that's going to do it for us for tonight. i will see you again tomorrow night. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. a new push to shore up ukraine, now and in the months to come. as president biden prepares to ask congress for a new aide package. and it goes beyond military support. plus, a new video from a ukrainian military commander holed up inside that steel plant in mariupol. pleading with the international community to quote extract everyone as soon as possible. we'll get a live report from ukraine. plus, dr. anthony fauci clarified comments he made that the united states is now quote out of the pandemic phase. we'll tell you what he's saying now.

good morning. and welcome to "way too early." on this thursday, april 28th. i'm jonathan lemire. president biden is expected to ask congress to fund a new aid package for ukraine today, and in scheduled remarks from the white house this morning, two sources tell nbc news, that the president will lay out the details of a quote massive request, which is intended to last through september. the u.s. has already provided ukraine with more than $3 billion in aid since the invasion began, including an $800 million package that was announced last week. following that spending, president biden said the white house had nearly run out of funding authorized by congress. prices for natural gas have increased after russia stoked tensions by cutting off exports to poland and bulgaria for refusing to pay with russian rubles. both countries are members of nato, and are heavily reliant on

russian natural gas. but so far, officials in those two countries say the action taken by russia won't have much impact. poland's climate minister stressed yesterday that the country was already prepared for such a situation after working for years to diversify its energy supply. and bulgaria's energy minister says the country has enough natural gas for at least the next month. meanwhile, in germany, a country what is heavily reliant on russian gas a top official says the country would be able to live off of existing reserves until at least the winter if russia decides to halt exports there, too. more heavy weaponry continues to reach ukraine as the biden administration rushes artillery to the battlefield. according to the pentagon, ukrainian troops now have more than half of the 90 howitzers that the u.s. pledged to send. >> the munitions continue to flow into ukraine, the united states is helping coordinate.

we know they're expending rounds every single day of all different types and calibers. and we're doing everything we can, the flow continues, to make sure that they can stay in the fight. >> russia meanwhile continued to escalate its rhetoric yesterday, with president putin warning of quote, lightning fast retaliation should the west interfere in ukraine. meanwhile, ukrainian marine commander is appealing to the world for urgent help to evacuate the thousands of civilians and fighters trapped inside that steel plant in mariupol. in a video posted online yesterday, he urged the international community to quote extract everyone as soon as possible. he said in part this, the situation is very difficult. there's a big problem with water, food, and other supplies. he also said there are 600 injured fighters inside the factory, adding that there are no medications or personnel that could help them. meanwhile, local officials accused russian forces of

terrorizing their remaining civilians in the besieged city and usaid saying that ukrainian citizens are stripped of their phone, screened and identified through a so-called filtration process before they can enter or move within mariupol. a ukrainian human rights official said that russian citizens do not need any permanent identification. raf sanchez joins us from ukraine. thank you for being with us, we just read a little bit of this urgent appeal by the commander who is inside that mariupol steel plant, describing a truly, a truly desperate situation. give us the very latest as to what is happening in there, and is there any plan, any chance that those people can get out? >> jonathan, this was a desperate appeal from the depths of what remains of that steel plant. ukrainian marine commander he is

saying that 600 of his men are wounded and they do not have the medical supplies they need and they will die down there in the dark innocence those tunnels if there isn't some kind of evacuation. he appealed to pope francis to use his good offices to try to broker an agreement here and he actually compared the situation to dunnkirk, in the second world war, when british and french forces were on that beach in northern france, hopelessly surrounded by nazi german troops but still able against all odds to make an evacuation, and he is hoping something on the miraculous scale of that can be achieved here in mariupol. jonathan, i will tell you, nothing is looking hopeful right now. the secretary general of the united nations is here, in ukraine, today, he's starting his visit, in byoranka, one of the suburbs of kyiv where russian forces appear to have carried out war crimes, when he was in moscow two days ago sitting with vladimir putin at

