there just is no analogy for this and there's not even a rhetorical analogy. what mcconnell would use in 2016, they would play clips of a joe biden speech in 1992 where he said there should be no hearings in an election year, but this wouldn't be an election year. so, again, they don't even have tape that i'm aware of that could justify keeping the seat open. >> jonathan swan, "morning joe" is going to have much more of your revealing interview with mitch mcconnell just ahead, including what he said about supporting donald trump if he is the nominee again. that was a remarkable moment. we will get into that. thank you, jonathan. stick around. thanks to all of you for getting up way too early this friday morning and all week long. have a great weekend. "morning joe" starts right now. on this vote the ayes are 53, the nays are 47. this nomination is confirmed. >> history at the high court. judge ketanji brown jackson is

confirmed as the first black woman to sit on the u.s. supreme court. who is this barrier breaker? a harvard graduate who spent two years as a public defender. she met her husband patrick in college. the two have been married for 25 years. she is a mother of two daughters, who looked on with pride during her confirmation hearings. the vote was presided over by vice president kamala harris, the first black woman to hold that position. >> let us all, i think brace who we are as a nation, that we achieve -- long overdue, but we achieved this important milestone. i think it makes a very important statement about who we aspire to be, who we are, who we believe ourselves to be. it is a statement about on our highest court in the land we want to make sure that there's going to be full representation and the finest and brightest and the best. that's what happened today. i'm very proud.

>> also making headlines this morning, covid surges through washington, d.c., from the house speaker to the u.s. senate to top members of the president's cabinet. and the ongoing crisis in ukraine where vladimir putin continues to kill with impunity. with us we have the host of "way too early" and white house bureau chief at "politico" jonathan lemire. the president of the council on foreign relations richard haass. former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan is with willie, joe and me on this friday morning. >> yeah. >> we made it through the week. we stopped the day to watch the vote yesterday. >> we did. >> and just one little nugget from "politico", ketanji brown jackson, she voiced her goals as a young woman to go to harvard and her high school counsellor told her she shouldn't set her heights so high. >> set her goals so high, yeah. >> she graduated from harvard

and she was an editor at the harvard law review. i wish she wouldn't set her sights so high. >> exactly. >> she said in her testimony she had doubts about harvard. >> with all of these people saying this to her. >> yeah, she had an extraordinary moment on campus where a woman came up to her and said, keep going. >> wasn't that beautiful? >> 55 years after thurgood marshal went to the court as the first black justice, it took 55 years but now we have the first black woman justice. a moment the country should celebrate, even if you disagree with her politics. >> listen, the parties treat each other despicably. please, they do. you are talking about what-about-ism? yeah, i am.

it is horrific. even on the issues of race i was hearing people talking about, well, this shows how race -- i remember. let's just say it, chuck schumer acting abhorrently towards a black woman trying to go to the d.c. circuit, saying, we're not going -- okay. but all of that aside. let's put all of that aside, okay. i'm showing, yes, both sides are horrific. i didn't vote for barack obama. when barack obama got elected, i turned to the person i was with and i said, i didn't vote for him, but what an incredible country we live in. i had chills. again, i thought he was too liberal. i didn't -- i could go down the list, but even in that moment i knew something really incredible had happened that made me proud to be an american, right? yesterday, elise, i'm watching. first of all, rand paul,

serious, deliberately, i don't know what he was doing, but that holding up of history. i don't know, lindsey, i don't know maybe did his tie get shredded? but then afterwards, given our history as a station, given the way women have been treated, the way black people have been treated, the way black women have been treated, just as a matter of history, it is a matter of fact, as much of a fact as this is a coffee cup, you don't think more republicans than mitt romney could have stayed in the chamber, taken to their feet and applauded the moment even if they didn't agree with her judicial philosophy? i'm sure i don't agree with a lot of her judicial philosophy, but you know what i agree on?

this country, despite all of our problems, despite our screw ups, we are still stumbling toward being a more perfect union. a moment like that, stand on your feet and applaud. >> that is what was so sad about it, because it was such a huge moment and brought tears to my eyes as a woman, as a woman of the south who has seen what black women have endured for so long, just everything that justice jackson has overcome. it was so incredibly moving, and then to have this political climate of disregarding our basic humanity as americans, as saluting the progress that we've made, as coming together. it is just so foul and distasteful and i'm glad that senator romney, as always, could be a class act, but i wish other republicans would have joined and saluted this historic

achievement, too. >> yeah. again, you're not giving up anything by standing there acknowledging the moment, applauding for the moment. this isn't about her judicial philosophy. i'm sure those fights are going to continue forever, but, again, to not be able to stop and just acknowledge the moment. >> well, the claim from lindsey graham was he wasn't wearing a tie so he didn't go in. he was at a press conference a few hours earlier with a suit and tie. some republicans popped out and gave their thumbs down and got to the airport. this was certainly a moment for history that was worthy of what mitt romney gave, which was a standing ovation. >> absolutely. >> by the way, when the first woman, ronald reagan's selection, sandra day o'connor, i think got a unanimous vote. so democrats did stand to their feet and were there, gave a unanimous vote for sandra day

o'connor, the first woman to go on the supreme court. >> we can do it. >> with justice thomas, did democrats stand and clap their hands? i would hope a few did. so much has eroded since the era of justice o'connor to know in that we just can't even look at each other beyond our politics and, you know, come together at all. >> well, it was a remarkable moment nonetheless. let's get to our top story this morning. we have breaking news coming in from ukraine. at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured when a rocket hit a train station in the donetsk region. we want to warn you once again the images are graphic. the region's governor says thousands of people were at the station at the time of the strike. the station is the main evacuation point for thousands of ukrainians who are trying to get out, trying to flee the country's east as russia steps up its offensive there.

president volodymyr zelenskyy condemned the attack and said the russians are, quote, destroying the civilian population. >> the russians, of course, lied about it. but, richard, let's again talk about how pathetic, how vile, how heartless vladimir putin is in these attacks. >> desperate. >> he has gotten to the point -- well, i mean i don't know if he's just stupid as hell. he has now -- he has turned the entire country against him. there was at one point a split between those who were pro-russian and those who were pro-ukrainian, wanting to go west. but here, let's just be very clear, he is now killing people who are russians ethnically, killing people who speak russian, killing the very people who should be inviting him into their region. he's just talked about, you

know, his war crimes are just turning him into the mortal enemy of people who should have been his allies. >> this isn't an aberration, this is a strategy, this is purposeful. he is out to destroy the spirit of the country. he is out to depopulate the eastern areas of the country. again, this is not somehow an exception. this is exactly what it is about. obviously these are war crimes but it is part of a larger -- >> that's what i don't understand. if he wants to depopulate, why doesn't he let them go? >> part of it is to break the backbone and to say, you won't be a viable country. he didn't want ukraine to succeed, which was democratic, because if it took hold, if that succeeded, what about the slavic people of russia, why couldn't they have a democracy and

participate. >> he has lost the narrative war though. the fact he is so much on the defensive and ukrainians have really persevered in giving the world the idea that they have a fighting chance, which they do, and the battlefield momentum, how could it change over the next two weeks where the ukrainians had a moment, if they could really marshal some strength, if we gave them what they needed, could they have a moment that finally yielded a blow to the russian psyche here? >> look, there's two wars. there's his war against the ukrainian cities and people, there's a ukrainian war against the russian army. right now you're right, the next weeks will be critical because we will see a war of mass. the russians are massing in the east. the question is whether the ukrainians can counter it. that's why you are hearing all of this talk about arm, average, arm ukraine. there's a sense we will have big battles that we haven't yet had. again, we have had two wars and it may come together in one war.

so i think now between the end of april it could become critical. >> it could be. i will tell you, maybe it is the old neocon in me, but lukashenko opening his mouth talking about being part of the peace process. for zelenskyy, he can say, look, you can stay out of the war and then we're going to kill the russians and then we are coming after you, lukashenko. we are look ink at you. you keep at this and you will not be in charge of your little country anymore. your dictatorship will be over, because a lot of people inside the country want you out. guess what? we've got weapons and we're coming for you. at some point, i mean they've pushed the russians out and now you have lukashenko who is allowing war criminals to traipse through his country to go back to russia to commit more war crimes. at some point the west needs to support ukraine enough that they can make that credible threat and make that threat at lukashenko and start putting

people back on their heels. >> what we are seeing today out of the reports out of the train station, i was speaking to a senior biden administration last night and we have talked how they flooded the zone with intelligence on the eve of the war. one of the warning was how russians would likely commit war crimes and atrocities in their wake. that is what has happened here. it is their playbook that we saw not just in bucha but other cities. zelenskyy said there's another city where it is worse than bucha, the situation there. now this, targeting a train station where there are people trying to flee the region and reports, this is obviously a fluid situation, a lot of children there who are among the victims. in fact, a rocket find nearby in russian written on it "for the children." >> you know, willie, again, here is the miscalculation. seriously, the miscalculations, i can't begin to count the miscalculations vladimir putin has made. when donald trump -- donald trump has said so many things that are wrong, so many false

things, spread so much information. maybe the dumbest thing he has ever said is vladimir putin is brilliant. he is the opposite of brilliant. he has made his life worse in every single way, or at least russia's. again, the huge miscalculation here is we committed war crimes in grozny, we won. we committed war crimes in aleppo, we won. we're going to commit -- we shoot down civilian airliners, nobody does anything to us. we are going to go in, we are going to commit war crimes again. they're not going to do anything. well, the west is responding and we will continue to respond. he just doesn't seem to get it, that a lot -- i'm sorry. i said barack obama's name, that barack obama is not president anymore. joe biden is. donald trump is not president anymore. joe biden is. nobody is looking into those eyes saying, you know, you've got -- you know, he's a great

guy. yeah, we had a guy that said, you're soulless, vlad, and he is treating him that way. still not getting it. he will, but maybe too late. >> if the goal is to break the spirit of the ukrainian people, as richard said, it is having the opposite impact. this is pure evil, let's be clear and call it what it is. >> yes. >> if you are attacking a train station where families are trying to escape to safety that's evil. if you are preventing humanitarian convoys going into mariupol to get food, medical supplies, water. that's evil. bombing maternity hospitals, that's evil. now a rare break from russian propaganda, vladimir putin's secretary is admitting to significant loss of troops in this war. dmitry peskov saying the lose of the troops is a huge tragedy for us. peskov held firm on other putin

talking points, calling the war a military operation. he also denied the mass murders in bucha as a well-staged insin insinuation, nothing else. >> richard, it is significant, is it not? he is finally admitting something we all know. they're liars. the fact he stopped lying for a second, it could mean that the ukrainians are saying, hey, we have 10,000 dead bodies here, what do we do with them? p. >> i think it is two things. one is there's simply too many dead russians to lie about it. the other thing i was thinking about that i thought was significant they're beginning to change their narrative slightly. even though the terminology may not have changed, but in order to marshal support at home there has to be the sense russia is under attack, this is a big war. by saying we are sacrificing, our brave young men are paying a price, but we, russia, are under attack. they are getting ready for a larger war in ukraine and i

think they're beginning to change their narrative a little. i think it is a significant thing. they can no longer deny the sheer number but also they want to arouse russian patriots. >> and the goal, again, it is now just to maintain territory that they already held before the war. >> a little bit more than that, but basically -- >> a little bit more. >> what i call a 12 to 6 on the clock, a band of territory in northern, eastern and southern. we don't know whether it is a temporary goal, almost a foothold, and then there would be something more. >> right. >> or whether that's going to be -- you know, they defined success downward. this is their more modest definition of success, so putin has cover for saying, okay, i have done what i intended to. >> if the war continues, willie, the way it has been going, they can look at mariupol and the land bridge to crimea, they're not going to get it. you know they won't get it because the ukrainians will continue disrupting over the next week, month, year, decade.

