and welcome to "way too early." it's friday, april 15th, i'm jonathan lemire. a huge setback for russia as its flag ship vessel in the black sea has sunk. russia's defense ministry says it was being towed to port after suffering heavy damages and then it sank in a storm. a day earlier, ukrainian officials said their forces hit the ship with two anti-ship missiles, causing significant damage. moscow denied the claim. instead, saying a fire began on board, that caused ammunition to detonate. the story is not much better for them. u.s. officials say they cannot confirm what caused the explosion on the vessel. the missile cruiser was a symbol of russia's naval power. experts say it is a massive blow to the kremlin and could undermine the country's operations in that region. following the announcement of a new weapons package to ukraine, russia is again warning the united states about its involvement in the war. in a two-page letter obtained by the "washington post" earlier this week, moscow reportedly threatened quote unpredictable consequences if the u.s. and nato continued to add fuel in their words to the conflict. it comes in response to a new $800 million shipment of military equipment to ukraine, approved by president biden, on wednesday, after a phone call with the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. that package contains mostly defensive weapons aimed at countering russia's kptsed onslaught in the donbas -- expected onslaught in the does banana region and moscow accused the united states of reps falling into the hands of those forces in ukraine and the state department declined to comment. and the u.s. military in europe will soon train ukrainian forces on the new weapons being added to the arsenal. the post also report, this that the training will focus on howitzer cannons and two radar defense systems and a senior defense official tells the post that the training will take a few days at most. that source also revealed new information about ukrainian soldiers who were in the united states for training when the russian invasion began. they were taught how to use switchblade drones, we've seen how important they've become, as well as new coastal defense drones that were included in this week's $800 million aid package. they returned to ukraine last week where they will train others on using the same weapons. a new air defense system, the largest item that the nato country has sent so far has reportedly arrived in ukraine. the soviet era equipment was donated by slovakia at encouragement of the united states. it is made up of 48 surface to air missiles, four launchers and radars to guide the rockets to their target. in response, the u.s. has reportedly promised to back slovakia's aging missile system with an array of american-made patriot missiles. meanwhile, the death toll of last week's train station attack from ukraine's donetsk region is 59. ukraine's defense minister said yesterday that two more children succumbed to their injuries. according to the ministry, seven of those killed in the attack were indeed children. the ministry also tweeted a photo of a blood-soaked toy horse left behind and send to u.n. as proof of the barbaric crime. more than 100 people were injured when russian missiles hit a train station in the eastern city of kramatorsk. and russian troops carried out several attack notice region of the military administration says at least three people were killed and nine others injured, including a child, when russian shelling hit residential buildings. the minister also said about 15 civilian structures are destroyed in that area. the country's east is bracing for a renewed russian offensive, as attacks from moscow's forces continue, and they recenter their assault on the donbas. russian forces have now advanced into the center of the besieged city of mariupol, and captured a metal plant. the country's defense ministry said yesterday more than 100,000 ukrainian marines voluntarily put their weapons down, and surrendered. ukrainian officials confirm that some of their troops have conceded to the russians earlier this week. ukraine's 36th brigade warned they were fighting their last battle as they were low on ammunition. the capture of the plant by russians has raised concerns that mariupol could soon fall. the city has been encircled by russian troops for over a month now and has faced relentless bombardment and the surrender of the thousand marines certainly a blow to their efforts to defend that city. joining us now, nbc news foreign correspondent raf sanchez joining us from ukraine, and tell us where you are, and give us a sense of what is happening. and as well as the latest on these conflicting stories about what happened to that russian ship and what the sinking means for the future of the conflict. >> jonathan, we're in the city here, there is real celebration of the news of the sinking of the ship, the defense minister saying this morning, he is looking forward to scuba diving in the wreckage of the moskva after his forces win the war and it is difficult to understate the symbolism, the flag ship of the black sea fleet and now looked upon as the largest war ship to be sunk by enemy fire since the second world war. it went down after being towed into port for repairs and the ukrainian military says two anti--ship