong direction at the very moment when we need to be coming together in a bipartisan way to find real solutions, common sense solutions that have evaded our country for decades bringing us to this crisis point. >> what do you see to the people who applied for asylum, they've been waiting for months, for years to get into the u.s. and they are frustrated by what they see at the border? >> i don't blame them for being frustrated. i don't blame anyone for being frustrated. this is a very difficult situation. we need more resources for uscis, we need more resources on a number of fronts and this is

why it's really important that my republican colleagues join us in finding these true solutions. we've got to address the backlog. we do absolutely need to reform systems at our nation's front door. we are still utilizing the same systems we used and processes we used in the 1990s because congress has refused to act. the bill that's coming to the floor next week by my republican colleagues, again, andrea, is going to make things worse. i'm very concerned about the way that they have limited funds. last december when we passed our appropriations bill the administration asked for significantly more money in order to deal with this, with the lifting of title 42. largely most republicans voted against those resources. they need to meet us halfway at the table. we have to find a real solution. >> congresswoman veronica

escobar, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. and the russian retreat, the head of a private mercenary group railing against the kremlin and against putin's top military leaders as his forces suffer severe losses in back mute. ukraine's ambassador to the united states oksana marakova joining us after this short break. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. now with astepro fast allergy relief, [ spray, spray ] you can astepro and go. so, you found the no7 then... it's amazing! hydrates better than the expensive stuff i don't live here, so i'm taking this and whatever's in the back. it's already sold in the us. but i'm not taking any chances. the uk's #1 skincare has crossed the pond. when it comes to reducing sugar in your family's diet, the more choices, the better. that's why america's beverage companies are working together to deliver more great tasting options

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this week secretary of state tony blinken said the u.s. would welcome china's help in brokering a peace deal between russia and ukraine. an overture at a time when the relationship between u.s. and china is at an all time low. high level officials are not even communicating between washington and beijing, cuts off months ago. nbc news foreign correspondent janice mika frayer spoke with the u.s. ambassador to china nick burns and she is live for

us now from beijing. nick burns is signaling trying for an opening to china, but so far china doesn't seem to be listening. >> reporter: trying is the keyword, andrea. u.s. ambassador nicholas burns told me that the u.s. is ready to talk to china, but china doesn't seem interested in giving any high level access to u.s. officials, that includes a phone call between president biden and china's xi jinping which has been talked about since february in the fallout of that chinese balloon being shot down, as well there's now no timeline to reschedule that canceled visit of secretary of state blinken. now, ambassador burns made these comments to me in an interview and among the clearest signals yet that this administration is trying to revive any dialogue at any level with china and isn't

having much luck. there's also what we've noticed publicly and in private conversations with u.s. officials a change in the language, a tempering of the language around china, in particular when it comes to china's desire to play a role of mediator in ukraine. here is more of what ambassador burns had to say. >> we have concerns that our secretary of state has expressed -- secretary blinken -- about whether or not china will provide lethal military assistance to russia for its illegal war in ukraine. >> have you seen evidence of that? >> we have not seen evidence of that, but we're watching very careful flow. we have a difference of opinion there. we see china essentially supporting russia in this war. we have differences of opinion on taiwan. we need to have a stable relationship. you can achieve that sometimes and we hope to in this case by having high-level cabinet conversations, by having full access for all of our diplomats

here in china and that's what we're arguing for. >> reporter: arguing for. they're arguing for access. and there's a knock-on effect to this, andrea. not only do we have this chill between u.s. and chinese officials, but there are no american ceos who are visiting china, very few of them, no visiting members of congress, and the student numbers have been gutted. a decade ago 14,000 american students were studying here in china. today there are only 350. you can compare that to 295,000 chinese students who are studying in the u.s. so we're seeing this knock-on effect of this chill in u.s.-china relations and there is no indication from either side on when things are going to warm. andrea. >> exactly. and your reporting is just so great, janis mackey frayer. it's great to have you there and have the access and have that interview.