one of the very long table, he said the russian president had agreed in principle to allow the u.n. and red cross to go down to mariupol and try to get those fighters and civilians out of the steel plant, and two days later we are not seeing any signs on the ground that any kind of internationally brokered evacuation is going ahead. and every single day, in the tunnels, underneath that steel plant, the situation just growing ever more dire for the soldiers and for the civilians. >> jonathan, it wouldn't be the first time that putin broke his word during this war. raf, there were protests yesterday in hersong, the only major ukrainian city to this point has fallen under russian control, you got to speak to. so people inside that city, tell us more, what's happening there? >> jonathan, it isn't in the news every day in kherson because there isn't a lot of fighting there but what happens there really matters and the

only city under total russian control and the city that looks most in danger of being annexed into russia. just this morning the russian officials say they will start using the ruble in shops in kherson and start handing out russian passports to citizens there an from president zelenskyy perspective, this is an ominous sign that russia may be wanting to re-run the play book from 2014 in crimea in kherson to stage a sham referendum and claim that 97.9% of people in kherson want to be part of russia and then to annex that city. we have been speaking to people who are still trapped inside, they say they are living in fear every day. they say even speaking ukrainian, not russian, is enough to attract the wrong kind of attention from russian troops. we met one man named arter, who escaped two weeks ago and he described passing through a checkpoint, run by chechen soldiers, where people were

searching cell phones. take a listen to what he had to say. >> translator: the first checkpoint was the most difficult because at that first checkpoint, the soldiers checked the phones and passports very carefully. >> were you afraid at that checkpoint? >> translator: yes, i was afraid. in the morning before the evacuation, there were rumors that our convoy is going to be attacked. or they're going to check everyone, including all men. >> reporter: now jonathan, ukrainian military says 300 men from kherson have disappeared from russian troops and many are tortured and many former soldier ors political activists of the mayor says dunnman showed up at -- gunman showed up at his offices earlier this week and took control of city buildings and forced him and his staff to relocate to another location. so jonathan, all of this, a very

grim picture of what may be to come in mariupol and other ukrainian cities that end up under full russian control. jonathan? >> nbc's raf sanchez, thank you for bringing that report to us. stay safe there. we'll talk to you again soon. still ahead on "way too early," republicans rally around kevin mccarthy. after he's recorded blaming former president trump for the january 6th capitol attack. the new narrative that they're trying to craft about that revealing audio. plus, some cautiously optimistic comments about the end of the pandemic, from dr. fauci. we'll explain those and take a look at several more stories and a check of the weather when we come back. weather when we come back.

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house republicans gathered for their first conference meeting since leaked audiotapes revealed that minority leader

kevin mccarthy thought donald trump should resign after january 6th. mccarthy told members he was only discussing scenarios about trump. the audio however tells a different story. and here's how one member reconciled that. >> did you listen to the mccarthy audio that was released? >> sure i did. >> and what was your response as an american. >> my response is that he was, you see, i know the -- >> you think he didn't say that. >> i'm not sure. in what context. >> the consistent talking points from mccarthy and his members, that the focus should be on inflation, immigration and crime. mccarthy got a standing ovation and several members predicted he will still become house speaker if the republicans take control this november. however, sources inside the room tell nbc news that mccarthy and number two house republicans steve scalise did bump heads

with gaetz and marjorie taylor greene that revealed concern about their own rhetoric and greene demanded an apology which she did not get. in an effort to contain the outbreak of cases authorities in china have ordered covid-19 testing for around 20 million people. the move is triggered panic as residents fear a harsh lockdown. nbc news correspondent janis mackey frayer has the details. >> chinese authorities ordering mass covid testing in beijing. nearly 20 million people. to contain an outbreak of what officials say is roughly 140 cases. it triggered panic buying at stores. at one point, some shelves stripped bare, despite the government saying there's enough food. the growing worry here, that a lockdown is coming. that's what is happening in shanghai. a citywide lockdown of 25 million people now in its fourth

week. authorities using harsh tactics to enforce it like metal fencing around apartments to barricade residents in their own homes, mass quarantine centers full and the government has put down protests and drones say control your desire for freedom. and at nyu, students are stuck in their dorm, anna catalina is one of several american students there. >> i do get a little frustrated that it has to keep going on this long. >> two years since the pand, china's zero covid strategy now faces its biggest test. . >> back here at home, u.s. health officials are continuing to wrestle with the next stage of the pandemic. here's what dr. anthony fauci, the nation's top infection disease expert said during an interview with pbs news hour on tuesday. >> we are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic

phase. namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day, and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths. we are at a low level right now. >> yesterday, fauci clarified his comments and said that the pandemic is not over, and rather, this. the acute component of the pandemic phase is. that will clear it up. and he also warned that people should be mindful of the disease particularly as cases rise in portions of the country. after two years of pandemic restriction, the white house correspondent associations dinner is returning this weekend and thousands of journalists and government officials including president biden will be there saturday night. but a senior administration official tells nbc news that dr. fauci will skip the dinner amid concerns about covid, and there are a number of white house officials are worried that this

weekend's festivities may become another super spreader event like the grid iron club dinner was a few weeks ago, almost 100 people got sick from that. recently, a flow of positive tests have come out of washington, including vice president kamala harris. and press secretary jen psaki said yesterday despite the rising cases still plans to go to dinner and would only arrive for the speeches part of the evening and likely keep his mask on except when he is giving his public address. we will keep you posted. ahead in sports, two more teams advance to the second round of the nba playoffs. and the final spot in the nhl playoffs decided and things get heated in st. louis. "way too early" will be right back.

40 seconds. curry gets it back. double teamed. curry.

left hand. steph curry and the warriors put the nuggets to bed in game five. curry's 30 points led golden state last night, past denver, 102-98. and on to the second round of the nba playoffs. the warriors who seem to be peaking at the right time will meet the memphis grizzlies or the minnesota timberwolves in the western conference semifinals. grizzlies are up in that series 3-2. in milwaukee, the defending champion books sent the bulls home for the summer. milwaukee beat the bulls 116-100 last night to finish off their first round series also in five games. this is going to be a good one. the bucks head next to boston, for game one of their eastern conference semifinal matchup against the celtics this weekend. the last spot left in the upcoming quest for lord stanley's cup has been decided. and for the first time in its short franchise history, the las vegas golden knights are out of

the nhl post-season field. on the ropes, a 4-3 shootout loss, with the chicago blackhawks last night snuffed out any remaining playoff hopes for las vegas. instead the dallas stars clinched the final playoff spot in the western conference with a 4-3 overtime loss to the arizona coyotes. the 16 team stanley cup playoff field is set. two games to go to determine the seeding. playoffs start next week. starting to major league baseball and north of the border and toronto, and the boston red sox alex cora had missed six games with covid-19 and with it the sox saw the end of the four-game losing streak beating the blue jays 7-1. in the bronx, yankees slugger giancarlos stanton had the first homerun had in 14 games with that two-run shot in the first inning.

career homerun number 350 for stanton and the yankees beat the orioles 5-2. sadly, now in sole possession of first place in the american league east for the first time this season, you can see the standings there, never too early. and finally, tempers reached a boiling point between the mets and the cardinals in st. louis yesterday. in the top of the 8th, jd davis became the sixth mets player to be hit by a pitch in what became a very heated three-game series. so leading off the bottom of the frame for the cardinals, nolan arronado took exception to a first pitch fastball up and in and after some words, he charged the mound and both teams spilled out on to the field. arrenado held on, with the mets. how is it looking, michelle with the weather? >> good morning, onthan, the

first time in two and a half years, dc, see you next week. cold air this morning. we need the jackets and 19 million americans under some sort of freeze alert, freeze warnings, that's where we're seeing the hot pink from the ohio valley, the great lakes, into the interior northeast and temperatures really, really chilly. the jet stream and the dividing line between the temperature clashes off to the west, temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal for this time of the year and even 90 degrees in amarillo, back to the west, looking at temperatures even colder than that, so it is 12 degrees colder in buffalo, and 50, or 12 degrees below average, 50 degrees by this afternoon. and new york, 57 degrees. and look at that tomorrow, too, we are not going to rebound until we go through the later part of the weekend, into the earlier part of next week. this is what is happening in the middle of the country, a front that is sort of parked over the plains and going to bring rounds of thunderstorms today, also tomorrow, and into saturday, so as we go throughout time here, we will see moderate risk tomorrow, and enhanced risk, three out of five with the