missiles that eventually sent to the bottom. underneath the celebration, there is a real wariness in this country about how vladimir putin is going to respond to this humiliation in the black sea. one of president zelenskyy's advisers saying this morning that the country should brace for retaliation from the russian president. there were reports last night of explosions around kyiv, and one ukrainian mp is saying that may be the first sign of the putin response of the sinking of the ship. no word from the russian defense ministry how many sailors died either in the initial fire or in the sinking of this ship. but this is a major, major blow to russia's ability to control the black sea. and to threaten the southern coast of ukraine. jonathan? >> as you've said, there's now concern with how putin may retaliate and we have heard about a week or two the worry about chemical wednesday and we have the cia director william burns warning that a tactical nuclear weapon is potentially in play. what more can you tell us about that very ominous threat? >> yes, so the cia director saying publicly something the white house has been worried about privately for weeks now, which is that in desperation, if things don't go his way on the battlefield, vladimir putin may turn to a tactical nuclear weapon here in ukraine. tactical nuclear weapon, much smaller than the traditional nuclear weapon, much smaller explosion, that makes the sound less frightening but the reason it is so scary is that leaders like vladimir putin may feel fewer inhibitions about using a tactical warhead because they feel that perhaps they can fire one without triggering an ought-out nuclear war. the suggestion from bill burns is that putin could potentially use one of these either in battle or as a warning shot in an empty area of ukraine. he wants to stress there is no sign right now of russian forces moving to launching one of these. and he is somebody who knows what he is talking about. he was u.s. ambassador to russia under president obama. he met president putin many times and speaks russian, so if he is warning about this publicly, it is a real cause for concern for all of us. jonathan? >> we should also note earlier in the conflict when russian forces stepped up their nuclear alert, u.s. officials said that is a sign that they did not despite the announcement. raf sanchez, thank you as always, my friend. travel safely. now an update on the accused new york city subway shooting suspect who will stay in a federal jail for the foreseeable future. a judge denied bails for frank james and did not enter a plea and only nodded yes if the judge asked him if he understood the charges, and a psychiatric examination and confirmed that the suspect himself called crimestoppers to tell police where he was. meanwhile the mta says the problems with the security camera were due to a productivity issue and not the cameras itself, it discovered the faulty connection the day before the attack and had a technician working to restore it and the mta says the cameras are now back online. still ahead, a trump told me to do it defense goes to a jury. plus, more protests in michigan. following a deadly shooting by a police officer. and the latest on elon musk's bid to take over twitter. those stories and a check on the weather when we come right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ voltaren. the joy of movement. xfinity mobile runs on america's most ♪ reliable 5g network, but for up to half the price of verizon, so you have more money for more stuff. this phone? fewer groceries. this phone? more groceries! this phone? fewer concert tickets. this phone? more concert tickets. and not just for my shows. switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. that's a savings of over $500 a year. switch today. the january 6th rioter whose lawyer says he was simply following presidential orders was found guilty yesterday of all six charges. dustin thompson was the first defendant who tried to convince jurors that the former president donald trump was at fault for the capitol insurrection. thompson's attorney argued that quote donald trump encouraged people like thompson to storm the capitol and took advantage of vulnerable people like his client. a justice department prosecutor told jurors, in the closing arguments, that trump wasn't on trial and they shouldn't consider trump's actions even if they think he is to blame for what happened on january 6th, thompson was found guilty of a range of charges, including obstructing congress' duty to certify the final results of the election. that count carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. the judge, a bush appointee, ordered thompson to remain in jail until his sentencing. he called the defense quote disingenuous, stressed that he believed trump's conspiracy theories helped to lead to the insurrection. former trump adviser stephen miller met with the january 6th select committee for more than eight hours yesterday. miller was subpoenaed back in november by the committee, for participating in quote efforts to encourage state legislatures to alter the outcome of the november 2020 election. miller appeared only after a long negotiation with the panel. on thursday, he pushed back on the committee and points during his deposition, according to a person