secretary kerry -- former secretary kerry was on the show a week and a half or so ago and said even his climate conversations -- a trip to china to talk with his counterpart has been canceled. of course, the most urgent crisis of all, climate change. janis mackey frayer in beijing. meanwhile, the head of the notorious russian mercenary group the wagner group fighting in eastern ukraine suddenly announcing his forces will pull out of back mute next week due to he said a lack of military support from moscow, basically running out of ammo. the head of the mercenary's announcement following a graphic message warning it's disturbing to see. we've blacked out or not shown -- we've blurred a lot of the images, but he showed images of russian soldiers, dead soldiers, he said, in an angry

tirade, the man known as putin's chef appears to be surrounded by a field of dead bodies. he unleashes an expletive ridden rant about a lack of ammunition and bee rates top russian chiefs for the spike in fatalities among the wagner ranks. joining me now is ambassador oksana marakova. what is your reaction to the tirade against the kremlin? >> thank you for having me. regardless of what fights do they have between themselves and who does not give ammunitions to whom, we just have to remember that all of them, whether it's wagner group or it's regular troops, are war criminals. that are in our sovereign country killing, raping and doing all the war crimes and they have no business to be there. i hope people in kremlin would listen to one of this commanders or whatever they call him and will realize that they have to

leave ukraine. they have to stop their brutal aggression, their brutal war and leave. let's not underestimate maybe they are not given something to wagner groups but they still have a lot of troops and they still have a lot of ammunition and we still have to liberate a lot of ukrainian territory and save ukrainian people and return ukrainian children. so we should stay focused on, you know, more support, more weapons, whoever can help us to be prepared and to liberate more of our territories. >> ambassador to the u.s. had warned against getting trapped in bakhmut because of the stalemate. there have been terrible losses on both sides. is it possible do you think that you can hold bakhmut and they will retreat. >> i wouldn't even call it a

stalemate because it was very heavy fighting and our brave defenders are not only defending bakhmut but essentially the front line. also other towns and cities and villages there. we have been able to already defend that for such a long time and we intend to do that because, again, as we discussed before, every inch of our territory that is not ours but under russian occupation means horrific atrocities and war crimes that are directed against all of our people there. so the faster and the more we can liberate and the more we can hold and prepare for the liberation that's the only way for us. so it is difficult and we pray for all of our brave defenders who are on the front lines day and night defending the country and defending our loved ones. >> russia has of course just the day before yesterday accused

ukraine of two drones that they said were attacking and targeting the kremlin, targeting vladimir putin who was not there. there was no evidence to their charge, but blaming ukraine and then a day later saying that the u.s. had helped ukraine with this targeting with intelligence. is there any truth to any of that? did ukraine have any involvement with those drones? >> first of all, ukraine is in no way involved in that. we have been very clear about that. but think about the irony of that. the autocratic criminal country that 436 days reinvaded ukraine, started a full phase, full-fledged war against our country that has done unbelievable destruction, destroyed so many already towns and cities, killed so many people, committed horrible crimes everywhere in ukraine and the whole world have seen it, have seen what they've done in bucha and kherson, in mariupol

and other places and they continue to have that unjustified, unprovoked, completely unfair war, they somehow come up with all these lies and try to say that we did something wrong to them. well, first of all, again, we did not -- we did not do anything of that, but talking about putin and other war criminals as you know we work really hard with all of our partners to actually hold them accountable and to get justice for our people. and there is arrest warrants for putin. yes, he should pay for what he has done, but he should pay by finishing at the bench in the hague or in any other location where he will be held accountable for all the war crimes and for the crime of aggression. >> former president, former russian president and prime minister medvedev said that this attack that they claim was targeting vladimir putin meant that the retaliation should be

eliminating president zelenskyy. to physically eliminate president zelenskyy. >> i don't even know now to comment that. they -- at the beginning of this, again, unfair aggression and war they have tried already specifically to target our president. our brave president is and was in kyiv from the day one defending together with ukrainian people our country and i think the russian officials should think about their fate and, again, justice and how they will be held accountable rather than threatening a president of a neighboring country that never has done anything bad to them. i mean, it's -- i think we just have to keep focus on winning this one because it's very important, not only for ukraine but for all of us who believe in democracy. we have to win this war regardless of what russia lies

about. >> ambassador, secretary blinken said the other day that china and its new envoy to ukraine could be helpful, could be helpful in resolving it in some way, perhaps getting negotiations started or persuading vladimir putin that the war is not winnable from his perspective. how do you view the envoy and the possibility of china being a mediator here? >> well, the last part, the persuading of russians to get out, i mean, our president has been very clear, you know, in his public communication and on the phone call also that, you know, we have the peace formula, president zelenskyy suggested our peace formula on how to return to peace quicker and nobody wants peace more than ukraine, but it has to be just peace. it's very clear from our peace formula how it has to be and first and foremost russia has to stop its aggressive war and get out from our country. so whatever country can help