severe scale so looking at a chance of two inch hail, large hail and damaging winds and a few tornadoes. jonathan? >> michelle grossman, i'm sorry to miss you there at 30 rock but the set looks great. see you soon. thank you for the forecast today. still ahead, honoring the life and legacy of madeline albright. we'll show you what some top u.s. leaders had to say about the former secretary of state at her funeral yesterday. and coming up, in just a bit, congresswoman debbie dingell will be my best as democrats try to tackle in flaigs ahead of the midterms. we'll be back in just a minutes. s more food particles. fear no food. new poligrip power hold and seal. (driver 1) it's all you. fear no food. (driver 2) no, i insist. (driver 1) it's your turn. (driver 2) nope, i think it's your turn. (driver 1) i appreciate you so much, thank you so much... go. (driver 2) i appreciate your appreciation. it fills me. (burke) safe drivers save money with farmers.

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welcome back to "way too early," it's just before 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this thursday morning. i'm jonathan le mire. the nation's leaders both past and present came together to remember and honor madeline albright, the country's first female secretary of state who passed away last month from cancer at the age of 84. and nbc news chief washington correspondent andrea mitchell has more on her life and legacy. >> leaders from all over the world celebrating the woman who came to america as an 11-year-old refugee. her family escaping the nazis and then communism. rising to become america's first female to be secretary of state. honored by two presidents. >> madeline albright was a big part of the reason nato was still strong. and galvanized. as it is today. >> we love you, madeline, we

miss you, but i pray to god we never stop hearing you. just sit on our shoulder and unite us so we do the right thing. god bless you. thank you. >> the heart of the service, the women she mentored, wearing her signature pins, led by hillary clinton. >> the angels better be wearing their best pins and putting on their dancing shoes because if as madeline believed there is a special place in hell for women who don't support other women, they haven't seen anyone like her yet. >> above her, her three daughters. >> dying was never on mom's schedule. with a hole in the hearts that

we lack the power to close but the memory of her love and the resilience of her example will remain with us. >> joining us now, washington correspondent for bloomberg tv and radio, ann marie, good to see you again this morning. you had specifically highlighted that sound bite we had heard from president biden about madeline albright's impact on nato and nato tested today with russia's invasion of ukraine. give us a sense as to how nato stands today. >> i think the president was right when he said nato was galvanized and good morning, i think over the past 48 hours, we have seen that front and center. the secretary of defense lloyd austin hosting nato members and other countries as well, 40 countries and their defense secretaries at a u.s. air base in germany talking about a coordinated response, and also saying that they want to make these meetings more regular as they deal with the crisis in ukraine, and then just a few

hours ago, at the nato headquarters in brussels, you had stoltenberg, the secretary general, coming out and saying that $8 billion so far from nato countries has been given in terms of weapon supplies to ukraine. this is a massive amount of money. and now they're talking about expansion of nato. and saying that sweden and finland, their forces meet the criteria. that would be a massive continuation of the alliance and get the attention, has already gotten the attention of the kremlin. >> putin's efforts to destabilize the alliance has seemed to, for the most part, it has only brought them closer together. sit tight for a second. let's get an update on this story we talked about yesterday. we're learning more about the diplomatic efforts from free a marine veteran from russia. "the new york times" reports that the former new mexico governor bill richardson started the negotiations on the prisoner swap that freed trevor reed, and richardson flew to moscow a day before russia invaded ukraine.

the video released by russian state tv shows soldiers helping reed on to a plane. the marine veteran from texas was arrested almost three years ago, after russian authorities said he assaulted a police officer following a night of heavy drinking. reed and his family throughout this have maintained his innocence. in exchange for reed's release, president biden commuted the sentence of constantine yereshenko seen here on russian state tv already back in moscow, a russian pilot who was arrestsed in liberia in 2010, and convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the u.s. he had served more than half of his 20-year sentence. so give us a sense here, as this comes against the backdrop of the war, and tensions, rising tensions between russia and the u.s. how, if any, impact, what if any impact did that have on this negotiation to get reed home? >> it does seem like this is a different track of course, and i think a lot of people were