who was present. he was quote pugnacious and cooperative-ish. this person told nbc news. meanwhile, two people familiar with the session tell "the new york times" that investigators asked miller repeatedly about the use word weak throughout president trump's speech on the ellipse outside the white house minutes before the capitol rite, they asked about it in an effort to ascertain whether the former president had been directing supporters to join him in taking action to stop congress from certifying his defeat. miller argued that the language in that speech was no different than any other political rhetoric. neither miller nor the select committee responded to requests for comment. the republican national committee told gop candidates they must abstain from future debates overseen by the commission on presidential debates. the group that has handled the process for decades. the vote was unanimous. in a statement, rnc chair rona mcdaniel said quote, the commission on presidential debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and common sense reforms to help ensure their debates. be going forward, the rnc says presidential candidates will have to sign a pledge that they will be only at party sanctioned debates. but at the end of the day, the candidates not the party whiffle have the final say on whether to participate in debates and it is another impact of donald trump's grip on the republican party. he claimed they were biased. still ahead, in sports, major league baseball's big anniversary. the yankees gets a measure of revenge. and a deal on tom brady's not so final touchdown pass. 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(cto) ♪ i want the world. ♪ ♪ i want the whole world. ♪ (ceo) ♪ i want today. ♪ ♪ i want tomorrow. ♪ (dispatch) ♪ i want it noooooow! ♪ (vo) get 5g that's ready right now. deep. that's gone. >> rangers backup catcher makes ohtani pay for a splitter left up in the zone, crushing the line drive into the right field seats for a go-ahead grand slam. ohtani would be tagged for another rbi, with five of six runs allowed by the american league mvp over 3 and 2/3 innings. the rangers beat the angels 10-5. to the bronx. the blue jays hit three homeruns against the yankees the other night and last night, a different story. luis severino, three times. and he pitched five shutout innings. guerrero, well, again, in the eighth inning, the yankees split the four-game series against the jays with a 3-0 win. as they say baseball is here again, you can be a hero one day and be completely empty the next. the red sox home opener this afternoon. 75 years to the day since jackie robinson broke baseball's color barrier with the brooklyn dodgers his legacy will be celebrated at major league ballparks across the country. all players will wear a dodger blue number 42 on the backs of jerseys and this year marks the 75th anniversary of robinson's debut but the 25th anniversary of then commissioner bud selig's announcement that robin sons's number 42 would be retired across the league and every player will wear it today. the final nba playoff spots in each conference will be decided in tonight's play-in games. the winner of the eastern conference matchup between the atlanta hawks and the cleveland cavaliers will meet the top-seeded miami heat in the first round. out west, the matchup between the new orleans pelicans and the los angeles clippers will decide which team takes on the number one heavily favorited sonics. finally, the collector who bid a half million on what was believed to be tom brady's last touchdown ball, he can breathe a sigh of relief. the sale of the ball has been voided by mutual agreement between the buyer and consigner and auction house. according to espn, due to the unique nature of brady's decision to return, just four days after his first announcement of his retirement in late january and less than 24 hours after the auction closed no money was exchanged so it was certainly nullified and that guy didn't pay a half million for a random touchdown pass. and who knows when tom brady will actually top playing. time for the weather and let's go to michelle for the holiday weekend forecast. how is is looking out there? >> it is looking pretty good. it is a great deal soggy for sunday. and soggy today, too. we are tracking some spring storms, due to the cold front that is sweeping through the midwest. and that's going to bring a chance of showers, especially with the storms later on this afternoon into the evening hours, and that is in arkansas also, as the cold front sinks to the south and east. and by saturday, we're waking up to a rainy and wet day in new england. and wet snow, too. and then scattered storms for much of the south east and you can see damaging winds and some large hail, and so for tonight, this gives the severe predictions, and just outside little rock, and oklahoma and arkansas, will see some large hail and isolated wind gusts at 50 miles an hour and the possibility of a brief tornado. now, look what happens on saturday, and we can see that risk from texas all the way to the southeast and the cold front kind of gets hung up here and scattered showers throughout the day and bring stormy weather. the rainfall forecast, we're looking at a lot of rain in spots, from memphis to little rock to birmingham, up to one