they're never going to get it. they will get donetsk, you know, they will get some land they already have they've been fighting for. think about that. they've been fighting for eight years. >> seems like. >> for eight years. we're not talking about patton in charge of this brigade. >> no, and that was the least of what putin expected to get out of this, that land bridge. he thought it would be in kyiv. joining us former ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor. ambassador, great to have you with us again. a lot to talk about you, but, first, your thoughts on this attack on the train station where thousands were waiting to escape the violence, the russian military attacking them indiscriminately. >> i'm at peace with the war crimes. we have seen it over and over again what the russians are doing and will continue to do,

it is war crimes. exactly what you all are talking about, this is just inflaming the ukrainians more. this is making the ukrainians crazy with the desire, with the determination to win this war. they will win this war, willie. they will win this war if we can provide the weapons that they need and the fuel and the ammunition. that's what they need and that's what we need to provide them now. >> ambassador, you mentioned providing weaponry. nato reportedly has agreed to supply advanced weaponry to ukraine, more aircraft defense systems, missiles, armor vehicles, but what do we know what is getting into the hands of the ukrainians? we know it is complicated but there's a discussion being had. are they being given enough just to get by or enough to be successful in pushing back the russians? >> mika, it is the right question. it is the right question. what we do know is that the flow is significant. that is the flow of these

weapons is going through, and the size of these weapons is growing. that is we are now sending heavier pieces of equipment. we are sending aircraft -- the aircraft that are going in are drones kind of thing, but there are also smaller aircraft we are thinking about doing, but more important is this anti-aircraft weapons that are able to go higher and they're getting through. these are from -- these are the s-300s going in from other nations that have them, that the ukrainians know how to use. so it is getting bigger. the tanks are now going in. this is what they need in order to push the russians back. >> so the u.s. general assembly voted to suspend russia's from the group's human rights council. i'm curious if that means anything, in the grand scheme of things. also there were 58 nations abstaining any notable extensions -- >> can i just say first of all, the question answers itself.

>> well, i know. >> as my professor would have told me. >> i'm curious if any abstentions stood out to you and why. and i would love to hear richard's point of view on that as well. ambassador. >> so what we see is the majority of the members of the u.n., of the u.n. members have voters against the russians. have supported the ukraine and that's been consistent. it was 141, 140 previously. yes, there have been abstentions, and those won't commit either way but it is clear where the nations are in terms of -- now, the question is, is that going to mean anything? well, they are isolating, we are isolating russias and we need continue to do that. >> i don't think vladimir putin could care two figs about it. the human rights council has all sorts of human rights violators on it.

>> having sudan back when they're killing 2 million of their own people on there. >> china is on it. >> exactly, given what they're doing with the uyghurs. this is another example how the u.n. has marginalized itself and it doesn't really have a significant role in diplomacy. it has been a venue for public democracy of diplomacy, and it lacks moral standing. >> how do our allies vote "present" about human rights while we are seeing war crimes? >> what you are having in several cases is they're worried about access to russian grain exports, russian arms exports, other narrow national concerns. what you are seeing is all foreign policy is local, all foreign policy is national and they're putting principle on the back burner. >> thank you so much. former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor. we love having you. appreciate your insights. jonathan lemire, i have to

ask you the question, mika asks the question, are we giving them enough, what more can we do. i like it. it is a brzezinski thing to do. i don't have any money in my pocket, i need more. so maybe i can borrow some. but i'm just curious, how frustrated the white house is at this point. i'm sure the president is very frustrated. like jake sullivan, tony blinken, there's some historic aide that we're passing their way, and yet everyone people are complaining not enough, not enough. i had a ukraine complain to me about how the united states was stingy about, you know, accepting -- helping ukrainians get into poland. i said, wait, are you -- wait, how many millions of people -- like attacking the pols and the americans, it is just like i get it, keep pushing. all right.

i understand that, but at some point, when does the white house say, hey, back-off this is how much we are giving you. we are going to do what we can do to help you win this war while trying to also prevent world war iii. but, you know, all of that to say he's a very frustrated willie on this friday morning. >> the pols, by the way, accepted 2.5 million refugees. >> think about it this way. sweden took in 1 million refugees over the course of ten years and were given all of these gold stars for that. poland in less than two months has taken in 2.6 million refugee goes and more are coming, with the help of the u.s. military. >> with the united states, exactly. and the pols, not a nation that has a statue of liberty saying,

"bring us your tired." the united states has done an extraordinary job hitting the refugees get into poland and move across. yeah, we can accept more in this country and we will, but, again, how frustrated in the biden white house? >> throughout most of the process they you understood zelenskyy was playing what he in. he would ask for a ten settling for an eight. he was making demand and therefore it would be more palatable when the americans and others would say, we can't give you that but we can give you just about everything up to that. he's battling for the survival of his country. as this has gone on the white house is saying, hey, we are giving what we can, but they acknowledge most of zelenskyy's anger is not towards the united states but towards other democracies that have not stepped up like they would like, and other countries in europe who have done a lot but not

taken the steps the united states had, in part because their economy is reliant on -- >> is germany going wobbly right now? >> it is germany's refusal to get serious about shutting down russian gas exports. russia is getting $500 million or more a day from this, over $30 billion since the war has begun. >> oil, energy? >> more than anything else, natural gas. that is what is floating the russian economy. so you think about it, we have given several billion dollars worth of aid. russia received over $30 billion in receipts from energy exports to europe. the real question is what degree of economic pain are the western democracies prepared to pay in order for ukraine to prevail? it applies to us. higher gasoline prices, for example, and germany. are they willing to have a 3% or

5% contraction in their economy. i understand how difficult the economic disruption is, but that's what we're talking about now, what we're prepared to play. >> while we're on the euro path, let me ask you quickly, willie, about france. i always hear le pen is going to meet macron and then macron wins by 81 points. i wonder whether newspapers are generating this. sure he was ahead by 100 percentage points last week but now it is close. we don't know who is going to win. >> as you know from the euro pass experience, it is a two-faced experience. >> i would love to do it. i have my backpack. >> you may too old for a youth hostel, but we digress. >> maybe they have a senior discount. >> aarp discount. >> all right, kids. let's talk about kids.

>> macron is going to get a narrow plurality in the first place. >> did you say narrow? >> narrow. what matters is the second phase in late april. my guess is macron will win not by a landslide but narrowly. he hasn't been a good candidate. he has been missing in action, unsuccessful statesman. she has been more on the ground as a candidate. he is trying to associate her with putinism, essentially saying -- >> it is not hard there, is it? >> no, there's actually a bit of truth there. >> pretty easy. >> my guess is that he wins but not a landslide. still ahead on "morning joe," we have so much more to get to this morning. how does mitch mcconnell square with calling donald trump morally responsible with the january assault on the capital and said he will support him if he wins the party's nomination in 2024. >> here's the thing. >> that's a tough one. >> yeah, it doesn't mean jonathan swan doesn't ask him over and over again. >> i appreciated the question.

jonathan swan joins us next with his remarkable interview of the minority leader. >> plus, what trump said he wanted to have after his speech the day of the capitol attack and who he says was really in charge during the attack. you are watching "morning joe." >> who is he blaming for this? >> we'll be right back. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. that pushes you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪♪♪ there's no going back. [copy machine printing] ♪

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♪♪ so he's -- he's done it again, mika. >> i know. >> what a beautiful view. >> someone has been swanned. >> the swamps of washington, d.c.. >> but you say swamps -- >> where crocodile swann comes

out of the swamps with a knife in between his teeth! and he goes for the jugular of republicans and democrats alike. >> he asks a question that's pretty basic. >> jonathan, we are just sitting around the table here going, we love your sort of -- it is sort of a caveman lawyer routine, except with an australian accept, you know. i'm just from australia, i don't understand this. >> exactly. >> you say this but you do -- it is just baffling to me. and i must say -- >> thank you, by the way. >> that was a great accent, joe. >> thank you so much. you're guy, you're kind of going like, wow, he's doing the south sydney suburb thing. it is incredible. >> it was very nuanced regional dialect skill. >> you know, the thing is though we have seen you do it time and again, but it makes us feel as uncomfortable as we felt when we

saw mike wallace interview people back in the 1970s. i say we, just richard and myself because we're the only people old enough to remember that. but you have done it to trump, you have done it to quite a few people, but the mitch thing --? let's play part of it. >> you want to do that instead of me talking about it? >> it is simple questions here. >> you know, she's been in the business, you can tell. >> yeah, for like four years. jonathan, here is part of your interview with mitch mcconnell. >> you are known for playing a ruthless style of politics. where do you draw your moral red lines? >> i didn't realize i was known for playing a ruthless. my wife thinks i'm a really nice guy. my kids like me. i got a lot of friends. >> that's four so far. okay. >> i'm shocked to hear such a

comment. >> let's just take as a premise, and i think the audience might agree with me, that there are some people, maybe some substantial people in this country who might agree with that assertion. >> i'm sure you could find some who could. >> moral red lines, where do you draw them? >> i'm perfectly comfortable with the way i have conducted my political career and i would be happy to respond to any specificity you want to apply to the term -- what was it? >> moral red lines. >> moral red line. yeah, i'm very comfortable with my moral red line. >> let me give you one specific. help me understand this. i watched your speech last year in february on the senate floor after the second impeachment vote of donald trump and it was an extraordinary speech. you spoke very powerfully against the most powerful figure in your party, the president, and you said donald trump's actions preceding the january

6th insurrection were, quote, disgraceful dereliction of duty and that he was practically and morally responsible. morally responsible, your words. for provoking the events of that day. how do you go from saying that to two weeks later saying you would absolutely support donald trump if he's the republican nominee in 2024? >> well, as a republican leader of the senate it should not be a front page headline i would support the republican nominee for president. >> after you said that about him i think it is astonishing. >> i think i have an obligation to support the nominee of my party. >> is there anything he could do? >> that would mean whoever the nominee is has gone out and earned the nomination. >> okay. but donald trump earned it last time, and i'm just trying to understand, you know, what you say matters. you are a very important voice of this country, you are the leader of your party and you seem to hold two conflicted

positions. >> not at all inconsistent. i stand by everything i said on january 6th and everything i said on february the 13th. >> i understand. but what i want to understand, which i haven't heard you address -- >> because i don't get to pick the republican nominee for president. they're elected by the republican voters all over the country. >> i fully understand that. take liz cheney, for example -- >> you want to spend more time on this as well? >> i actually do. i generally want to understand this, i want to understand how you think about this. because liz cheney, who has the same view as you of january 6th, she said she doesn't want donald trump near the white house and she will work not to let that happen because she thinks there are some things more important than party loyalty. >> well, maybe you ought to be talking to liz cheney. >> no, but i'm not trying -- really, it is not a gotcha. i am trying to understand is there any threshold for you of what some of the people of normal level -- >> i say many things i'm sure people don't understand.