convey this message to russia of course we would be grateful. and on the phone call between our president and chinese leader our president has been very also clear about the content of this peace formula that we really want peace, but there could be no peace at the expense of the territorial compromises. we unfortunately have done that in the past and russians have shown how they only use any pause in order to get themselves together to attack us again, but also our president emphasized that it's very important for all the countries, especially those who believe in territory and u.n. principles to refrain from supporting russia in this war. i think that it's a very clear message. we want peace but we want just and lasting peace and it's impossible to reach that without russia stopping its aggressive war and getting out and then justice to be served and then

the ten steps that our president put in ukraine's peace formula. >> ambassador oksana marakova, thank you very much for being with us today. >> thank you, andrea. and mounting pressure, the growing legal troubles that former president trump is facing. that's next. you're watching an draen mitchell reports. this is msnbc. watching an draen mitchell reports this is msnbc. missing teeth forever. it changes how you eat, how you feel, and how you enjoy life. it changes your smile and how others smile at you. clearchoice network doctors have changed over 100,000 lives with dental implants, and they can change yours, too. because a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. so, you found the no7 then... it's amazing! hydrates better than the expensive stuff i don't live here, so i'm taking this and whatever's in the back. it's already sold in the us. but i'm not taking any chances.

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had a vaccine, or plan to. thanks to skyrizi, there's nothing like clearer skin and better movement... and that means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ now's the time to ask your doctor about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. and we have breaking news from the white house where it has just been announced dr. rochelle with a len key is stepping down as head of the center for disease control and prevention. she was a key figure in the fight against the covid pandemic over the last several years. her departure comes hours after the head of the world health organization declared that covid-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency marking a symbolic end to the devastating pandemic. and donald trump says he is now back in the country after visiting his golf properties overseas, but it is his mar-a-lago property here in

florida in the u.s. that is under intensified scrutiny by special counsel jack smith at least according to the "new york times," saying that the justice department is launching a major expansion into trump's potential role in hiding classified documents from the government as well as also reporting insider -- that there is some insider witness from mar-a-lago cooperating with a big focus on gaps in the mar-a-lago security tapes. joining me now is "politico" white house bureau chief and way too early host jonathan lemire and chuck rosenberg a former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official. so, jonathan lemire, this is potentially a big development in the classified documents case which seems to be moving at least at the special counsel level more quickly than the january 6th case. >> yeah, andrea, that's exactly right. there's always been a sense that this case would be easier to put together, the january 6th investigation is so strong, it is so huge, there are so many

people involved, so much evidence to process and they need to be able to make the link. if you are going to charge trump with a crime how do you prove that he incited the violence on january 6. the documents seems simpler. we know that these documents were recovered at mar-a-lago and, yes, there is the political muddying of the waters, as we've since learned that president biden had some classified documents at his delaware home, former vice president pence had some at his home in indiana, but the key difference here is that donald trump fought their return repeatedly so there could be an obstruction charge in the works. and that's why this reporting is so important, suggesting that for the times someone at mar-a-lago might be able to corroborate two investigators that trump personally ordered the documents moved around, taken out of saves and not immediately returned to the federal government when they requested them. so we don't precisely know what timetable the special counsel is working on. it could still be weeks or months or more, but there is an

expectation that he's much further down the road for this particular probe than january 6. >> and to chuck, in a separate legal issue in the trial where the case rested yesterday in new york, the rape and defamation civil case against trump by e. jean carroll, before resting, you know, the lawyer for mr. trump said he does not want to come and put on his own defense and take the stand certainly. and then in ireland on the golf course apparently earlier in the day, rather, he had told -- trump had told reporters that he was going to come back, confront his accuser had also some names for her and this what he called hostile judge. the judge did something we're told is very unusual. he began to question tacopina, the defense attorney, are you sure that he's not going to come back, you know, suggesting that he had said he would, and then

he said when did you last talk to your client. tacopina answered minute thes before coming out here to court this morning, and he went at him and said, you know, are you sure he is not going to change his mind, and then he said, even though they had rested and we're going to do closing arguments on monday and charging the jury and going to the jury on tuesday, he said i'm going to give him until 5:00 sunday in case he changes his mind, i think anticipating that he might be trying to take advantage and say -- trump might come back and say he didn't have a chance to defend himself. what's going on there? >> yeah, that's a good question. so mr. trump's lawyer seemed pretty certain that mr. trump was not going to come back and was not going to testify at the civil trial. on the other hand, with judge kaplan, you seem to have a very patient federal judge who's giving mr. trump every opportunity, remember, it's a civil case, not a criminal case, every opportunity to tell his side of the story to the jury. if mr. trump is true to his word