shocked, right? this is a rare moment of compromise between washington and moscow and signals things can potentially get done on a bilateral relationship between the two even though they are in a tense moment of heightened tensions right now between the two. i think what was notable yesterday, john, is the president put out this statement, he said he had to make a difficult decision to bring trevor reed home. and it did not mention the russian citizen that they did that swap. with and then going forward, i think what really looms large, and the questions that are going to be now, put to the president, is of course, what happens to the other americans, that are imprisoned in russia? we also have a former marine, paul leland and the american wnba star, brittney griner. so these are going to be questions about potentially, what this signals, that there is a moment or an ability to cooperate on issues that both moscow and washington want to see get done. >> yes, and the separation from what we're seeing in ukraine.

one last quick one for you, obviously, significant development yesterday, with russia cutting off energy supplies to bulgaria, and poland, and give us a quick sense as to the ramifications of that, and do we think that russia might do that again to more european countries? >> i got to be honest you with, it is complicated and confusing at the moment. it seems that putin may be testing the waters with poland and bulgaria, and both of the countries have a lot of stores, but the shock in the short term is going to be less of a big deal. bloomberg exclusively reported yesterday though that four companies already had paid for gas supplies in rubles. this is what the kremlin is beemding and ten have set up accounts to potentially pay for rubles if they, with rubles if they were forced to but the european union is saying if you do that, you are going against sanctions and lot of companies are very confused and european countries and consumers are worried about what happened to

natural gas. the weather is on europe's side. it is very nice in terms of the weather. but the issue is these months are critical to build up storage supplies of natural gas to make sure they can heat their homes in the fall and the winter. this year. so the big question mark is what country is going to next. and all eyes are on germany. >> we will be following that closely in the days and weeks ahead. bloomberg's ann marie, thank you for being with us today. still ahead live with cnbc for an early check of markets as wall street reacts to an after-hours surge by facebook. plus, buy a round for ukraine. we will tell you about the beer that is helping the relief efforts. that is next on "way too early." f efforts. that is next on "way too early."

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yesterday, clawed back some losses after a significant selloff the day earlier. what is today looking like in the markets around the world? >> i think yesterday was a welcome change of pace for many investors, and stabilization on wall street, after the rollercoaster of several sessions we've seen recently, and one of the big stories yesterday was the continued strength in the dollar, and it's continued to match higher, and an absolute tear, up about 5% this month, nearly 2% on the week. and typically the dollar is a safe haven asset and it would make sense it is rallying during uncertain times and the fed poised to raise interest rates at a faster pace than other countries around the world lending more support to the u.s. dollar. as for u.s. equity markets today, it looks like we're in for a positive start to trade and looking at u.s. futures we've got a lot more earnings coming up, a few of the big ones to watch, apple, amazon and twitter. >> big tech earnings continue to roll out this week. facebook's parent meta among those released yesterday. give us a sense as to what we

saw, what more we may get. >> well, pretty extraordinary price action, i would say, in response to these results from meta, shares surged double digits after hours yesterday, and this is the first time that meta updated the market since their butyl q4 earnings, and -- brutal q4 earnings and you may remember in february, when they delivered result, the stock plunged 26% and they reported a drop in daily active users. this time around the key metric that investors are cheering is daily active user, after declining in q4, they bounced back in q1. and facebook also exceeded expectations for average revenue per user, but let's put the rally into context, the stock is still down significantly on the year. so pretty positive reaction, but nothing compared to how far down we've come. >> and here's a different one. beginning next month, annheuser busch is bringing the most popular beer brand to the united

states with proceeds going to those impacted by the war in europe. tell us a little bit more about this. >> so this is a beer, i'm going to have to ask any ukrainians out there who are listening if you can correct me on the pronunciation, it is the most popular beer brand, and in ukraine, and it's now going to be brewed at ab inbev newark new jersey factory and sold in l.a. and new york and houston and phoenix and you can check out the web site to see the exact locations but the beer sales will go to humanitarian relief in the country and in addition to beer sales the company will be donating about $5 million to humanitarian aid organizations including a nonprofit called care ukraine crisis fund. look out for that if you live in any of those cities. >> it probably matters less how you pronounce it and just how it tastes. cheers to cnbc's julianna tatelbaum live from london. thank you for that. still ahead, high gas prices and record inflation are a big problem for democrats ahead of

this november's midterms. we will talk about possible actions to fight both with michigan congresswoman debbie dingell, she joins us next on "way too early." "way too early." (driver) conventional thinking would say verizon has the largest and fastest 5g network. but, they don't. they only cover select cities with 5g. and with coverage of over 96% of interstate highway miles, they've got us covered. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake

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democrats are looking to combat political fallout with rising gas prices with a flurry of new bills aimed at tackling inflation. democratic leadership is looking at several possible measures. the caucus chair, congressman jeffries told reporters that lawmakers on the left have expressed an interest in pausing the gas tax. drivers currently pay about 18 cents per gallon to the federal government. the "washington post" reports party lawmakers are eyeing new ways to combat price gouging, saying oil and gas conglomerates have manipulated markets to pad their bottom lines. some in the party are pushing to adopt the bills before memorial day weekend, a travel heavy holiday that marks the unofficial beginning of summer but democrats face a tough fight to fuelly get anything passed --

to actually get anything passed. joining us now, one of our favorites congressman debbie dingell of michigan. great to see you this morning. tell us a little bit about what other measures congress is taking to try to combat inflation and lower some of these surging consumer prices? >> look, first of all, inflation is real. and it's real at the gas pump and it's real in the grocery store, and if you're home, that's what you're hearing and you're seeing when you're in the grocery store shopping, and we've talked about all of those options we just mentioned, and i think price gouging is the one that we're going to try and get as the quickest, people have talked about some of the states have done holidays on gas tax, and some of the oil companies aren't passing those dollars on, those savings on to the consumers, and we're worried about how we make sure the consumers feel it. but the price of food is also very real. when you're in that grocery store, i now have to spend longer in the store because people talk to me and i want to

listen to them, and we're looking at, the agriculture committee is looking at how to lower the cost of agriculture. i talk to my farmers every weekend when i'm at the farmer's markets. we know it's real. you know, it would be good if republicans, instead of like senator rick scott, saying inflation is a gold mine for them politically, if we could all get together, and really try to do something, because we really do, yes, this week, they didn't confirm lisa cook to the federal reserve board, they did more delays, tactics, we need to get the federal reserve back up, and what needs to be done with federal policy, there are a lot of different things we need to be doing, including in my auto state, the ford profits were down, yesterday, significantly, and we got a whole lot of orders for vehicles that we can't fill because we can't get the chips to come through. >> and as a democrat close to the white house, and talk about the two g's, gas and groceries right now, in terms of how

americans feel about where things are heading, and that's where i want to go with you next. there are certainly growing warnings that the nation may be heading into recession. later this year or next. what's your sense of that? what kind of impact will that have? >> well, i think none of us want to see a recession. and i think it's really important right now, that we be looking at policies that try to head that off. and unemployment is at one of the lowest levels ever. i believe if you follow this, still one of the best of the american academy, and what is happening there is impacting well, i mean it does impact what's going to happen on the recession, i'm hoping that we can all work together, and get some policies in place, that will try to head off that recession that some say could be there, and that's something that none of us, if you're a democrat or a republican, should want right now for our economy. >> congresswoman, one last for you, no one uses the phrase

build back better anymore, the white house has banned that, but there are still elements of what the president's former agenda, they're still trying to get through the senate this year and through congress, and can you give us an update where things stand particularly about issues with climate and energy? >> i think we have energy? >> we have to get something done, jonathan. i saw senator manchin yesterday at madeline's funeral. i know he is having quiet talks with people. there are other quiet talks going on. i'm certainly pushing because there's some critical things that we cannot get done, that we have put out there as targets, if we don't get some of the policies. not all policies have to be negotiated on front cable shows, morning headlines. there was too much drama last fall. there are key, critical things we must get down. i am and will continue to work with my colleagues, pushing white house leadership, both chambers, that we need to get some things done. >> well, we're all for policy

being negotiated on this particular cable show, so let's make sure we have that exception clear. >> i know. >> congresswoman -- i know, i understand. congresswoman debbie dingell, we appreciate it, as always. thank you for being with us this morning. up next, a big loophole in the covid rules for saturday nights white house correspondents association dinner. coming up on "morning joe," senator chris coons weighs in on a new aid package for ukraine. plus, the head of ukrainian railways about the impact of missiles that hit five train stations across the country. and the leader of the democratic movement in belarus joins the conversation live on set. "morning joe" a few moments away. away your heart is at the heart of everything you do. and if you have heart failure,