>> senator mcconnell had no answer for the question, and good for you for staying with it. this is not unique to mitch mcconnell. people have written books in the last few months how bad donald trump has been for the party, how they can help to change the course. i'm thinking of bill barr that wrote a book about what actually happened, the lies around january 6th and then when asked would he support him again, he said, well, yeah, if he is the nominee of the party i couldn't help but support him. they would like to step away from donald trump but as long as he holds the sway he holds, they don't seem to be able to step away. >> but i think i would put mitch mcconnell in a unique category, not just because he is the most powerful figure in the republican party. but if you go back, as i said -- before i did this interview i watched every piece of tape of senator mcconnell that i could find, every interview he has

done, everything that he has done that i could get my hands on. if you watch the tape on him on january 6th and february 13th of last year, they are remarkable historical documents. he's a very controlled man. he controls your emotions as -- it was probably the most difficult interview subject i have ever tackled because he is just immoshl and refuses to answer questions. wu in those speeches you have can see the emotion under the surface. january 6th, clearly on the day anyway, affected hip. if you watch his february 13th speech he speaks with -- it is year in his mind at that moment that he thought that donald trump was a cancer that needed to be cut out of the body of the republican party. he says that donald trump, his actions preceding january 6th were a disgraceful dereliction of duty, morally responsible.

he gave a listing of donald trump's misdeeds, and then two weeks later he went on a news program and was asked whether he would support donald trump in 2024, and just without even thinking said yes. so i had never -- bizarrely, i have never seen him ask about that by i find kind of weird. i have seen him asked about what are you going to do on build back better or whatever, blah, blah, blah, but, okay, fine, i'm going to support build back bet earp. okay. forgive me. i don't really care that much. i know you are going to oppose build back better. i want to know how you square saying those things because maybe -- i get it. i'm not trying to be glib or play some sort of, as you said, caveman lawyer thing. i'm really actually -- like i find that fascinating.

i think it is a vital question of public interest. i thintd aupon issuing. the thing i said to him is he has the di cal view of january 6th as liz cheney has because he says he stands by everything he said that day but they reached different conclusions. she after that event dedicated her life to trying to -- now, in utah she may lose, that may happen, of course, but nonetheless she has said i will do everything in my power to prevent this man from ever returning to the oval office. but mitch mcconnell has reached the conclusion, if he's the nominee i will support him, and he should be asked about it. >> by the way, that was a very good american accent, build back better. i think what is fascinating about this is a lot of republicans have gone half hearted, yes, you know, it

wasn't great what happened on january 6th. you are exactly right. mika, we talked about this a good bit. i was moved by that on january 6th. i was more moved when i talked about people chased into the bunkers. everybody was like, let's go home, try this tomorrow. it was mitch who said, no, no, we're area not going home, over my dead body. we are going to get this vote today. nobody is going to think for one second they delayed us from doing our duty. i thought it was a great moment. >> but then he leaves it all there. >> i thought it was a moment from the republican party that showed bravery and i was proud of him for doing it that day. that's why, mika, it is a contrast that a couple of weeks later he goes, sure, i would vote for this man. >> you also spoke about candidates with questionable past including those with allegations against them of domestic violence.

take a look. >> primary season is just beginning, and i'm pretty optimistic we are going to have what i would consider a fully electable nominee in every one of those states. >> well, you gave me four names. i have a few names for you. i want to start with a candidate that polls indicate could be your gop nominee in missouri. he said, quote, i want to tell you directly, karl rove and mitch mcconnell, hear me now, you are disgusting cowards and we are coming for you. we are no longer going to allow you not just to attack me and my kids but to destroy this country. is this the sort of electability that you are looking for, leader mcconnell? >> yeah, i don't have any comment about that. >> i mean, mind you, this is a man accused of tying a woman up,

blindfolding her, taking nude photographs of her for the purposes of blackmail, then coercing her into sexual acts. do you think he is electable? >> i think the voters in the missouri primary will take all of that into account. >> it is a lot to take into account. let's talk about a candidate you have talked about, her shell walker, the leading gop candidate in the vital senate race in georgia. he endorsed him, yet his ex-wife says he pointed a pistol at her head and said, i'm going to blow your brains out and yet why he is a suitable candidate? >> herschel walker has addressed that repeatedly over the last ten years? it is a heck of an issue. >> well, he admitted he had had some troubles in his life. he's been an exemplary citizen in recent years. he is a hero in georgia.

almost every candidate has had troubled periods. >> i mean i don't know that almost every candidate has pointed -- >> look, i don't want to argue with him. i think walker is completely electionable. he is actually ahead at the beginning of the race and we are behind him. >> wait, wait, wait, wait. it makes sense. if you think donald trump is reelectable after supporting an assault on our democracy and having people tear through the capitol, defecate all over the place and try to find nancy pelosi and the vice president to murder them, i guess his answer makes sense, jonathan swan. >> jonathan, a lot of groans when mitch said a lot of candidates had challenges. >> come on. >> the challenges word would be a under statement if you look

through the bill of particulars on herschel walker. would be of the things that i thought was interesting was at the time last year when the associated press published a very detailed and damning story about walker's history of violent threats against women, senator mcconnell's top political operative on the outside, josh holmes, tweeted out that story and said, you know, this is one of the worst things i have ever seen, i guess, as a candidate. that seemed to signal that the mcconnell world, if not mcconnell himself, were very uncomfortable with his candidacy. obviously donald trump endorsed walker, and then mcconnell made a decision to endorse him and he is now the prohibitive favorite. obviously he will be the gop nominee in georgia. what i tried to get out of that interview was what was your thought process after absorbing

those allegations and then deciding he was someone you were comfortable putting your name against. the other reason i think this line of questioning is a public interest is mcconnell has a riff that he gives, which is his history lesson is the 2012 election. he says that is an election where we should have won the majority. we didn't because we had unelectable candidates and he lists the names like he did yesterday for me. christine o'donnell, the one who said she wasn't a witch. todd aiken, et cetera. mcconnell said, we had to change the business model, we had to get involved and root out the unelectable candidates. the obvious follow-up is here are two races, you have said vital races, missouri and candidate and you have one candidate with the blindfolding, the tying up, nude photographs and telling you that you are a disgusting cow, and the other one has an ex-girfriend and ex-wife accusing him of

threatening their lives. he himself said he is accountable for this stuff, walker. and, again, fair questions and i think vital questions actually. >> vital questions as always. political reporter for "axios," jonathan swan. thank you so much. >> nice work. >> we really appreciate it. >> elise, if you look at what is happening, people at home are going, wait, wait, what in the world? how can he hold two opposed views. that was the biggest shock for me in washington and i think for you as a lifelong republican, seeing people we had known, worked with and thought we knew, who immediately once -- first of all, they hated donald trump. the second he got the nomination, they loved donald trump. and if you didn't love donald trump, if you didn't go along with this and get on that hijacked plane that you were

somehow a traitor, you were somehow no longer a conservative. they just define being conservative, they just define being loyal by following the person. this ain't jimmy thomas, right? jenny thomas when i worked on the hill was the establishment player of all establishment players. it just so happened that dick army, she worked for dick army and he had power. jenny thomas was loyal to power and anybody that pushed for balanced budgets, like anybody that didn't do exactly what the leadership wanted to do, oh, they were the ones that were disloyal. these people -- matt schlapp. when i met him my opinion of matt was, oh, he's such a bush loyalist. i mean, oh my god, he's such a party insider. now he's like, yeah, i'm the radical man. no, he's not. all of these people, they're

just chasing power. it is what is so -- it is just disappointing. it is disorienting. >> you are right. it is obedience to power and following the power and staying with the power. and how is this justifiable? they look at mitch mcconnell and they say, he got us the supreme court justices. and supreme court justices, that's what matters at the end of the day to the republican base and to republican loyalists who will go along for the trump ride. >> and there's deep concern among republicans as you both know in the state of georgia he may win the nomination in may >> it is amazing. >> but when all of this comes out, as jonathan pointed out, the domestic violence allegations are horrific when you read through them. he has all of the other problems. he was concerned the other day nato was not supporting ukraine, for example. he's not doing public events really. he's not doing media. he won't debate anybody, it is sort of a run from the basement,

run on your name recognition. it comes back to the reason judge ketanji brown jackson was confirmed. >> i was going to say, right there. >> it is because they lost the senate in georgia because donald trump backed the wrong -- >> this happened because of donald trump. >> yep. >> history was made because donald trump went into georgia and purposely threw that race for the democrats. >> that's right. >> now, elise is wearing green today. do you know why? >> beautiful, beautiful. always so beautiful. >> i was hurt yesterday, you brought up nicholas winning in '96 and -- >> won in '87. >> over shadowed. >> we screwed that up because larry mize had one of the most famous shots in the masters in '87. we have been telling the jost joke for 30 years so we can't look back. >> somebody is wearing a green jacket today, which can mean only one thing.

>> masters week. >> really? is that why she did that? i said she looks awesome, but already. >> richard haas is our self-appointed golf analyst. >> he did appoint himself. >> he did. >> we have to talk about tiger yesterday. okay. so the car accident was february of 2021, less than 14 months ago. he was in the hospital for three weeks, was bed ridden for at least three more at home. there was talk about amputating his leg at one point. >> my god. >> yesterday he goes out, just over a year later on that leg, and shoots 71, 1 under par. >> just as well if not better, right? >> 1 under par. amazing. consistent round. really solid round. putted extraordinary well. the question is how well he physically holds up. three more days of walking, he obviously will make the cut if he plays at all reasonably today. >> he looks like a marvel superhero. looking at that it is incredible. >> he has changed his golf swing

in part. he has more of an upper body golf swing and it is extraordinary how well he played yesterday. >> wow. >> four strokes behind sung jae-im from south korea is the leader. look out for scottie scheffler, world number one. >> richard haass -- >> do you have a pop culture reference? >> no, that was good. >> i have three more days. >> okay. coming up, your booked for monday then, i against? >> i guess. >> does this end sunday? >> you never know. also, it will be beautiful weather this weekend. >> see you monday. >> faster greens. it will be interesting golf the next three days. >> wow. coming up, the former president has made a habit of handing over documents. now new york's attorney general is raising the pressure and

price for donald trump's cooperation in a civil tax fraud investigation. we will explain that. plus, the justice department is planning to investigate trump's removal of classified presidential records, and he brings them to mar-a-lago, like 15 boxes full of stuff. jackie alemany joins us with her new reporting in "the washington post". we will have the latest on a deadly rocket attack by russian forces as thousands of people were trying to flee eastern ukraine. congresswoman mikie sherrill joins the conversation. she is a russian policy experiment and a member of the armed services committee. and pretty damn lucky. that's what a fox news reporter is saying after surviving an attack by russian soldiers. we will have more of his story ahead on "morning joe."