and we know on occasion he's not, things could change, and he might decide to come back to new york and to testify. of course if he does, andrea, it would be subject to cross examination. >> let me briefly turn to clarence thomas to both of you, chuck first to you. the court now according to the last gallop poll, only 25% of americans have great confidence or some confidence in the court. the supreme court, which a 50% drop in its credibility. and now, again, we hear that a very, very important conservative lawyer who has interests before the court, has had a major role in court nominees giving donald trump during the campaign possible selections, leonard leo had in addition to everything else, leonard leo had been secretly, according to the paperwork, funneling money to ginni thomas,

his wife. >> yeah, so first, the drop in confidence that you described in the supreme court is something that's happening across our institutions, congress and the presidency and the media and academia, and it's a disturbing trend. but i think it gets to the second point. perceptions matter a lot, and so some people spend a lot of time looking at the technical rules of disclosure and reporting and missing the bigger picture, which is if you have nothing to hide, then don't hide anything. you can always over disclose. when you don't disclose or you hide behind sort of technical rules, all well and good, andrea, but people don't have confidence in the institution. so over disclosed. there's no problem with doing that. >> and jonathan, i think you would agree that the court is in some difficult -- difficult situation here on the clarence thomas issue. we're going to have to run, but

jonathan lemire, chuck rosenberg, thank you both so very much. and the crowning moment, the full pomp and pageantry of buckingham palace will be on full display in london tomorrow, and of course westminster abbey, the main events, the coronation of king charles. we'll have a preview next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. reports" on m. hydrates better than the expensive stuff i don't live here, so i'm taking this and whatever's in the back. it's already sold in the us. but i'm not taking any chances. the uk's #1 skincare has crossed the pond. (vo) with their verizon private 5g network, associated british ports can now the uk's #1 skincare precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market.

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king charles iii was, of course, the longest serving british heir to be in waiting to succeed the throne. will be finally coronated tomorrow with all the pomp and circumstance that the british do so well. today taking time to greet well wishers, the 74-year-old is going to be crowned king at westminster abbey in a ceremony steeped in tradition. the president and princess of wales were out at a pub talking to locals. first lady dr. jill biden is in london for all the festivities, representing the u.s. at number 10 downing street, greeting the

wife of the prime minister today. joining me now is nbc royal commentator daisy mcandrew. daisy, i'm sure you're excited. looks like the weather is beautiful for this great moment. i want to see -- i'm getting up at 5:00 a.m., going to be watching. i'm going to see it all, the gold coach, you know, for many americans certainly and many brits, it's the first time they've ever seen a coronation. >> reporter: absolutely, and i think that's one of the reasons, andrea, it is going to be so special tomorrow, but of course for many people it will feel a bit alien because as you were saying, you have to be are probably in your 80s or 90s to be able to remember the last coronation when the queen had hers in 1953, so we're going to see this extraordinary ancient ceremony, very spiritual, very, very religious, but equally king charles is determined to bring it up to date, so it will be

multi-faith, extremely diverse, a lot of women taking part, and of course we'll see camilla being crowned as well as king charles. >> and with that, she becomes the queen, correct, and what is the attitude with, you know, queen elizabeth despite all the criticisms of the royals, she was an enormously popular monarch and so many years historically, the longest serving monarch, so what about the attitudes towards camilla and charles, have they warmed? >> reporter: you're quite right, by the time of her death, queen elizabeth had an 80% popularity poll rating. can you imagine any politician getting anywhere near that, really extraordinary. so of course when we look at charles and camilla, they don't have ratings like that. their ratings are in the 50s or 60%, still very good but of course the most popular members of the royals kate and william. and i think that's why we will see them playing an increasingly important role put right in the center of the stage with the

spotlight completely on them because their star dust will shake -- will also reach camilla and charles. >> and very, very briefly, of course, harry will be there, not meghan, and how is that all going to play out, at least in public? >> reporter: all eyes will be on harry. there will be body language experts trying to work out what the relationship is like between him and william. we're led to believe it is pretty rock bottom. there is some optimism that the relationship between charles and harry is on the mend. >> daisy mcandrew, as always, thank you so much. that does it for us for "andrea mitchell reports" this week, happy cinco de mayo, chris jansing reports with lindsey reiser starts right now. ♪♪ good day, i'm lindsey reiser in for chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. help can't come soon enough for officials facing a growing number of people trying to cross th