launching a final ground assault on the factory, they should instead blockade it. so severely that, quote, not even a fly comes through. >> willie, we talked about it in the past couple hour, and what putin is claiming as a success is actually putin stepping back. we'll talk to clint watts in a couple minutes. we were discussing the fact that morale is so low with the russian army that the last thing they're going to do is go down in there and try to root out people in this complex well of underground tunnels in this steel factory that is really just a fortress. they will get chewed up and spit out. and you get the sense that putin and this retreat, putin understands that. >> absolutely. and he doesn't want to go in and tangle with these regiments that remain inside protecting civilians. the question remains houngs with can the civilians hold out, food, water, medicine still a concern. putin calling this a success, also saying he has liberated the people of mariupol. tens of thousands of civilians have been killed there. meanwhile, ukraine is accusing russian forces of bombing a makeshift hospital in mariupol near that steel factory. authorities say the hospital is treating about 300 people including children, and now many of them are trapped under the rubble. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskiy is calling the crisis in mariupol, quote, extremely severe and says he's open to a diplomatic solution including an exchange of russian prisoners in return for civilians trapped in mariupol. zelenskyy renewed calls for western allies to send additional serious and heavy weapons, in his words, to help ukrainian fighters in that seaside port, saying they are unable to, quote, unblock mariupol without the help of allies. earlier this morning we spoke with retired navy master sergeant jason beardsley about the battle of mariupol. >> russia will hope to seize this city much like they tried in kyiv and to occupy it in quick form. that would have allowed them to flex those russian troops and supplies north to advance their line. this mariupol, it's on the port, very close to the south, has no deep penetration into the luhansk or doe netsing region, so it is not a key strategic victory for putin, but more importantly, he's lost troops there, he's lost time, he's lost momentum, and for the ukrainians, this is about spirit, about will, as you mentioned, watching what happens in bucha. they have no incentive to give up. i thought what zelenskyy did was terrific. he's got to make at least ovations to do a diplomatic sort of sbree ti, but vladimir putin is going to try to run this out. but what he said was really face-saving theater because this whole campaign has gone south for him. >> let's talk about that with nbc news national security analyst clint watts. he's at the big board at 30 rock. so, clint, the sergeant put it very well by abandoning the attack, by still having all these soldiers chained down in mariupol, putin has lost time, he's lost momentum, and he's lost troops. he just doesn't want to lose more troops. so these troops remain locked down in mariupol. while we have the campaign going on in the donbas. give us an update on both of those regions. >> yeah, joe, just to give you some perspective on how dire the situation is, if you look at mariupol, this city is completely surrounded. this is russia out here, close to the border. the sea of azov totally controlled by the russians at this point. they also have a bridge that goes over this is muth into crimea. it's a very possible situation at least for the ukrainians to try and resupply. separately, there have been a couple humanitarian lifts that have actually gone out. what they're trying to do is move some of them back here to zaporizhzhia. eve enwhen they get to zaporizhzhia, this is not an entirely safe area. you can see from the red here, this is very close, the russian front lines. separately, what the russians have figured out is they have to declare victory because this area, this steel plant, it is like the worst place ever to assault with dismounted forces. the ukrainians dug in here, lots of underground passageways. you have a humanitarian disaster, and the russians are saying they don't want to expend any more troops, any more resources, so they're declaring victory. the problem is the ukrainians, the longer they delay here, they still are tying up lots of russian combat power. that speaks to the bigger picture of what we see in the east. right there before mariupol, the idea would be if the russians can essentially redeploy this force up towards donetsk, they would try and make a maneuver to the north and try and link that with their forces coming in from izyum. essentially what the russians would like to do, i don't know that they'll be able to do it, but to essentially encircle and essentially cut offer a lot of the ukrainian military, which is in this very key region here on the western donbas. when you look even further, when you get in close, you can see the russian march. i'll rewind three weeks or so. it's very small and incremental. they move forward each week trying to grab a little more territory. today what you would see is they're trying to flush out their lines. you have this ukrainian military defending very well in some spots. they're launching some attacks towards the russian rear area and lines. separately, you have a pretty stiff defense here. the russians are essentially trying to encircle this and envelope