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it is just about the top of the hour as we take a live look at new york city. it is gorgeous. it is kind of a glum, gray day. >> it is april. >> still beautiful. >> well, it was terrible yesterday. it is burning off this morning. >> come on. >> a beautiful weekend. >> really? all right. >> baseball "today in new york". >> oh. wait, let's talk about that. who is playing? >> yankee stadium. take the d train up. yankees/red sox, jonathan lemire. >> i heard about that. >> the long road begins. cole and baldy. >> it is friday, april 8th. you know what it means? >> that jonathan and elise are with us and at the table we have -- it is not my birthday

today. >> tomorrow. >> okay. >> congresswoman mikie sherrill is with us, a u.s. navy veteran and member of the house armed services committee. are you a yankees fan, a mets fan, a phillies fan? >> i know, but i kind of like the nationals. >> the nationals. >> okay. here we go. >> that will win you some votes in jersey. >> i'm out, i'm out. it is done. >> all right. we begin with overnight news coming in from ukraine where at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured when a russian rocket hit a train station in the donetsk region. we want to warn you the images are graphic. the region's governor says thousands of people were at the station at the time of the strike. they were trying to leave. the station is the main evacuation point for thousands of ukrainians trying to flee the country's east as russia steps up its offensive there. president volodymyr zelenskyy

condemned the attack and said the russians are, quote, destroying the civilian population. russia's defense ministry, of course, denying the attack. meanwhile, nato reportedly agreed to supply new advanced weaponry to ukraine following a summit of foreign ministers in belgium this week. "the financial times" is reporting nato leaders will answer ukraine's request for more munitions. speaking after a meeting yesterday secretary of state antony blinken and his ukrainian counterpart discussed the talks between the two sides. >> we are not going to let anything stand in the way of getting ukrainians what they need and what we believe can be effective. so we're looking across the board right now, not only at what we've provided and continue to provide but whether there are additional systems that would make a difference. >> i'm satisfied with the dynamics of our cooperation on weapons and on sanctions as

well. but when it comes to weapons, and this is the point i made today to all allies, we have no doubt that in the end ukraine will get everything that it needs. >> so, congresswoman, there's no question that the united states support and weapons and nato support and weapons helped to turn the tide of this war and to push the russians out of the country. but we hear almost every day from the foreign minister and president zelenskyy it is not enough, we need more. from where you sit, what more could the united states be doing? could they be getting in there faster? could there be more? what are you looking at right now? >> we are constantly assessing this, willie. these are meetings we have several times a week, what do the ukrainian people need, what can they use, where can we get it from, because as you know they don't fight with american equipment. we need to get from our nato allies what they need.

always you know, our nato allies are not feeling very secure in the region themselves, so asking them to give up certain anti-aircraft batteries means we need to back fill those and how are we going to do that. this is a pretty complicated -- you know, complicated maneuver we are doing involving all of our nato allies in the world and bringing support to bear. they have -- we have to get different size of ammo for all of the different guns that they have. stingers, javelins. in fact, we have gotten them so many stingers and javelins one member of parliament from ukraine told me that the names that the children are being named in ukraine right now are stinger and javelin. we are looking at switchblades because they've done quite well with the drones that the turkish military has sent them. the uk just announced they're getting them anti-ship missiles. we are constantly assessing what they need and who we can get it from to best support them. >> let's talk about the process, how long it does take. sometimes, you know, if the

white house calls turkey and says, we need more drones, turkey says, well, canada is -- you know, we are on a sanctions list and they make the cameras, so then we have to make that call and then they have to call. a lot of different things are going on. when you talk about back filling, i'm just curious, how long does that process take where a nato country that was in the warsaw pact gives some of their old russian equipment, weapons to ukraine, and then we need to back fill. how long does that process take? >> we've been moving very quickly. we also have to look at our own battery, you know, for the national defense of the united states, but we have within moving very quickly to give the president the authorities he needs to do that, to give the military the authority they need to do that, and then to come up with a long-range plan because it is not just about back filling today. it is about what are they going to need to continue to fight this. i talked to some people who think they need going forward

tank goes on the ground. >> right. do you agree with that? >> i think they will need that, yes. >> can we get that to them? >> we can get it to them, we just have to come up with a plan to make sure that we have what we need in the united states and then what can we give them and how can we get it to them. >> are you confident we are doing all we can, the united states and our nato allies? >> we are -- like i said, we are constantly assessing we are doing all we can do, because it is not just can we give them every single thing they need. it is can we move in lock step with our nato partners because it has been one of the most effective tools we have had in the world, is to bring the war to them. >> we have a large, diverse group of countries in nato, and sometimes they need a little more pushing forward. i will say nato is in lock step in a way i have never seen them.

they're activating parts of nato we have never activated since world war ii. the eu is actually as a unit coming on board with munitions, which we have never seen the eu. we have seen individual countries in the eu but we have never seen the eu do that, so we are pushing very hard and they're responding well. >> i want to jump on some of the points joe made. the senate unanimously passed a bill to revoke permanent normal trade relations with russia and belarus. what it would do if it is signed is allow the u.s. to impose higher tariffs on russian goods. but then there's the issue of banning oil, coal, other gas imports. is that really the sweet spot in terms of getting russia back on its heels? there are countries whose economies depend on this, who are holding back on that band? would it work if they were

closed in on when it comes to energy. >> we are using every tool we can. >> i know we are. >> to push back. >> and we are working with our allies across the world to push back on this. certainly we have seen the economic pressure we placed on russia have an impact on their economy, their banks. if we could get -- we are sanctioning with the oil. we are moving on other countries asking them to sanction oil and gas, but the problem is the disconnect between does putin even care about the people of russia. >> that's the thing. the actions these countries would be taking would be bearing the brunt of the pain on their own economy to make this move. how much would russia really be pushed back by it, because it is a big debate? >> you know, mika, this is a conversation i just had with someone, a member of my district from iran talking about what sanctions look like within a country being sanctioned and who it impacts. that's why we're working hard to target the oligarchs, we are wonking hard to target putin

himself. but there's a huge economic impact on the people of russia, and we hope it has an impact, but putin doesn't have a long history of being particularly concerned about the russian people. that said, i think what putin cares about is being isolated from the world community. that impacts him. he wants prestige. he wants power. the more we can isolate and have him on an island, i think that has an impact on him. >> congresswoman, two specific questions about u.s. aid separate of nato. do you think we are doing enough intelligence sharing with the ukrainians so they can be effective in how they use the weapons they've been given? also, do you think that -- what was my second point. anyway, start with the first part. >> i'll start with the intelligence sharing because it was really notable. i was pleased with the

intelligence sharing. that made a big impact with nato coming on board, feeling like the united states was bringing them on as partners where it seemed the united states was bringing europe in on all of the intelligence. i think we at that time were a little bit slow with concerns that within the ukrainian military there would be leaks to russia. so we were a little slow at that time. we have since then become far better at sharing intelligence. >> should we be doing more from the advisory perspective. >> not u.s. boots on the ground but bringing our group in to better utilize the ukrainian military. that comes in especially with the training. we are giving them munitions. one of the harder things -- it is not just kind of you are turning over complicated weapon systems, so it is not just, you know, here, person on the street. you have to do training on those

weapon systems and that's what we're constantly working to. how fast can we train them. if we give them aircraft, how is it going to take to have therapy lots understand how to operate united states manufactured aircraft and the weapons they fire. that's constantly -- >> you said aircraft and i have to ask you, those migs, come on, we can sneak them across the border. have we already snuck them across the border? >> she's not going to tell you. >> i know, but at this point i would hope they're already flying around there. >> you know, i think we're again assessing how to get the ukrainians the weapons they need. the pols i think were somewhat cautious about that and wanted to turn them over to ram stein, right, and for various reasons that was difficult. the russians did bomb the mig depot where they repaired the migs but are popping out of

western part of ukraine. they have pulled back troops to mrs. we think to redeploy in the east so in the west we might have more opportunities. >> on that, with russian forces pilling out of kyiv and moving toward donbas, there's a growing sense in the white house this could lead to a protracted, terrible fight in that part of ukraine. we heard from general milley saying the war could go on for years. speak to us about the challenges of keeping this effort going and the supply pipeline open if it goes on well into 2023 or maybe beyond. >> well, you know, supply chain, it does feel like it always comes back to supply chains, right, and that's what russia has had a huge, huge problem with and something we're looking at very carefully. i think the russians moving into the eastern part gives us a lot more issues.

make no mistake, it is already a horrible war and the thought of this being protracted and what the russians are willing to do is incredibly problematic for us. i think that's why you see for the first time a p-5 member being kicked out of the human rights council in the u.n.. >> did you go to the gridiron? >> i did not. >> thank god. >> which is why i'm here today. a couple of other topics for you as the list continues to grow of the top u.s. officials who tested positive for covid-19. >> yes. >> house speaker nancy pelosi confirmed results a day after appearing unmask it at a white house event with president biden. according to her spokesperson she is currently asymptomatic. several lawmakers announced positive test results and are isolating including senator susan collins of maine and senator raphael warnock of

georgia. both attended the nomination of judge ketanji brown jackson on the senate floor. first lady's assistant michael larosa has tested positive but says the first lady has not had a close contact. president biden has tested negative for code 19 as of wednesday night. d.c. is having a little surge within the political community. how is d.c. doing? >> d.c. is having, it seems like, a surge, which is why it is nice to be back in new jersey for a little bit of time. you know, we are seeing this, and i think we expected to when people started taking off the masks, to gather more, we expected an upset. >> and, john, there's been play of what close contact is, but we have seen pictures of speaker

pelosi close to the president, to the vice president and others around judge jackson's confirmation yesterday. >> stemming from the gridiron, dozens of reporters. according to the cdc close contact is within six feet for 15 minutes. technically the president and first speaker didn't work together that long but they were together for several minutes. his testing regimen has picked up. they're testing more frequently. i see the communications director who testified positive. we saw her in a hallway wearing a mask, but when shelves in the senate she didn't. she had to face questions about that. there is a fear the covid cases could have a ripple expect for that. the justice didn't is

investigating an investigation into former president trump's handling of congressional records. it was confirmed that he took several boxes of documents to his home in mar-a-lago. some of the boxes of material were labeled top secret. "the washington post" sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the probe remained in the very early stages. it is not clear if justice department officials have begun to review the material in the boxes or whether they're seeking to interview those who might have seen them or been involved in assembling them. meanwhile, some democrats are losing patience with the speed the doj is moving. karen maloney accused the doj of obstructing her investigation into the documents. maloney said that doj is preventing the national archives from cooperating with the committee's request for documents and information.