inch, maybe two inches in some spots and some training storms all throughout saturday, and we're going to have a wet sunday as well. and now the cold air does expand. we have a mild day, a nice day, in dc, new york city, and philadelphia, today, with the temperatures in the 70s, and 60s in syracuse and boston. but that cold air does expand by tomorrow. and it is feeling like wind in the northern plains ander mid upper midwest and 16 degrees below typical this time of the year. and 35 in duluth. the beginning of next week, we will be college in philadelphia. temperatures below normal in the 50s. 40s in chicago, detroit. we're only at 48 degrees on monday. easter sunday chilly, too. >> and in the south, a warm one in texas. temperatures in the 80s and 90s. but a nice day in the northeast. and back to the west, looking great in l.a., and 69 degrees, we are tracking a pacific storm in the higher elevations of the valley rain and storms in the southeast. jonathan, i hope you have a wonderful weekend. and i hope you have a great easter, too. >> thank you, michelle, same to you. it was nearly 80 in new york city with air conditioners and now the temperatures are cold again. have a great weekend. still ahead the u.s. first lawmakers visit ukraine since the war began and president biden addresses my reporting about a possible trip to kyiv by a top u.s. official. that's next on "way too early." . our commitment to you is clear. save money. live better. offer everyday low prices, fresh groceries delivered to your door and prescriptions as low as $4. so you can live a little better each day. ♪♪ [ sneezing ] are your sneezes putting your friends in awkward positions? stick with zyrtec. zyrtec starts working hard at hour one... ...and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. zyrtec. muddle no more. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ (coughing) ♪ breeze driftin' on by ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace 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everywhere. the images of shallow mass graves filled with civilians, women and children are heart wrenching. danes, who shared photos of the trip, added the world needs to see russian president vladimir putin's atrocities against the innocent people of ukraine now, not after time has passed and the aftermath of evil and bloodshed has been cleaned up. sparks recently sent a letter to the biden administration asking to redeploy u.s. dip mats to lviv to help coordination in ukraine. president biden asked yesterday about my reporting that the white house was considering sending a top official to kyiv soon, confirmed the discussions were under way, and said that no timetable was set. white house national climate adviser gina mccarthy is expected to step down next month. the source familiar with the matter has confirmed to nbc news. mccarthy who had initially planned to wrap up her time in the white house at the end of february agreed to stay a little longer. she denied reports yesterday of the departure saying they were simply inaccurate. mccarthy will be leaving as president biden's efforts to implement ambitious climate legislation has stalled amid opposition from key democratic senators. joining us now white house reporter for the "washington post," tyler, thanks for being here on the set today. we heard the president yesterday talk about the potential u.s. visit to kyiv and earlier this week he labelled what he was seeing in ukraine a genocide, this is not the first time he has gotten ahead of what was considered u.s. official policy, with his rhetoric, he labeled putin a war criminal before the rest of the government was willing to do so and called putin's removal from power, a statement that was quickly cleaned up by white house officials. you just wrote about this trend today. talk about how it's complicated, the white house efforts but this time they embraced it. >> yes, this is the president, this is something the president has dealt with throughout the crisis in ukraine, often letting his emotions come first before u.s. policy is set. and that's particularly the case here, with the war crimes and genocide, because those mean something very specific. there is a legal process to determine when war crimes have been committed, and it typically with genocide a type of war crime and when president biden goes and says that putin is a war criminal or genocide is happening, that triggers certain things and the white house has to walk those back and clarify that the president is speaking in his personal capacity, and the problem there is, the president is the head of the u.s. government and the commander in chief, so his words carry more weight than any american saying war crimes are being committed and it is about something that the u.s. government has had to navigate president biden showing his emotional response with the international implications as a u.s. president. >> biden throughout his political career known for the off the cuff remarks and the white house agent told me he declared putin a war criminal, the rest of the world rallied behind it, too, and then we saw the atrocities in bucha. >> they are quick to say, he's right, he is speaking to what the american people and the world are seeing on the ground and as we just saw, the senator, and the congresswoman saying