it. they have not been that successful. russians advancing here and here out of donetsk. the question is how quickly can the ukrainians resupply with military and get that new artillery in to stave off this advance of many russian armored convoys coming in, many being replaced from the kyiv convoys coming back around through russia and ending up in eastern ukraine. >> clint, back to mariupol for just a moment, if we could. there's been so much interest and so much focus rightly so on the holdouts in that steel factory in mariupol that putin has now said we're not going to go in, as of now, we'll surround it. there were civilians in there. admiral stavridis said yesterday morning this is an alamo for the ukrainians, the country has been uplifted by these fighters. but what does their future look like? you can't stay there indefinitely. there's concerns about food, water, medicine and everything else and about taking care offensively those civilians. how does that play out with that group in there and group of russians surrounding the factory? >> i think for the most part, the goal especially for the ukrainian government is to get the humanitarian corridors flowing as quickly as possible. they did get some folks out in the past 24 hours, but it's still a fraction. you probably have 1,000, maybe 2,000 civilians still in this area of this plant. they have to get out of there. i think that would be part of the negotiations. separately, if russia is saying they're going to surround and starve these ukrainian military forces that are there, i would wonder even about a military exchange, essentially exchange of p.o.w.s. this might be something that the ukrainian government, maybe with the assistance from the west, could try and negotiate with the russians rather than let all these military forces starve out, essentially die over time. it would be in the best interests of the russians as well to do an exchange. there have been some p.o.w. swaps thatch started in the last few days. i'm hoping they can sort that out. it's to the russian's advantage to redeploy these troops. they've realized the costs of taking this over time will be enormous for the russian military. >> clint watts, thank you very much, as always. the russian military successfully tested a superheavy thermonuclear armed intercontinental-range ballistic missile that vladimir putin says will make its enemies, quote, think twice before issuing threats. dubbed satan 2 by nato, moscow's defense ministry says that's because it was created using domestic technology, sanctions and supply chain issues will not impact the missile's production. the pentagon says russia did notify the u.s. about the test in accordance with treaty obligations and did not deem it a threat to the u.s. or its allies. last month, the u.s. canceled its own missile test in order to avoid any misinterpretation during the ongoing russian invasion. now, the pentagon says the ukrainian air force now has at least 20 additional fighter jets in operation after receiving recent shipments of spare parts making repairs possible. at the same time, u.s. troops have begun training ukrainian soldiers on how to use howitzer artillery and rounds that have arrived in europe. the training is taking place outside of ukraine and will last about a week. the how wiltzers are part of an $800 million military aid package approved by the biden administration last week. of course we'll be hearing from the president in about 30 minutes. joining us now, former senior analyst for the department of defense focusing on russia's military capabilities and strategies, now a senior policy researcher at the rand corporation, dara masako. it's good to have you with us. >> thank you so much. >> i'm curious, the decisions every step of the way in this war by vladimir putin in terms of troop movements and the latest especially in mariupol to sort of pull back and just surround that steel mill, how does that reflect on the state of the russian military, do you think? >> well, we're seeing a reset in process right now. so you've seen a lot of the russian forces being withdrawn north of kyiv and recommitted through belarus into eastern ukraine. essentially what we're seeing is a reset of the operation with more limited objectives. they're trying to concentrate their power to essentially encircle ukrainian forces in eastern ukraine. what we're seeing now, they are moving artillery, they are going to try to have a more conventional fight that plays to their advantages. >> i'm curious, you've talked about of course russia's failures as a lot of analysts have done, but you bring up a great point. they're failing to do basic things in their operations that they've been able to do before but just failed miserably on a mass scale. can you go into that? >> i can. yeah, what has been surprising to me about this operation is i want to remind everyone this was a war of russia's choice. they've had months, if not years, to prepare for this. they're making a set of critical assumptions proven to be faulty. i think they assumed the ukrainians would not resist them and that proved false. they are making mistakes that they are capable of doing elsewhere in syria. they are capable of having secure communications loops, operational commanders to command things. yet it's almost as if for this operation from the beginning they decided to unlearn a lot of those lessons or not able to scale up more advanced capabilities for a war of this