congresswoman maloney asked garland to confirm bill april 14th whether the doj will tell the archivers that it will fully cooperate including giving the congress the inventory of the documents from mar-a-lago. let's bring in jackie alemany, an msnbc contributor. good to see you this morning. carolyn maloney is not alone that the doj is moving slowly. what is holding them up. >> reporter: the justice department seems to be taking a lot of incoming from different angles but the political pressure seems to be working in some respect as we reported yesterday the department has now started to take steps to begin to investigate the recovery of these 15 boxes of classified information from mar-a-lago. the boxes contain it materials that were labeled sensitive as top secret. it is unclearly whether the department has actually take a

look at these 15 boxes yet, but maloney repeatedly asked the national archives for detailed inventory of what was in the box epps for her committee to begin their parallel investigation. always she noted in the letter, the justice department has prevented the archives from handing that inventory over. but now that they've announced they've taking steps to try to see -- to get to the bottom of what exactly happened and whether or not it was a violation of the presidential records act or a mishandling of classified mission statement, we will see if anything happens on the congressional side of this. >> new comments from trump about all of this, jonathan. tell us about it. >> the president spoke to "the washington post," our friend josh dossy and denied doing anything wrong with the documents. that's what i wanted to ask jackie about, what happened on january 6th. he said he intended, all along,

to walk with his supporters to the capitol. he said the secret service talked him out of it. although i should note this is going to raise the attention of the investigators and he spoke about the missing call logs, denied any wrongdoing. what is the committee going to do about the statements? >> committee chairman bennie thompson was talking about the former president's comments to josh dawsey and said it might be worth reaching out to him. it seems they haven't made up their mind but it has restarted the supremacy in his committee. they said they don't need the president to run. he said they have over 800 interviews that are probably more accurate than what the president would say anyways. i think the interview yesterday

has caused them to have it under discussion right now. obviously the president sort of expressed a willingness to come depending on what the subject would be is how he phrased it and he provided new information, that he actually wanted to walk to the capitol with his supporters. you know, the committee is running out of time. they have about a month left before they start hearings and then you have a wrap up a bunch of important depositions and interviews before then. so they've got to come to a decision rather quickly. >> "the washington post's" jackie alemany. thank you so much for your reporting on this friday morning. congresswoman mikie sherrill of new jersey, thank you very much for being here. thanks for your service. >> still ahead "morning joe," a landmark moment for america. a black woman soon will sit on the supreme court. majority whip jim clyburn joins us at the table to talk about that. also ahead, putin press

secretary on ukraine. a little later, olympians putting their training on hold to help the flood of ukrainian refugees. you are watching "morning joe." we will be right back. and her favorite shade of green. it's actually salem clover. but you can find her right now on upwork. when the world is your workforce. finding the perfect designer, developer, marketer, or whomever you may need. tends to fall right into place. find top-rated talent who can start today on upwork.

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♪♪ a heated moment on capitol hill yesterday with democratic senator brian shats slamming republican senator josh hawley after the missouri senator criticized the biden administration over its response to russia's war on ukraine. >> he's doing a very specific thing. he is damaging the department of defense. we have senior dod leaders, we are the armed services committee coming to us and saying, i don't know what to tell him. i don't know how to satisfy him, but he is blocking the staffing

of the senior leadership at the department of defense. this comes from a guy who raised his fist in solidarity with the insurrectionists. this comes from a guy who before the russian invasion suggested that maybe it would be wise for zelenskyy to make a few concessions about ukraine and their willingness to join nato. this comes from a guy who just about a month ago voted against ukraine aid. he is saying it is going too slow. he voted no! he voted no on ukraine aid and now he has the gall to say it is going too slow. and this final insult is that until secretary austin resigns -- that's not a serious request. people used to come to me during the trump administration all the time, do you think trump should resign? do you think tillerson should

resign? that's stupid. of course, i think all of the people i disagree with should quit their jobs and be replaced with people of love. that's not the way the world works. it is not a reasonable request, until the secretary of defense resigns i'm going to block all of his requests, and coming from a person that exonerated donald trump for extorting zelenskyy for withhelding lethal aid. they with held lethal aid until and unless zelenskyy would release false smears against joe biden's son and then he voted to exonerate president trump for this. so spare me the new solidarity with the ukrainians and with the free world because this man's record is exactly the opposite. i yield the floor. >> okay. >> the senator did a great job

in showing the rank hypocrisy of people like josh hawley, who at the beginning didn't really show the ukrainians the support. then, you know, voted against getting the weapons to the ukrainians, now saying because he puts his finger up in the wind and finds out that actually the majority of americans want us to do more to help the ukrainians, suddenly he is a champion of ukraine? what a joke. let's bring in majority whip jim clyburn of south carolina, the third ranking democrat at the house. also at the table white house correspondent for "politico", eugene daniels, a "morning joe" contributor. also host of the podcast "on brand with donny deutsch" and creator of the fourth segment, donny deutsch. >> donny, that pods cast is pretty good. >> all of the kids are talking about it. >> they're talking about the

fourth hour. >> you know what? they go down like fifth avenue and they stop in front of the magnavox store and all just stare. >> eugene, it is a joke you wouldn't understand. it is from like 1960. >> the problem is that it has added to truancy in new york city because it starts at 9:00 and kids aren't going to school until 10:00. >> i was explaining to mika when we were in congress and before we went to vote on the floor we would call each other and i would say, what are you wearing, jim in of? i'm wearing a sweater set and i would put one on. >> you guys look great today. >> so let's talk about what we all saw yesterday. as you know, because you have been talking about it, we have been through a pretty rough five or six years as a country, especially on issues of race.

but yesterday we saw a black vice president who is a woman announce a vote to send a black judge to the united states supreme court, the first time ever. i'm just wondering, given all of the challenges we have had, what does that moment mean? >> oh, it meant so much to me. i have three daughters, two granddaughters. i really sat down with them two years ago, a little over two years, and i asked them what -- before the south carolina primary, and one of the things had to do with the supreme court, the fact no black woman had ever seriously been considered and that there were four women that had been on the supreme court. what is this about, they said to

me. that's why when i sat down with joe biden to tell him that i planned to endorse him in the south carolina primary, but i thought it would be helpful if he made it very clear if given the opportunity he would break through that glass ceiling. he made that promise and he has kept that promise. he nominated and we have now seen confirmed an outstanding judge who i think will be a magnificent jurist. >> and he made that promise in charleston, south carolina. >> yes. >> meaningful for so many reasons. i would love for you to talk about this moment for those too young to recognize how much has happened in this country just in the past 50, 60 years. see, i don't even -- i can't even understand it myself because of american heroes like you. when i started first grade in

1969 in the outskirts of mississippi, i started in an integrated classroom. >> right. >> but the life you have lived and so many black americans have lived, talk about the arc of what you have seen in your lifetime and why it is so important to move past what we've seen in the past five years and to continue to move toward a more perfect union? >> i'm glad you put it that way. i try to say to people all the time that when we look at these things we have to see the glass as being half full rather than half empty. the problem that we've had in recent years i think is that everybody wants to focus on the glass being half empty. if we do like john west told me when he gave me a little lesson early in my career, he said, when you look at that glass, you see it as being half empty. when i look at that glass i see

it as being half full. now, that's because of the differences in our backgrounds and our experiences. he sent me back to my office and said, let's see what we can do to continue to fill up this glass. >> wow. >> that's what i think we have to do. there's so much that has to be done. the president has passed the rescue act. he has done the bipartisan infrastructure bill. we have a magnificent -- you know how hard it is to do these bills. >> yes. >> and so the glass is being filled up, and being able to focus on what we can do to fill up this glass. >> and the judicial nominations. president biden is moving at such an important clip and there's diversity, great diversity, which follows up a president whose idea of diversity was getting old white men, modern-aged white men and young white men as prosecutors

and on the federal bench. trump was overwhelmingly white male. >> yesterday was another step in that trek toward a more perfect union. look at the appeals court judges. he has done, what, 11 african american women to the appeals court over the years. that equals all of the others put together before him. >> wow. >> so i think it is fantastic work this president is doing. that's where we ought to keep our focus instead of saying, well, he hasn't done this, he hasn't done that. he hasn't done a lot of things but he has three more things if we work with him. >> congressman, to the question about the scope of history. when you were in the late '60s working around orangeburg at the time of the massacre and around the hospital and the strike, could you ever at that time see a black woman on the supreme court? >> yes, i could.

my mother told me when i was a teenager, you stay in school, you stay out of trouble, you can see your dreams fulfilled. so, sure, i saw this. >> eugene, it was an extraordinary day, a day without questions. it does put into focus though the process, which is that, you know, joe was talking about sandra day o'connor getting as many votes as she did. now these are 52, 48, 53, 47 votes, it appears to be if you listen to lindsey graham, mitch mcconnell, the way it is going to be going forward. >> it does. republicans have made it clear they're not looking to work with president biden on most anything, even a supreme court justice nominee if he gets another one because it is possible he could get another one. it is possible the senate will be republicans, and if mitch mcconnell is majority leader, how long he is willing to hold a seat. we have seen him do it before and he signalled he will do it again. we have republican senators saying the pro sense is broken

and it is not working and we don't know how to make it work at this point. that should be concerning for americans who want to see congress do what it is supposed to do. it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on. i will say i'm from south carolina, my family is from mcof south carolina and talking to them and the black women in my family about what it meant to see that. my grandmother is 84 years old, grew up in bucksburg, south carolina. none of you ever heard of it. you have heard of it. but talking to them about shelves going with her mother, taking a bucket with them when they would go in public because the bathrooms were so disgusting, she would rather them use a bucket than to use the bathrooms they were elevated to, and for them to now see that. it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you are on watching younger black women, that's the possibility in this country.

the upcoming justice herself will be sworn in later this year and she will talk about that around noon today. i think it is something the white house is very excited about. >> just an aside for any of the american people who felt trump was a threat to our democracy, it was the black women in south carolina who saved it. >> absolutely. >> so there is that. >> it is really incredible. in south carolina you could go up to wisconsin, there's black women in milwaukee county, in wayne county, michigan, and in philadelphia and in atlanta. >> absolutely. >> it is remarkable and we talked about this before. but it was the very people, the very americans who were kept away from the pursuit of the american dream for the longest that were actually the people that stepped in and saved it. i love the irony here.

saved madisonian democracy, jeffersonian democracy for themselves and their children. >> my mom has had extreme confidence in the country and she did everything she possibly could. she is a big fundraiser for the naacp, the naacp woman of the year and all of that stuff, and it is all focus it on laying that foundation. i'm pleased to do what i can now to further things for my children and grandchildren. >> we have been talking a lot about jonathan swan's interview with minority leader mitch mcconnell for "axios," and mcconnell refused to answer when asked about how a republican majority would handle a future biden supreme court nomination. take a look at this. >> if republicans take the senate in november as polls suggest is very likely and a

supreme court seat opens up next year, 2023, not an election year, can you make a commitment for the american public here today that you will at least hold hearings on president biden's nominee? >> most hypotheticals i don't answer, and i think that whole question puts the cart before the horse. >> respectfully, it is a big deal that you won't answer this question because, you know, in 2016 you made what you called a principled arguments for not holding hearings on president obama's supreme court nominee merrick garland. you said it was the most important thing you ever did in your career, most consequential. the argument you made was this was an election year and we should give the voters an opportunity to weigh in and let the next president select it. are you suggesting you are developing an argument for not holding hearings on a supreme court nominee if it is not an lek year?