look, we're seeing the evidence of war crimes, and mass graves, shallow graves, and so they feel that the president is out in front, and leading in this response but there are concerns from other appointees that his words could complicate any sort of negotiations for a cease-fire. we saw that from the french president macron. >> he did not embrace the rhetoric. you also had the reporting about gina mccarthy, the white house climate adviser and about her imminent departure. what do we know about the reasons why she is stepping down. >> i think this was long planned. she is not confirming it just yet. but i think she had always come in and just wanted to establish this position, this was obviously a newly-created position, from president biden, to signal list commitment to climate and combatting climate change, this is a domestic counterpart to secretary john kelly at the state department, and so i think she's played a big role in trying to implement the agenda, but she never planned to stay for long, and i think this is part of the long-awaited departure for her and she is likely to turn this job over to her deputy. >> one last quick one. her departure comes at a time when the biden administration has received scrutiny for not being able to follow through on some of the climate promises at least not yet but a week when it seems like the administration is trying to make a deliberate pivot to domestic policies as so much energy has been devoted to the crisis in europe. >> exact limit i think it is a critical point in which she may be leaving, the administration is trying to kick start some sort of negotiations on capitol hill over some sort of climate legislation, obviously those efforts have fallen short, due to opposition from people, like senator joe manchin and so you're right, this is a critical point for the administration, for the president, as they head into the midterm, they want to make the case that they are addressing the issues that americans are having here at home, inflation and rising prices and i think her departure is a concern for some in the climate space that it is a signal that they're not making the progress they intended to. >> the "washington post," tyler, thank you as always. terrific reporting. police are bracing for more protests in grand rapids, michigan, following the deadly police shooting of an unarmed black man during a traffic stop. a warning the video is disturbing and graphic. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the details. >> reporter: >> stay in the car. >> the final moments with patrick lyola's life were captured on camera when a traffic stop quickly escalated into a grand rapids police officer struggling to pin him down face first before shooting the 26-year-old in the back of the head. the killing of the unarmed black motorist by a white police officer leaves lyoyla's family making this plea today. >> it was last week, when the 26-year-old was pulled over because his license plate didn't match his car. >> do you have a license? >> lyoya a native of the congo appeared confused. >> do you speak eng learn? >> yes. >> after a brief exchange, the officer grabbed lyoya. after the pair wrestled on the lawn, lyoya appeared to grab the officer's taser. >> let go of the taser. >> because of the pressure to the body camera, police say the video suddenly stops but other cameras capture the fatal shot to the head. >> the thing that just jumps out at you is how unnecessary this execution was of this excessive use of force. >> the unidentified officer, placed on leave. while the shooting is under review. >> the test is going to be whether the view of a reasonable police officer, whether that deadly force was needed to prevent death or great bodily harm to that officer. >> in a city where african americans have struggled to trust the police, grand rapids is bracing for more protests. as a shooting, the police chief called a tragedy while the lyoya family calls it an execution. >> our thanks to nbc's miguel almaguer for that report. the video is difficult to watch. still ahead, the latest on elon musk's attempt at a takeover of twitter. plus, a new sign that western sanctions on russian oil are having a significant impact. 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"the new york times" cited eu officials reports the block is now likely to adopt a similarly-phased ban of russian oil. it is a much bigger deal now. the times quotes the approach is designed to give germany in particular time to arrange alternative suppliers. have have been fears of a recession if this were to happen but it would certainly cut off a key source of financing for moscow's war machine. the eu's decision comes as russian president putin is now admitting the strain his country is facing from western sanctions. and in a virtual meeting yesterday, putin reportedly conceded to government officials that sanctions targeting russia's energy and gas imports had become a quote urgent problem. although the european union has so far resisted an outright ban on russian oil, many individual countries have taken steps to scale back energy usage for moscow. yesterday, putin claimed there was quote no reasonable alternative to russian gas in europe. and said that attempts to replace his country's energy sources would be extremely painful for the global economy. still ahead, there's a new kind of test for covid. doctor vin gupta joins us to answer questions about the latest case surge and new data for a booster shot for kids. we'll be right back with that important conversation. t important conversation allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. 