size. for me the most surprising thing has been it took them six weeks to essentially realize that they couldn't run this war from moscow, they needed a local commander to essentially coordinate things. really across most metrics we're seeing failures in logistics, bad orders being issued down. it's been a surprise. >> dara, good morning. we expect now, we're getting news into us, when president biden speaks in about 30 minutes he will announce a new aide package of about $800 million to be sent to ukraine on top of the $800 million authorized last week. do you expect this package to look different based on russia's new strategy, a new kind of fighting perhaps in the east? what do you think ukraine needs from the united states right now? >> based on what the russians are setting up, which is going to be heavy artillery, a lot of dumb bombs, unguided munitions, things are really going to come to a head on the battlefield. i saw the announcement we're moving forward with providing them with artillery shells, howitzers, i believe some helicopters involved in that package as well, and president zelenskyy has said this is very appropriate for where they are right now and that the needs are being -- things are responsive to their needs right now. i think it's important to remember as we move in the weeks ahead, the next phases of this conflict will be characterized by a lot of indiscriminate military strikes, military forces on the receiving end of those things. it's going to be very high. >> former senior analyst for the department of defense, dara massicot, thank you for joining us this morning. coming up, more on the fighting overseas. we'll talk to a ukrainian man who says he used the tracking feature on his stolen air pods to trace russian troop movements. and later this hour, president biden is set to give an update on the war, including new details on a u.s. aid package. we'll take his comments live. no that's going to be fascinating to see what biden says as he updates america and the world. this fight is so influx right now. going to be an important prens. plus the value of netflix plunges $50 billion. >> wow. >> in a drop so catastrophic for a streaming service that it actually made its competitors lose value as well. and we'll check in on northern arizona, where a wildfire is raging out of control, now reaching nearly 20,000 acres. "morning joe" returns in just a moment. 19 past the hour. as the ukrainian military and its allies continue to track the latest russian troop movements, ukrainian civilians are joining in in some creative ways. early on, during russia's invasion, ukrainian native vitaly had his air pods stolen from his home, located about 17 miles outside of kyiv. but he soon realized he could track them using apple's find my air pods feature, and, in turn, trace russian troop movements across the region. he posted on instagram when he figured it out saying, quote, thanks to technology, i know where my airpods are now. it was rooted from my home in hostomel. with the russians making a quick exit from kyiv earlier this month, those air pods made quite a journey too. with vitaly tracing them across the border into belarus and then to the russian city of belgorod where vladimir putin's been building up troops to attack the donbas in eastern ukraine. and vitaly joins us now from inside ukraine. when did you first realize that you could track the russians with your airpods? >> yeah. maybe it was done when i realized our apartment was looted and in this case, i just decided to check if i had them in my apartment still. and, yeah, i have checked through the find my headphones and it was really surprising that they are not in ukraine already. so they have moved abroad and now the last position is in -- somewhere in russia, a military district. >> amazing you tracked them to belarus first and then back to a city in russia where the troops are regrouping. i guess the question is i'm sure there are others. these russians have looted and stolen a lot. have you shared this information with the ukrainian military? could it be used strategically, your little pair of earphones? >> yes. of course. first i send to our military, so they should know about the position, but, yeah, it was -- the last time it was -- i don't know if this location is still relative, is it still important for them. but, yeah, i have done it first. >> tell us your own personal story. we've learned about you through these airpods and the find my airpods, but just talk about your apartment being looted. talk about your neighborhood, your community. >> your whole life has changed. >> and how your life has changes do radically in the past couple months. >> it's changed a lot. it's 1,000% changed because we have, like, pretty good life before, good job, opportunities. now, yeah, we have to find another apartment where to live because now the city where i live is totally destroyed, maybe 50%, 60% of houses are destroyed, all the shop, all the gas stations are destroyed. a lot of houses and flats are looted. there's no way to live now especially if off child. there is no kindergarten, no schools. there is nothing. all of course the bombs, the mines. it's uninhabitable right now. >> tell me, we've -- the world has learns do much not just about ukraine but also the will and the fighting spirit of the ukrainian people over the past six weeks. it's just remarkable. you know, here we are in the united states and my children are going to school and they're telling stories about ukrainian grandmothers and sunflower seeds. we haven't really seen anything like this. and i'm just curious, have you been surprised by the willpower and the fighting spirit of the ukrainian people? >> yes. maybe the first days of war where i thought maybe unprepared, but after, i think we start to believe in our military people, so we believe in our friends who help us, europe, america, so we are very grateful to all of the help which are coming to ukraine. and i think that it will be, but depend how many times it needed to be done and how many lives will be spent to get this victory. >> well, we are very grateful for you being on and inspired by your country and all the citizens of ukraine. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you for coming on the show with us and sharing your story. >> thank you. coming up, we're keeping an eye on the white house, where president biden is expected to update the country and the world about the war in ukraine. we understand he will announce a new $800 million military aid package for ukraine. that's in about 20 minutes. we'll carry that for you live. plus trouble for netflix. >> can you believe how much -- it's seen as the future, mika, of streaming services. >> well -- >> it just collapsed yesterday. >> bringing others a little down with it. the stocks plunged 35%. what it could mean for the rest of the streaming industry. and the obamas are leaving spotify. >> really. >> andrew ross sorkin will join us to tell us why. and as we go to break, some video to show you out of texas where a college baseball game took an ugly turn yesterday. a runner rounding third during his -- go ahead -- home run trot in the sixth inning is body slammed by the opposing pitcher. what? umpires suspended the game until further notice. the pitcher faces potential disciplinary action including possible expulsion. police are investigating. who does this? >> this is a college pitcher. >> we'll be right back. >> wow. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire for copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition... ...or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling,... ...problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. - [narrator] this is steve. ...problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have vanished. 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[ expletive ] to swerving toward a pole. jesus. watch the bicyclist on the right almost get hit before the driver takes over. sometimes it seems the tesla doesn't want the driver to take over. i'm trying. this driver had to hit the brakes when the tesla didn't understand a detour sign. ok. here it almost hit a truck. obviously, i had to take over. and here it swerves into an oncoming lane. look at that! often, the tesla doesn't know what it wants to do. what is it doing? or just doesn't know how to turn. jesus, oh my god! tesla's full self driving software for drivers and pedestrians, it's unsafe at any speed. tell congress to shut it down. did you know you can get discounts on your meds even if you don't have a medicare prescription drug plan? it's true. all you have to do is go to singlecare.com type in your prescription, and then present the coupon to your pharmacist. it's that simple. not to mention, it's free. singlecare is accepted by major pharmacies across the country and it works for everyone, whether you have insurance or not. next time you need a prescription filled, go to singlecare to make sure you get the best price. visit singlecare.com and start saving today. netflix just announced for the first time in over a decade they've lost subscribers, and now their stock is crashing. netflix is blaming their losses on fierce competition, inflation, and russia. when he heard that, president biden was, like, hey, get your own excuses. that's -- but now netflix says they're open to launching lower-priced streaming plans with ads. that's right. entertainment with commercials. it's an innovative new concept called television. >> we're so spoiled. crowds are booing ads. we talked yesterday this time about the trouble of netflix and it's only gotten worse since then in those 24 hour finance streaming giant's stock fell by more than a third yesterday, 35% decline. it was so severe, it even brought down disney, discovery, roku, paramount faumg 5% to 8% at the closing bell themselves. joining us cnbc's "squawk box" co-anchor andrew ross sorkin. good to see you this morning. we were talking about this yesterday, that disappointing loss of subscribers that was released on tuesday from netflix, which was off by like 3 million. they said they were going to add 2.7 million subscribers. even that was seen as low by some analysts. what happened yesterday after we talked to drop this by a third? that's not an insignificant portion of their bottom line. >> to put it, by the way, in context, $54 billion just disappeared, went into money heaven somewhere. >> wow. >> that's how much money was lost in terms of total value over the course of one day. and really what's happening here is a rewriting of a narrative around netflix and a narrative around streaming and the prospect of it being as profitable and as big a market as perhaps people thought, at least in the most immediate term. we talked about how so many of these streamers have all been chasing -- orb traditional media companies chasing to become streamers, warnermedia, discovery, our