>> i'm suggesting that i'm not going to answer your year. >> i mean i think -- it is an important question in the public interest. i think people before -- don't you think the public before the november elections has a right to know how you would approach such a -- >> i choose not to answer the question. >> that's our senate majority -- minority leader. congressman clyburn, i want to first point something out. first of all, it is a privilege to be sitting with you because as much as black women deserve all of the credit for electing and getting trump out of office, you as an individual were responsible that any american because the other candidates were behind in the polls and for that i want to thank you and tell you what a privilege it is to sit with you. when i look at the best jobs in 50 years, when i look at what biden has done with the nato alliance and on the contrast how the americans are important

trailed, no matter how you evaluate it. he has done a great job bull it is not sticking. >> absolutely. i think we have to be informed by history. we make a mistake when we keep comparing to biden, say, to franklin roosevelt. i think if you spent a little time studying mccullough's book on truman and look at the parallels between then and now, i think if it were the foundation on which a lot of a their tips coming out, i think it would be better than foam. truman was considered to be an unpopular guy when he did was he was doing in 1948, integrating the armed services, putting forth the first civil rights

bills, the kinds of things he did was not popular with other people but he overcame it. how? i think it is all there in mccull's book which i keep next to my bed. >> i love it. >> jim, have you been frustrated by democrats over the past year and a half, and we talked about it a good bit on the show, instead of talking about the things they've done for the american people, they just run to reporters and everybody is debating $12 trillion dollars, $6 trillion, $4 trillion. it seems you are one of the legislatures that says let's get what we can get. >> i talked about the glass being half full. i'm also a disciple of the half loaf is better than the whole love. if you can't get the whole loaf you get the half loaf and keep

going until you can. you remember i said let's stop talking about the numbers and talk about the content of the legislation. if we looked at what was in the build back better. now you see it matching the sign, i'm all there, i'm ready to do something about the climate. i'm ready to do something about controlling the cops of pharmaceuticals. i'm ready to do something about closing the coverage gap. >> why won't they take the deal? >> i think we're beginning to get there. we're focusing on the side, up think we're getting there. >> eugene, what are you hearing on the hill? >> they're frustrated still with joe manchin, no surprise, and everyone is waiting to see what he will accept. that's what i'm hearing from people on the senate side and on the house side and in the white house. they want to hear more from him,

but also there's also kirsten sinema who when you talk about the billionaire tax she is not for that. she has been public about that, mostly about that. as you guys have the conversations moving forward it is something we are watching because everyone is paying so much attention to manchin when there's still a whole other person who what he has said she is willing to accept. >> house majority whip jim clyburn, always great to see you. thank you for coming up. "politico's" eugene daniels, good to have you here. coming up, molly hunter is in ukraine with the latest on a ohr rocket attack in eastern ukraine. plus, what intercepted chatter is revealing about russian soldiers going through ukrainian neighborhoods. new york's attorney general wants strum to pay up for not turning over documents.

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♪♪ boy, that's wrigley. >> 6:49 at wrigley field where they expect a wintry mix for today's ball game. >> oh, no fun. a federal appeals court upheld president biden's covid-19 vaccine mandate for all government workers. in a 2-1 ruling a panel reversed a decision that blocked the white house from requiring federal workers to be vaccinated against covid-19. the administration argued the constitution gives the president as the head of the federal

workforce the sameauthority as the ceo of a private corporation to require employees to be vaccinated. if the decision is appealed it could go to the fifth circuit or directly to the supreme court. >> the fifth circuit probably will supreme court will probably uphold it. >> new york attorney general letittia jaemgs is looking at holding donald trump in context for delaying. they says he failed to comply with the judge's order to turn over documents. she is asking the judge to fine trump $10,000 a day until he turns over the record. trump responded, insisting he is innocent. writing in a skamt, quote, this is just a continuation. >> i'm independent, are you kidding me? >> this is the continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time. >> blah, blah, blah. >> by a failed tomorrow who continues to use her office.

>> they are investigating whether to file a civil suit against the organization over inflated financial data -- >> over two years? only two years? >> years ago, everybody in new york city, you talk to anybody that's loaned money, you talk to any contractr or anybody that's done business, they will till donald trump lied repeatedly how much he's worth, repeatedly. you have to da's office. we have a da, i don't understand, lets him get away with this. lets him commit as the prosecutor was resigned in protest just numerous crimes. we know he's committed one crime after another crime after another crime after another crime as far as if lying de to banks and financial institution, this is what he does. >> it was known and look the prosecutor who resigned wrote an op-ed saying there is no grey area here. anybody else would go to jamie. these are felonies, now the

district attorney says no the case is not closed. we are keeping it opted. nobody can quite understand why the da's office in manhattan has not been more aggressive. this is not a grey area. anybody else would go to jail for what he did. that's it. it's not a debate. not a discussion. >> i am very optimistic about this country and some would say too optimism. but i there say, the idea that no man is above the law is just shattered by his very existence every day. he commits crimes in manhattan. the manhattan da lets him go. he commits crimes time and time again, obstruction of justice. have you the mueller investigation, ten examples of where he could be charged with obstruction of justice. mueller says basically in his testimony, does he not, that he were not president, they would have brought the charges, but time and time again, he's

handled with kit gloves. even by mueller it's like, the guy is committing crimes. what are these people afraid of. >> he always gets away wit. that's what's so scary. i feel like anyone that wants to prosecute him needs to think of the ways that he will weasel his way out of it just to try to stay is sickening, but there are so many poor people around the country who are in jail and over debt just over court fees and this guy is free and fine. >> let's just talk about the stormy daniels thing where he had conwrite the check to stormy daniels right before the election. obviously. if anybody i served with in congress had done that, like, had somebody write that check to help their campaigns, they would be charged, they would go to jail. i know people that i served with went to jail for going on a golf trip to ireland and then giving a speech on the house floor.

so why does he keep getting away with it? anybody else would be in jail now. anybody. >> as joe you president a politician, you were a manhattan da. you have a political career. you are going to win. for your own personal interest, you will look good prosecuting. why doesn't that happen? people stop me on the street, as they often do literally say, i don't understand the politics of not going forward? it doesn't -- it's something not in it. . are they getting messages from the white house saying we don't want him to be able to play the victim or to be rung against, oh, they're trying to get me, take me away. i don't understand the politics of not doing it. >> i've never understood the politics of the democratic party. how weak has the democratic party been? the whole mueller thing to allow people to talk about the quote russian hoax when all, people will e-mail me, what about the russian hoax? i say, please, read the mueller

report and then come back to me and sigh that. please don't show your stupidity. then the obstruction of justice, time and time and time again. and again at this point everybody is like, he's going to get away with it. he always gets away with it. a little rolo -- what is it out of l.a. confidential. rollo thomas just, a guy that always gets away with it. why can't the democrats, like, more aggressively make their case? instead of sitting back waiting for robert mueller, who obviously was beyond his time brag, you know, well, i just don't get it? >> they're fighting conventional warfare within they need to be doing asplet symmetric warfare for somebody that doesn't play by the rules.

>> they don't have to go out on a limb. >> follow the laws. >> they don't have to -- to what you would do. >> they are scared about what will come from any case against trump. shy away, exactly. >> everybody. >> what are you scared of? that's the thing. like they're going to come after you, anyway. they always dos. it's like trying to reason with dictators. don't reason with dictators. take it to them. and in this domestic case, you've got a guy that doesn't respect the law, he doesn't respect the truth. he doesn't respect anything and democrats are sitting there frozen, because he disrupts. he's a disruptor. and at some point a democrat is going to come out, willie, who actually knows how to disrupt a disruptor and when that happens, he will melt in five seconds. but i just can't believe after all this time, they still don't have that democrat that can do that. >> it's that whole thing about

punch ac bully in the nose, watch them stumble backwards. to donny's point, they did say the investigation is still opened contrary to some of the reporting we've seen out there. i think he saw the backlash that they were looking the other way, maybe that will compel him to dig back in on this, but as you guys say, even not answering a subpoena, not providing documents. there is a knock on your door if it's one of us or anybody else in this country. that is a crime. >> your client was suspend when he was president of the united states. rouge rouge was asking, is he going to respond to the subpoena? rudy guiliani said, of course, bill clinton has to respond to the subpoena. you done have a choice. >> fast forward. >> donald trump does they just ignore subpoenas. i've never seen anything like it. >> keep watching it. still ahead, a story out of warsaw how the olympic spirit is playing into test to help those fleeing ukraine. we'll explain that, plus, viewers might recognize one of our next guests from dancing with the stars?

yes. maxim chimerovski, the dancer and/orographer joins us to talk about his escape from kiev and his return to poland to lend a hand with the reasonable crisis. we're back in 90 seconds. crisi. we're back in 90 seconds chmerov.

welcome back to "morning joe." it is friday, april 8th. look at that beautiful shot of new york city. >> what's the timing there? >> like 110 stories. a penthouse costs $100 million. the elevators don't work. >> really? >> it's a problem. >> that's an issue. >> wind tunnels. >> oh my lord. >> not in that building, necessarily. that building not necessarily. geisha. >> all right. let's get to the news, right on time, guys, congratulations. all right. the overnight russian attack of civilians in ukraine killing at least 30 people injuring at least 100 more with a rocket strike on a train station in the eastern part of the country. the region's governor says thousands of people were there

at the time of the attack. foreign correspondent mollie hunter has the latest. we warn you, once again, disturbing images. >> reporter: this morning a horrific attack targeting a railway station in eastern ukraine, one of the main exit points for civilians fleeing west. this video showing the immediate aftermath. over 30 people killed, more than 100 injured, including women and children this comes as ukrainians are bracing for the next wave of attacks in the east of the country, where russian troops are preparing for what is expected to be a major military offensive in the coming days. officials warning the window to evacuate is closing and speaking at a meeting of nato foreign minsters in belgium, secretary of state blinken. >> there is a need to shore up and revitalize the international order to bring to bear even greater costs on the russian government to insure the people

are held accountable for their crimes. >> reporter: meanwhile in the town surrounding kiev, where russian troops are completely gone for now, they've left evidence of atrocities, here in bucha, officials say a new mask grave discovered right here in the shadow of a church and officials say this morning, they have no idea how many bodies are buried under the rubble. marina shows us around the city center. after they were bombed, they could hear screams for days people urgently pleading for help. the russians shot anyone who tried to rescue them. >> i'm mollie. >> she introduces us to her daughter. >> i know these soldiers, she says, they're chechens fighting for russia. i was so worried they would come and rape her. so we hid her under piles of clothes. >> reporter: so the russian wouldn't see her? >> the soldiers came, searched her house, didn't find elana.

we are learning more about the horrific injuries by benjamin hull, his vehicle was hit by shells in kiev last month. he says he lost part of one leg and a foot on the other, one jie not working and his hearing is impaired. but the married father of three says he is pretty dam lucky to be here. he also paid tribute to his veteran cameraman and producer who were killed in the attack. >> we are sending our thoughts and best wishes to ben hall and our best thoughts and condolences to his family there. meanwhile, german intelligence said it heard russian soldiers killing civilians near kiev. some of the communications appear to match locations of bodies found in bucha. in one communication, he talks about shoot ac person on a

bisibling, matches images of a man next to bao a bike. one russian soldier reportedly tells another, first interrogate people. then you kill them. the german sfrishls not confirmed where exactly the radio transmission came from in ukraine. >> we're starting to understand better, that these are orders. these orders to just shoot civilians that come down from the top. we caught it and intercepted radio signals where people are being ordered, clearing russians out of the town. bombed and kill everybody. we get reports that when the russian soldiers first went in, they were treating the ukrainians somewhat civilly and then the orders came in to terrorize them to kill them. i mean, again, the war crimes is

going all the way to the top here. >> it's so horrible. you look at how this has unfolded over the course of what two months. so you have all these russian sentence, trying. they tone have secure comms. i am not justifying this how can russia turn the tide of this war at this stage of the game? so they're losing and what they're doing to the ukrainian people is god awful. >> and is making it harder for them to turn the tide in this war. all they're doing is pissing off ukrainians that say we will never ever give an inch of ground to you. >> so let's bring in founding partner and washington correspondent for the media venture, you have a new piece for puck saying never again, again. you write after auschwitz, europe said never again.