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[ chuckles ] that's a steal. wait, wait, wait. are we stealing the safe? we're saving so much, it's like stealing. well, you're the tech expert webs. is it reliable? you tell me. wah ping. it's reliable and fast. wireless savings so good, even the bad guys love it. switch to xfinity mobile today. and see dreamworks "the bad guys." the fda has granted emergency authorization to the first covid-19 breathalyzer test, collecting a breath sample by exhaling in the device and analyzes for chemical compounds associated with the coronavirus while producing results in just three minutes. the fda did say positive result from the breathalyzer should then be confirmed with a pcr test. meanwhile, pfizer is preparing to ask the fda for approval for a booster given to children age 5 to 11. the company said in studies that a third shot showed a 36fold increase in antibodies against the omicron variant of the coronavirus and a 6-fold increase against the original strain. this as two sub variants of omicron are making their way through the new york region around washington, d.c., and cases are surging. joining us now, nbc news medical contributor dr. vin gupta, thank you as always for joining us today. we want to get to a couple of different topics here. first briefly on that covid breath test which the fda has now authorized, how does it work? do you think this will change the future of testing? >> good morning. great to see you. it very much could. it's for everybody watching, you know, the concept here is science underlying the test is slightly different from say the alcohol breathalyzer that, you know, is widely known. but everything in nature, jonathan, has a unique scent. or is emitting fumes that are unique to it. and in this case, coronavirus is actually emitting fumes, or a unique scent that you and i can't smell. but that a chemical instrument that is using something called gas chromatography can actually detect. so it is literally the fumes that coronavirus is emitting into the air around us, doesn't cause infection but it is a smell that can be detected using this type of new testing modality. i suspect this is a test, it has to be run in clinics by supervising technician, that this could redefine how we test at large events, sporting events, at airports, down the road. >> so we, pfizer announced the date on the third shot for kids, aging 5 to 11, if this gets approval, would you, would your parents have any hesitation, should parents have any hesitation giving children boosters? and what's the vaccine for the youngest americans? >> we just don't know enough if this third shot is actually needed. the results that have been released through press release are pretty bare bones. they suggest that the levels of antibodies go up in individuals, in childrens that receive that third shot. six months after referring the second shot jonathan and this r second shot. this is children between the ages of 5 and 11. the question is we don't know what it means in respect to fighting off code infection. it looks like it will be helpful at reducing the risk of testing positive for covid-19, and yet the question here is will it add additional protection to keep kids out of the hospital. we don't know if you need an additional shot yet for that or whether two is enough. that's the key question. we will learn more. >> lastly, i was hoping you could give us sort of a 30,000 look as to where we are in the pandemic right now. you know, still hundreds of people are dying every day. certainly hospitalizations are down, but we are seeing a new surge, a new spike in cases at least in the northeast, with the belief it is going to head out west. to be clear, hospitalizations haven't really risen here in, say, new york city, but people who are getting it are still really sick and it is a pretty miserable week for them or so. how should we be looking at the pandemic right now? how should we approach going to large events, doing indoor dining, and what do we know about long covid, particularly with the omicron variant? >> well, i'll answer your last question first. we know that long covid is a debill stating disease. it can happen in those who are vaccinated, although the risk is dramatically lower if you are vaccinated. it is serious even if you have a vaccine break through infection. we talk about severe illness, but let's pay respect to the fact even if you are holed up at home with, quote, unquote, moderate symptoms it is a big deal. thank you for pointing that out, jonathan. at a high level over the next months i suspect hospitals will feel unstressed. up until the end of october of 2022 we should expect there won't be significant surges across the country because of population level immunity, vaccines, some natural immunity and because of warmer weather. the winter is a different story. hopefully we will have more of the oral antivirals that we will have a greater supply and better access to. critically, some of your viewers