parent company, nbc, nbcuniversal, everybody has been looking at netflix as a model. and i think there are now some real questions as to what that model ultimately looks like and how that stock turns around. you're looking at the stock right now effectively flat. but again, as we just said, down 35% just in the course of a day and has a lot of media executives scratching their heads. also, by the way, raising some prospects potentially given that the price has come down, about whether netflix itself one day becomes a takeover target. traditionally companies that long ago wished in retrospect they were able to buy netflix, now netflix given that it's $54 billion cheaper today than it was yesterday, i think there are people penciling out and raising questions, could they do it with washington, would the biden administration allow it? >> i mean, not funny for netflix, but we heard the joke coming in about, yeah, television -- you know, content with commercials is called television. i always -- we go through this churning and i always go back to the michael wolff book that i guess it came out about ten years ago. television is the new television. then he was talking about how in the late '90s it was aol that was going to take over everybody. at the end of the day, we're seeing it again. it was going to be streaming platforms. at the end of the day, those ads, i mean, it makes sense for wall street. you talked about this yesterday. but as an industry insider, talk about hulu. and the thing you don't understand, joe, is you don't want to see commercials so you probably have the $11, $12 hulu commercial free. i go yep. and this guy, this industry insider said, do you realize that hulu makes the overwhelming majority of its money, like 80% of it money, off the 499 subscribers who will watch the ads, pay $4.99 a month, and that's where they get all their money? it seems that that's a reality that obviously works for peacock. it's also a reality, though, that i think is probably facing netflix in the future, right? >> absolutely. look, reed hastings, the ceo of netflix, thought for a long time, the subscriber-only, no advertising was a better model partially because it was simpler, partially he thought it was about the experience. but when you think about the revenue possibilities longer term, you look at somebody paying $4.99, $7.99, plus the advertising, it makes up even more. they're making more off that customer, the advertising, plus then they are the person who's paying the full amount, the $11, $12, $13 for hulu you were talking about. there is potentially more money to be made that way. we'll see if netflix does that it way. >> speaking of streaming, let's talk act spotify. the obamas have been knocking heads over the past couple years, not about joe rogan but about money. spotify wanted it, the obamas dchblt. now they're leaving spotify and shopping for a new deal with tens of millions of dollars. >> this could be its own podcast original, a limited series on the drama between spotify and the obamas. spotify making a deal originally with them worth tens of millions of dollars. frustration on both sides. spotify was upset throughout that there weren't more podcasts being produced by the obamas with the obamas in them, not just with their name on them. and the obamas frustrated it was exclusive in staying only on spotify so they couldn't get to a wilder audience, effectively spotify saying we're not going to up that deal, and the obamas trying to sell a deal to others, iheartradio one of the names being bandied about, amazon another. we'll see where they land. of course they have that other deal with netflix. >> interesting. okay. >> all right. >> cnbc's andrew ross sorkin, thanks so much. greatly appreciate it. always good to see you. mika, we are minutes away from president joe biden updating the america and the world on ukraine. >> yep. that should be happening in the next five or so minutes. we'll take that live. coming up, a state of emergency issue nld arizona as a wildfire there blazes out of control. we'll bring you the latest. plus, we told you earlier this week about governor greg abbott's added inspections at the texas-mexico border. he's already cost the texas economy so much, and texas consumers. it's like a war on texas consumers. it turns out that move cost the state billions of dollars. i don't understand. i know he wants to own the libs, but don't hurt the great state of texas and texas consumers while you're doing it. >> he wants to undermine the president. >> i don't get it. >> as you mentioned, joe, president biden is set to update the country on the war in ukraine. >> a couple minutes away. >> we're back in just a moment. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire attention medicare beneficiaries, if you have or are eligible for medicaid, matching your job description. please listen closely. you may be eligible for a medicare advantage plan from wellcare with $0 or low plan premium. call now. we can answer your questions and help you enroll over the phone. wellcare provides access to essential benefits that go beyond original medicare such as dental, vision, hearing and prescription drug coverage with free home delivery. plus, extra benefits like: free over the counter healthcare items, free transportation, free gym membership and home delivered meals. get more access to care with wellcare's telehealth services, including online doctor visits and a 24-hour nurse advice line. wellcare is contracted with medicare to provide plans that may be perfect for you. call now. beautiful live picture of seattle at 6:42 in the morning. it is 9:42 on the east coast where any moment we're expecting remarks from president biden where nbc news has learned he will announce a new package about $800 million to aid ukraine in its fight against russia. let's look at the morning papers. the front page of "the arizona republic" capturing a devastating picture of destruction, a wildfire near flagstaff has burned nearly 20,000 acres. the flames are at zero percent containment as residents of more than 700 homes have been forced to evacuate. to texas, where "the dallas morning news" says a new report reveals republican governor greg abbott's recently lifted enhanced truck inspections that created long lines at the border cost the state more than $4 billion in goods and services, joe. >> whoa. yeah, you know, again, this is just a horrible example of somebody trying to own the libs. i remember on a smaller scale we had the story during the trump administration of a member of the trump administration going to buy really expensive sushi, went there, somebody said something nasty to him, he paid his money, then threw the sushi away. never figured out how that owned the libs. same thing here except on a massive scale. the great state of texas, the republic of texas, lost $4 billion because abbott was trying to own the libs. >> that's great. >> that's like a $4 billion self own. governor, abbott, you should know. don't mess with texas. the las vegas sun reports that while the numbers of visitors to the city has increased since the pandemic lows of 2020, economic researchers expect those will dip once again this year, citing declines in international visitors as a primary reason. wisconsin's post crescent reports that the state has received more than 200 reports of clergy abuse. a year after wisconsin's attorney general launched a formal investigation. south dakota's mitchell republic reports emergency department visits for teenage girls dealing with eating disorders doubled nation wade during the pandemic. the paper points out there are few treatment options available in many rural areas, forcing many girls to leave their state in order to seek help. that means many individuals go untreated. >> let me say, willie, this is such a crisis in america right now. we talked about eating disorders, talked about depression, talked about suicidal ideations, we've talked about all of the mental health challenges that not just teenage girls, teenage boys are facing. now, if you're in an urban area, in an area around a college, well, you can get the mental health treatment and parents can get the help they need for their children. but my god, in rural areas, and this story underlines something that i've heard from so many counselors, it's just so difficult to get good help in a lot of rural areas, and there are so many kids, so many children suffering there. >> in fact, things are headed in the other direction. rural hospitals are closing. there's actually less care than there was prior to that. and you're right, all of these problems have accelerated and been christmaser baltimored by the pandemic. we close with the front page of thephiladelphia "philadelphia inquirer" which says jay right is retiring. he won two national championships at villanova and guided the wildcats to four final-four appearances including one earlier this month, one of the game's all-time greats. we are moments away from president biden updating the country on the war in ukraine. his remarks will come as vladimir putin claims a success in mariupol as russians continue their offensive in the east. we'll take you live to the white house in just a moment. attention medicare beneficiaries, if you have or are eligible for medicaid, please listen closely. you may be eligible for a medicare advantage plan from wellcare with $0 or low plan premium. call now. we can answer your questions and help you enroll over the phone. wellcare provides access to essential benefits that go beyond original medicare such as dental, vision, hearing and prescription drug coverage with free home delivery. plus, extra benefits like: free over the counter healthcare items, free transportation, free gym membership and home delivered meals. get more access to care with wellcare's telehealth services, including online doctor visits and a 24-hour nurse advice line. wellcare is contracted with medicare to provide plans that may be perfect for you. call now. welcome back. any minute now president biden's going to update the country on the war in ukraine, which he's expected to announce a new $800 million military aid package. certainly a lot going on in ukraine over the past 12 hours. vladimir putin announcing that the attack of the steel plant in mariupol where the last holdouts are remaining is going to be put off. he's stalling that attack simply because he understands what an extraordinary price russia would have to pay if they went in and fought them in what clint watts explained to us was as bad of a military setting as attackers could actually ever confront. so that's going on right now. russia trying to make movement across donbas and president biden talking about a robust new military aid package to ukraine. we'll be hearing from the president in a minute. let's go right now to nbc news white house correspondent carol lee who joins us. any insights on what