then the victors put on a trial of two dozen nazis. but most of the other perpetrators died peacefully in their beds. yet never again has become in practice over and over and over again. if the world as embodied by the united nations couldn't stop the vast slaughter of syria, rwanda and myanmar, what hope did the villagers of bucha have? bucha is just the beginning. the chances that the russian soldier was carried out the killings in bucha or irpin or mariupol will see justice are slim at best. the only chance of them or their commanders ever facing justice is if putin's regime completely accident greats. the question is what falls faster, putin or the world order that america and the west have become accustomed to. the one to which putin is taking a sledgehammer in ukraine. >> julia, i was going to ask if

anything you've seen over the past several week, anything surprised you, you answer in your column? it has not. this is just more of the same for putin? >> well, it's, you know, it's a war and things get incredibly ugly and now we're seeing reports and this is in no way to excuse what the russians are doing, they went into small towns in kiev. they got stuck. their positions were osplit rated and ran into basically partisan resistance ukranian civilians they were sent to quote/unquote liberate. it turned out, they didn't want to be liberated, they were fighting back and calming in their positions to people in the ukrainian army that took out these formations of russian tanks and russian soldiers and, you know, it looks like the russians got crazy and desperate and got commands to be harsh.

and what we're seeing is what happens when a war starts and once it starts, it's hard to figure out where it will go other than things will get bad, that people will become more and more savage towards each other and people with control will commit atrocities. that is what has always happened. unfortunately, despite the infrastructure that the west 'ut in place after world war ii in order to prevent more wars like this and atrocities like this from happening, they keep happening over and over and over again, in part, because countries like russia and china and the u.s. are in the city council and have veto power and can get around pretty much everything and do what what they want. >> let's talk about russia, indisskrim nant bombing targeting of hospitals. one hospital after another hospital, they did the same thing in syria, people were

trying to evacuate from a region about obviously see russian troops, ukrainian troops start fighting at each other. they target actually civilians who were trying to flee the area, not to call on anybody's position they deliberately target and kill civilians. are you surprised by this? or is this the same thing putin in in aleppo and same thing in chechnya? >> that's exactly right. these are tactics that were honed and refined over three decades. that was a republic inside russia. mostly muslim republic. and because putin was, according to many people in the west, was brigg order to a very chaotic russia, supposedly cleaning up corruption and going after the oligarchs. a lot of the west turned away, unfortunately. most people didn't care. and there wasn't a lot of condemnation or efforts to stop

putin. then again in syria, the west turned away because it is a muslim country, unfortunately, putd him did a lot of the same -- owe putin did a lot of the same things, targeting aid convoys and hospitals. we've actually seen reports historically from the soviets during their finnish war in 1939. the soviets targeted hospitals so frequently that the finns decided to just wipe off any markings that showed that a building was a hospital, because they realized it made it more likely moscow would bomb them so these tactics aren't new. again, we have rules in place that were put in place after world war ii actually, after world war i, to make sure these things didn't happen, civilians would be spared, hospitals would be spared. russia sits on the city council. they will not expedite

officials, officers or soldiers so it knows it can do this, violate international law with impunity. it can demonstrate western institutions and norms are. there is will ill the west can do about it. i feel that's a part of the goal. not just to take over ukraine. to show the west all of these things it has built up are nothing more than rhetoric. >> well, that's a goal. it's a goal that is failing miserably for vladimir putin. you talk about syria, meek car, one of the things for some reason people still don't focus on or not are the 2500/3,000 troops david ignacious went of to vis nit syria, the american troops that actually were making a difference there. and trump yanked them out so he can turn syria over, completely over to vladimir putin and

assad. and as far as what the russians did, julia brings up great historical perspective, your father always talked about, this isn't just about vladimir putin. this is about history. stalin starved 3-to-4 million ukrainians in the early 1930s once again hunger is used as a weapon. >> it is, in fact, let's go to that report by nbc news' gabe gutierrez how russians are attacking food lines and steaming food from civilians. >> reporter: near her apartment, she leads us to three shallow graves, neighbors lost, one of them just 30-years-old. russian troops ravaged their neighborhood outside kiev for more than a month. how hard has this been? it was cold, she says, we had no food. in another suburb, 80-year-old olga's top floor exploded.

russian soldiers broke open doors chocking off the supply of food and supplies. what's the hardest part moving on from this? i have a feeling it's all a bad dream, she says. but the nightmare an severe, ukraine's president zelenskyy is accusing russia of using hunger as a when possible stalin forced famine during the 1930s. ukrainians say the russians are blocking food and water from southern cities like mar poll. the russians 20 house by house. did they take i take your food? >> they were stealing prakically everything, she says, starting with food, ending with children's toys the. it's like organizations like e like worlg central kich reason walking in, delivering more than 135,000 meals across ukraine each da i. >> the grocery stores are either destroyed or there is nothing on the shelves.

>> reporter: all the more eason nina is grateful, they property her much-needed food. the russians may have taken much, what they left behind subpoenaed resolve. >> julia, as someone who understands russia so well and has covered and been there so many times. i am curious about the other sides. we have been walk u talking about this week the message inside russia and the polls that show 80% support even as he commits all these atrocities that we are seeing with our own eyes here in the west. why does his support remain so strong in the age and time a 20-year-old or 30-year-old has a phone that can tell them the truth? >> here's the thing. poland even in the u.s. there are robs with polk. it's hard to do a good poll. it's harder in an authoritarian country. it's harder still to do it in a

country that has gone into a marshall fact and has become basically a totalitarian state with no alternative source of information, alternatives leading to the kremlin-controlled media. to your point about phone 20s and 30-year-olds are far less supportive of the war than older generation as far as we know. older generations are not good at using the internet. they don't know what a vpn, is how to download one and get around all the blocked sites. again, the russian government has blocked all the sites, the places where somebody can get external information. what you have as a result is wall-to-wall coverage of just the kremlin's messaging and i've spent a lot of time watching it. honestly, i can say if i'm an older russian. somebody who grew up in the

soviet union who remembers when russia and ukraine were one country, has old memories, have been watching you and trusting the messaging that is coming from there i would be convinced. it's hard if you are not going and seeking out information, which takes extra effort and this is around you all the time, just drink on your brain, day in, day out for the years. now it's taken on this new heated tone, dialed up to 15 on a scale of one to ten. it's hard to filter that out and hard not to be affected by it. >> stand by. we want to bring you this story fans of abc's dancing with the stars, know our next guest as long time pro, maksim chmerovskiy has been a part of 17 seasons. he's a ukrainian-born american

citizen and was in kiev the day russia invaded. as russian attacks continued to batter his native country he was able to to escape and went to poland. he started a car yet organization baranova27. it collects funds for ukrainians. he is back in the u.s. thank you very much nor joining us on the show. so, first of all, can you tell us what you are hearing pack from people in kiev? about just how big the need is there? >> yeah. thank you for having me. i think that you guys have provided a great coverage, especially today morning as i was driving here. i was thinking about what my message would be and it has to be the fact that people are getting a little tired of this news coverage and the fact that

when i made my way back to l.a. and you know where i live i realize how far away this really is. you know and the horrible images we see from today warning, i hate to say, but for a lot of people in this country and you know a world far away from that war it's becoming almost like a normal image. i hate that and my image is this is a long process and the experts in the room would probably say better, but what we thought was going to be a quick couple of weeks standoff we end up with miraculous russia's demise and we'll all keep it moving. it's not going to happen. it's going to be a long process. putin is not somebody who is going into anything without giving it a thought.

the thought is historically awful. we have all been there the irony of my situation is in the fact that in the '90s, my family picked up myself, my brother mom and i and our dad and the four of us immigrated from what was the u.s.-assad regime, we feared my brother and i would be enlisted in the army against our will fighting some war in afghanistan or whatever it is on ussr set of side. the fact that i ended up being stuck in kiev for tr time when the same type of war started with the same regime trying to be brought back and the feeling of this ussr coming back over ukraine is just it was a horrible situation. so my mission is number one to provide aid, baranovastwempb an

address where my father was born, my brother was born. my family and i immediately started this process. the aid is just increasing our participation. our need is becoming birk and bigger. what i hear from my friends in territorial defense him some of my friends that are just stuck in a country they cannot get out of, it is getting worse and worse. the final thing i'll say at this point is this if everybody is terrified of images from bucha, if everybody is terrified about images from today's bombing. wait until you see what comes out of mar poll, if ever. pause that's going to be really updated horror, if you will. >> max. we appreciate you being with us. i appreciate the work you have done in poland and the refugees who flooded into that country. one of the beautiful things if there can be a beautiful things

that americans i think have learned in the last month-and-a-half is act the ukrainian people, the will, the fight of the ukrainian people and the resilience of people like yourself and your family. so what do you want people to know about where this may head? vladimir putin certainly underestimated the ukrainian people as he's learning right now and has been learning the last several weeks. what you can say about your home countries and the people that have so impressed the world? >> i have no jurisdiction to speak on behalf of all ukrainians, i will do my best to speak on behalf of the ukrainians i met over the last year-and-a-half that have been actively in the country, i participated in the dancing version of ukraine a. lot of people i met in the industry that i have become trends with, you know i can say that it's

what you guys have been talking about before i came on. absolutely zero percent chance this will come in. if we are to back out and to completely the west is not to help and ukraine was completely on its own this would still be the outcome. it would not give in. this is a hundreds of years of process. that's another thing the united states needs to understand is this is a situation that goes way back past the soviet union, empiric am russia. the county of kiev, almost 1,700-years-old. the history goes a long far back and the resilience of a small nation that took honest to you 20-plus years, i had to explain the difference between ukraine and russia. i don't have to do it today. if you don't ask about the

beautiful thing that came out, if ever. the fact that i now tone have to present i'm ukrainian and explain that everybody knows where ukraine is today. >> thank you so much for everything you are doing for the humanitarian effort. have you been surprised by the leadership that president zelenskyy has zone during this crisis and what do you think if there are any terms, what would be the peace terms that would be acceptable to the ukrainian people to the friends and family that you know and love to end this war? >> first of all, zelenskyy, every country on earth, no disrespect to my government. i'm not going to lie, you know i have different political opinions on you know a lot of subjects and i am realizing the more difference of opinion that we have in this country. although, we are all very divide

as we are as we like to say. after having experienced the situation in ukraine and you know i have to say i'm all for the division before i am for this autocratic kind of six. so you know i appreciate difference of opinions. i appreciate different governments. but i have to say that zelenskyy is the type of leader that i think we all want to see in all leaders. you know, the leadership outside of politics, it's almost like not almost but his history, the way he became president is very telling the about what people want to see in their leader and how they want to be led. you know, politics you need to disperse a little bit. we need to start speaking to each other, understanding our leaders. we need to start hearing the words instead of political sentence. i think that's what zelenskyy has been able to do say, guys, we're all in this together. i got you back.