may have seen there's a new oral medication we might be able to give to those folks unfortunately in icus that is being developed that might get fast-track approval. if it does, that is a monumental addition to our tool kilt. let's stay tuned. that could be a hugely helpful addition to saving people's lives once they end up in the hospital. i suspect over the next six months, overall positive direction. >> we appreciate your insight and hope you will come back soon. thank you very much. coming up on "morning joe," a key victory for ukrainian forces as russia's top battleship sinks in the black sea. also ahead, ambassador to poland mark brzezinski joins us with an update on the humanitarian effort for millions of refugees. plus, we get insight on what it was like to grow up in the biden family from valerie biden owens, the younger sister of the president. 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[baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ e*trade now from morgan stanley. ♪♪ joining us now to look at "axios" a.m., the co-founder of "axios" michael allen. mike, great to see you today. what is the "axios: 1 big thing" for this morning? >> jonathan, the "axios: 1 big thing" is billionaire ego trip. so this effort by elon musk to buy twitter that we've been talking about this morning is part of a bigger effort by a number of tech billionaires to rewire the online ecosystem. they want to basically build a parallel media system that would have fewer rules, more unfettered speech, more voices out there, less control by the establishment media. why this matters, musk and some of the other big tech founders and disrupters think there's a free speech crisis, and so they're building other social networks, talking about other platforms. but two big problems with this, jonathan, the reality check for this is, one, other social platforms don't work. you see it as conservatives build other platforms. they go on twitter to tell you what they're putting in their parallel ecosystem. and so so far these titans have done more talking than building. >> so switching gears here, "axios" has got a focus group on pennsylvania swing voters, and it found that they are strongly in favor of ramping up domestic oil drilling in response to rising gas prices. tell us why that matters. we have heard from the president a lot on rising energy prices in the last week or two. >> yeah, jonathan, this is super interesting. so this is a first of a series of "axios" engages focus groups in swing states across the country. we went first to pennsylvania where, as you point out, the basic message from pennsylvania voters that we talked to was drill, baby, drill, to pull in a little flashback. interesting that most of these voters were from the philly suburbs and yet they were overwhelmingly in favor of more domestic drilling. why does this matter? look at those pump prices. interestingly enough, jonathan, they agree with the biden framing of putin price hike that i have heard you talk about on "joe" a couple of times this week. they do think that putin more than president biden is to blame for high gas prices, but everything is in moderation, everything is in calibration. they don't buy the argument that paying more at the gas -- at the pump is the price of supporting people in ukraine. they want to bring it down with lower gas prices. >> and certainly if this war does stretch on for months and months like many officials believe, those prices are going to stay high, even though they've come down a little bit in the last week or so we should note. mike, "axios" is reporting national security council officials are discussing releasing the first-ever action plan for global water security. tell us why it is so important. >> yes, the reason this caught my eye is we almost never get a new topic. we discuss variations on the same topic again and again. but the national security council quietly discussing a strategic plan on water security. this was picked up by jonathan swan. it is something totally new. they're looking at climate change, they're looking at cyberattacks, some of the other known threats suddenly could come together to threaten the water supply. why this matters is we tend to follow the crisis of the day. the government, the white house, you always hope is thinking ahead to the next pandemic, the next crisis, and that's what you see with this effort to develop a strategic plan about water security, thinking of water security as national security. >> yeah, an extremely important issue that you guys are covering there. we appreciate it very much. michael allen, thank you as always. >> happy easter, jonathan. >> thank you so much. same to you. we will talk to you again soon. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this friday morning and all week long. enjoy your weekend. "morning joe" starts right now. battleship presents famous sinkings. april 9th, 1987, fleet commander fires the shot that sinks his brother's destroyer. this is remembered as the last time he was allowed in michael's room. august 19th, 1987, playing electronic battleship, he programs a devastating attack. >> you sank my battleship. >> history is made. battleship and electronic battleship from milton bradley. it is a hit. >> wow. a key russia missile cruiser is now at the bottom of the black a.