we can expect to hear? >> i'm told that the president is going to announce this $800 million military aid package that we reported that there are tens of thousands of more artillery rounds. that's something ukrainians desperately need. they're burning through this stuff quickly. there's also economic assistance that's part of this. but the real significant part is obviously that military aid that the ukrainians have been saying they desperately need. now the question is what exactly is in this package, what potential new capabilities might be included. some of that is going to require training for the ukrainians. and is it enough? if you look at what president zelenskyy and ukrainian officials have been saying, they just want more and want it more quickly. and so it stands to reason that this is going to be a very large package, but one of more to come very soon potentially because we've seen this now -- the pace of these packages really now picking up. >> you led me to my next question is volodymyr zelenskyy is not shy of what he needs and how desperately he needs it. you can understand that. $800 million last week, another $800 million expected to be announced today. most military analysts believe this conflict could go on for months if not years. how is the biden administration looking at its path to aiding ukraine in the long term? >> well, they have a large number they were authorized from congress to spend, some $13 billion. the question is how much, you know, the u.s. has certain things they can provide. they have a stockpile. they're obviously going through that at a rather rapid pace, but there are things they would like u.s. allies to provide. there's an effort to figure out what the u.s. has and how quickly they can get it to the ukrainians. but also what allies have. and i think what they're trying to do on a daily basis is assess what the needs are, what the top priorities are, and how to get it to the ukrainians if not from the administration then from other nato allies. but again, this is something from the ukrainians' perspective -- it's just never going to be enough unless they're getting things, you know, at a much more rapid pace. so i think to your point, really, the president of ukraine saying, thanks, where's the rest? what's next? >> we're watching for president biden who will be coming out any minute now to update the country on ukraine. we have carol lee with us. if the president doesn't come out, i want to get through this "wall street journal" editorial, "vladimir putin's gift to nato." they write, vladimir putin hoped that invading ukraine would make it splinter. this is a reminder that the bloc's growth is a response to and not the cause of russia's aggression. finland and sweden wouldn't be alliance free loaders. their strategic location in the baltic sea could be critical in a wider conflict with russia. finland already punches above its weight militarily and sweden can announce its defense spending increases. a secure europe serves american interests. joe, i just wonder, does it, or does it ratchet up thetension? >> the white house as well as most allies understand nato makes all the difference in the world. my gosh, sweden, finland, other countries have seen the big difference between being a member of nato, like poland, and not being a member of nato like ukraine. what a huge difference it makes. >> great point, joe. it's been a grim, stark display of what a difference it makes. i think that when you talk to administration officials, one of the things that they feel they've really gotten right to your point is uniting nato and keeping the alliance and showing that the alliance which had been under a lot of pressure and former president trump was really questioning whether it was legitimate and valid and necessary alliance at this point in time. that question from the administration's perspective has now been answered that it is. what this has done is really unite and fortify the alliance in a way that putin couldn't have anticipated. >> as you can see, we have our live cameras pointed inside the white house there. we're awaiting president biden to come out any moment now and update the country on the war in ukraine. we'll be waiting for that and we'll be carrying it live right here on msnbc. plus, the supreme court set to release decisions in the next few minutes. msnbc's breaking news coverage continues after a quick break. good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm josé díaz-balart. any minute now president biden is set to announce a new package of $800 million in military aid for ukraine. there you see our cameras are set up just outside the oval office at the white house where we're expecting the president to come and speak to the country in about a minute. we'll of course bring you that live as soon as it begins. meanwhile on the front lines, russians forces have seized the besieged port city of mariupol in what would be a critical victory for russian forces. putin called the operation in mariupol a success. he said there's no need to storm a steel plant that is reportedly sheltering ukrainian troops as well as hundreds of civilians. the city's mayor said officials do not have the ability to evacuate civilians fleeing the violence at this time. all this as the russian military said it tested a new intercontinental missile on wednesday, which could be capable of reaching the united states. the pentagon says russia gave the u.s. advanced notice as