i'm here. i'm not going anywhere. i will present myself as you feel as you present yourself. so i am getting goose bumps. but i hate to say, this is not as inspirational as i want to feel when this is over. so i am holding myself kind of tight in this situation. i'm not letting myself relax. because i want to know. i want to make sure everybody understands this is a long hall and if i can take a second. i want to give a shout out to somebody like michael kauponi and my father, those two gentleman between global empowerment mission michael has started and my father with his stellar leadership in baranova27. these are an organization that will make a difference and are making a difference. so everybody out there, please support. because with repushing.

we are trying to make sure the ukrainian person survives, the ukrainian spirit lives. because that's the only defense we have as a world against the cancer, which is the russian occupation at the moment. >> maksym chmerovskiy. thank you for coming on, you can go visit his go fund me page. yulia, thank you as well. i don't know if you have final thoughts to offer this morning after that interview. there is so much desperation in ukraine right now and yet some of these people in some of these places you can't even get to. >> yeah. i think what max said is very important.

prognosis is it's months or years. it kind of reflects the situation oak. i do worry, like max does, as this drags on, as people get used to these images like they did in syria, like in iraq and afghanistan, this will retreat further and further from the front page, from the top of the broadcast, and ukrainians will continue dying and russia will continue becoming this aggressor and the world will turn away because we're bored and we move on to something else. we should stay focused on this. >> and we will. we appreciate your being on this morning. thank you very much. still ahead on "morning joe", we will get expert analyses from retired four star general barry mccaffrey. from public defend to supreme court justice, the first black woman the story putting

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. >> on this vote, the ayes are 53. the nays are 47 and this nomination is confirmed. >> history at the high court, judge ketanji brown jackson is confirmed as the first black woman to sit on the u.s. supreme court. who is this barrier breaker? a harvard graduate that spent two years as a public defender. she met her husband patrick in college. the two have been married 25 years. she's the mother of two daughters who looked on with pride during her confirmation hearings. the vote was presided over by

vice president kamala harris, the first black woman to hold that position. >> let us all embrace who we are as a nation. we achieved long overdue this important milestone. i think it makes a very important statement about who we aspire to be, who we are and who we believe ours to be. a statement about that on our highest court in the land, we want to make a full representation and the finest and brightest and the best. and that's what's happened today. i am very proud. >> i loved, we stopped the day to watch the vote yesterday. >> we did. >> and just one little nugget from politico, ketanji brown jackson she voiced her goals's a young woman to go to harvard and her high school counselor told her she shouldn't set her heights so high. >> set her goals so high. >> she graduated magnum cum

laude from harvard and graduated from harvard law school and an editor at the harvard law review. i wish she would stop setting her sights so high. >> in her testimony, she had doubts about herself. >> with all these people saying that. >> on campus where a women came up and said, keep going. 55 years after thurgood marshall went to the court as the first black justice, it took 55 years. now we have the first black woman justice. even if you disagree with her judicial philosophy, many republicans said they do, the country should celebrate. >> listen, the parties treat each other despeckably. they treat these nominees despeckably. i get, they do please don't start me with oh you are talking about what about-ism? yeah, i am. look, it's just absolutely

horrific. you can -- even on the issue of race, i heard people talking yesterday. this shows race. i remember, chuck schumer acting abhorrently to miguel estrada, a black woman trying to go to the d.c. circuit. okay. put all that aside, let's put all that aside. yes, both sides are horrific. i didn't vote for barack obama. when barack obama got elected. i turned to the person i was with and i said, i didn't vote for him. but what an incredible country we live in. and i had chills. i was again, i thought he was too liberal. blah, blah, blah, i can go down the list. even in that moment, i knew something really incredible had happened that made me proud to be an american. right up. yesterday, elise, i'm watching,

first of all, rand palm, deliberate, i don't know what he was dock. that holding up of history i don't know lindsay, i don't know maybe -- maybe he -- >> maybe his tie got shredded. then afterwards, given our history as a nation, given the fact that women, the way women have been treated, the way black people have been treated. the way black women have been treated. just as a matter of history, it's just a matter of fact as much as this is a coffee cup, you don't think more republicans and mitt romney could have stayed in the chamber, taken to their feet and applauded the moment even if they didn't agree with their judicial philosophy? i am sure i don't agree with a lot of judicial philosophy.

you know what i do agree in, this country despite all of our problems, despite all of our screwups, we are stumbling towards being a perfect union. a moment like that, dam it, stand on your feet and applaud. >> that's what was so sad about it. because it was such a huge moment and brought tears to my eyes as a woman, as a woman of the south, who has seen what black women had endured for so long. everything that justice jackson's overcome and it was so incredibly moving and then to have this political climate of disregarding our basic humanity as americans, as saluting the progress that we've made, as coming together, it's just so foul and distasteful and i am glad that senator romney could as always be a class ac. but i wish that other republicans would have joined and saluted this historic

achievement. >> again, you are not giving up anything by standing there acknowledging the moment, applauding for the moment. this isn't about her judicial philosophy. i am sure those fights will continue forever. but again, to not be able to stop and just acknowledge the moment. >> well, the claim from lindsey graham is he wasn't weaker a tie. so he can go in. he was at a press conference earlier in a suit and tie. some republicans sort of plop their thumbs in the coat room. got to the airport. that's their choice. i'm sure democrats didn't stand and aplaid bin laudin amy coney barrett. this was worthy of what mitt romney gave, which is a standing ovation. >> by the way, when the first woman, ronald reagan's selection, sandra day o'connor got a unanimous mus vote. so democrats did stand at their feet and were there, gave the

unanimous vote for sandra day o'connor. >> justice thomas, did democrats stand and clap for him? i'm sure a few i would hope did. so much has eroded since the era of justice o'connor to now in that we just can't even look at each other beyond our politics and you know come together at all. >> it was a remarkable moment, nonetheless. coming up, we'll turn back to the war in ukraine and a rare admission by russia about just how badly things are going for the kremlin. a top spokesman, what he says about the growing number of russian troops killed on the battlefield. that's next on "morning joe." battlefield. that's next on "morning joe.

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from russian propaganda, vladimir putin issed a mith the loss in the war. dmitry peskov says the deaths are a huge tragedy, around 1,300 sentence have been killed in ukraine, that's thousands fewer than estimates from u.s. and nato intelligence. peskov held firm on other putin talking points calling the war a military operation. he denied mass murders in bucha as a well-staged insin wakes, nothing else. >> richard, it is significant, is it not, he is finally admitting something we all know. they're liars, so the knack that he stopped lying could mean the ukrainians say we have 10,000 dead bodies here. what do we do with them? >> one thing the facts are too many dead russians. the other is i was thinking about i thought it was

significant to begin to change the narrative and the terminology may not change there has to be a sense russia is under attack. i think saying we are sacrificing our brave young men are paying a price. but we, russia, are under attack. they're getting ready for a larger war in you drain i think they're changing the narrative a little they can no longer deny the sheer number also they want to arouse russian patriots. >> the goal again, it's now just to montana tain territory that they already held before. >> a little bit. >> i would call the 12 to 6 on the talk, the band of territory, eastern and southern. you don't know whether that is a temporary goal, a foot hold and there would be something more.

they would define success downward. so putin has cover for saying, okay, i have done what i've always contended to. >> if the war continues the way it's going. they can look at mariupol, the land bridge to crimea. they won't got it. ukrainians will continue zrungt over the next week, month, year, decade. they're never going to get it. they'll get donetsk, some land. they already have that they have been fighting for. think about that, they have been fighting for eight years. for eight years. we're not talking patton in charge of this brigade. >> that was the least of what putin expected to get out of this that land bridge. he thought it would be in kiev, he'd have a government in place. we will join further to break down russia's new offensive in the eastern part of ukraine. the conversation continues next

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will smith has resigned from the academy after he slapped chris rock at the oscars, but that doesn't mean he's not facing further consequences. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer reports. >> reporter: this morning the academy's board of governors, the powerful group that oversees the oscars, is set to discuss possible sanctions against will smith. while it's unclear what action they'll take against one of the world's biggest stars --

>> oh, wow! >> reporter: -- smith resigned from the academy five days after the feign mouse slap after he offered another public apology. the group says suspension or expulsion are no longer a possibility after the resignation, but they still have options. >> the most likely outcome is barring him from coming to future ceremonies either as an attendee or as a presenter. his resignation from the academy does not preclude him from being nominated or winning an award in the future. >> reporter: the group is meeting a week earlier than previously scheduled because of smith's resignation, all the while, the actor has kept a low profile. >> just got to stick to the plan. we got champions. >> reporter: most insiders agree while the oscar winner has several projects in the works he'll likely stay out of the spotlight for now. >> it will be interesting to see what happens to his projects because i think everyone is kind

of taking a step back. >> reporter: with his future likely to include more red carpets, smith won't be able to avoid questions over the oscars slap as his hollywood peers continue to weigh in on his shocking actions. >> it feels a most disturbing incident for sure. it was an assault. >> reporter: smith is yet to address why he didn't leave the awards ceremony after the academy said he was asked to do so. for his part, though he's back on tour, chris rock has said little about the incident. while both stars may be trying to move on, today the academy will have its say. >> that was nbc's miguel almaguer reporting. coming up, what sort of impact will elon musk have on twitter? the billionaire now owns a decent chunk of the platform and is already teasing some big changes. tech columnist kara swisher joins our discussion about that.

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all right. it's a few minutes before the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe." this morning, russia is denying it was behind a missile attack that struck a train station in the eastern ukrainian city. the local governor says at least 39 people were killed. he also said those numbers are preliminary. take a look at this picture taken on tuesday before the attack. it gives you an idea of just how packed the station would have been at the time. the mayor says about 4,000 people were there when it was hit, mostly women and children trying to escape the battlefield. we want to warn you pictures from after the attack are extremely hard to watch.

this is what's left after a missile slammed into the station earlier today. you can see the bodies with their luggage scattered around them. again, these are civilians just trying to get away from the violence. president zelenskyy emphasized that point while talking to lawmakers in finland just a few hours ago. >> this is just a rank-and-file railway terminal, just an ordinary town in the east of ukraine. this is how russia came to protect the donbas, how they view the protection of the russian-speaking population. and this is the 44th day of our reality. >> one more point that underscores the depravity here. this shows a fragment apparently from the missile that hit the station. you can see the writing on it. it says "for the children" written in russian. that's incredible. >> that is pure evil.

russia insists it had nothing to do with the attack, of course. in a statement, the russian defense ministry said all statements made by the kyiv regime about the rocket attack allegedly carried out by russia on april 8th at the railway station are provocation and do not correspond with reality. the defense ministry said the kind of missile l is used only by ukrainians and that russia was not conducting any operations in the area. >> the lies are just -- it's just really nonstop. they lie about everything. they lied about the invasion, about attacking civilians, about deaths. they lie every day. they're liar who is lie every single day of their life. and that's actually -- >> that's putin's life. >> that's putin's life. that's what russians have been doing, russian leaders have been doing for some time. i'm