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our friend, mike allen. good morning. what is the axios 1 big thing today? >> good morning, jonathan. the axios 1 big thing is republican ad rage, advertising rage. you could call this channelling trump. we looked across the country at republican candidates for house and senate and looked at their ads in these primaries. they're very trump-like in their rage. a great example of this is in texas. republican congressman van taylor. he is a member of the bipartisan problem solvers caucus. in past cycles, he's had ads talking about his bipartisan legislaive record, what he's done. this cycle, talking about the swamp, talking about the radical left, talking about the woke mob. it's all part of republican voters, the trump base,

demanding that their candidates show they're angry. jonathan, the twist in this is trump voters were angry, put him in office. now polling and research indicates they're angrier that he is out of office. we talked to a top republican campaign official who said voters are angry. our ads are reflecting that. >> mike, president biden just concluded his fifth quarter of his time in office, meaning the first few months of 2022. where can you tell us about his approval rating, and what does it mean going forward? >> yeah, we're doing the fifth quarter in honor of the nfl draft kicking off. i'm calling this biden versus history. jonathan, you know from your conversations in the west wing, a little glum right now, right? they know that the best indicator of what's going to happen in the midterms in november is the president's approval rating now. so look at this number, 41% approval, the lowest in gallup.

we see here the history of that. this is the lowest any president has been in this quarter, the fifth quarter of their presidency, going back 68 years. going back to eisenhower. the exception, trump. biden is at 41%. trump was at 39%. jonathan, here's one other data point that leaped out at me and just shows how things have changed. there also was a harvard institute of politics poll, iop, that showed 41%, the same number, of young people like biden. look at this, that is an 18-point drop from when he took office. he was up at 59%. >> yeah, i think for young people, issues like climate change, student loan debt, though there has been talk about cancelling some of that, those are issues that matter to them. the president haas yet to move on it, though. white house officials say they know poll numbers aren't great now, but they think they have time to turn this around before november. as you know, mike, it is white

house correspondents dinner weekend. series of events next couple days, culminating in the big dinner on saturday. president biden is going to be there. this is the first time we've had the dinner in a few years because of the pandemic. there are legitimate covid worries for a gathering of this size. we all know what happened at the gridiron a few weeks ago. axios discovered a covid loophole for saturday. tell us about that. >> jonathan, around town, a lot of our colleagues are trying on their tuxes and finding they need emergency adjustments. but the scoop is from axios d.c., our axios local newsletter, paige hopkins. she found a loophole. white house correspondents association members and their guests to go to saturday night's dinner, the first since 2019, have to show they've taken a covid test. but the loophole is that at the washington hilton, the people who will be serving that

beautiful dinner are members of the union that don't require covid test or vaccination. we talked to the union. they said that the hotel could have negotiated that. they have had some covid requirements for some other events. the union tells us that that was not done for this event. the hilton didn't want to talk about it, but axios is told those servers will be wearing masks. >> yeah. certainly, those guests at the dinner have to show proof of vaccination or a same-day covid test. that is a noteworthy loophole. we heard president biden will attend. he wants to pay tribute to journalists, the first amendment, but likely will be masksed when not speaking and won't be there for the dinner portion. only the speeches. they're limiting his time there for covid concerns, as well. mike allen, thank you. thanks to all of you for

getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. now, it's been said that i urged my husband to nominate her as our first female secretary of state. unlike much that's said, this story is true. and i was thrilled when he agreed. when dictators dragged their feet or ambassadors filibustered, madeleine never hesitated to speak up. just in case they didn't get the message, she would put on a snail pin to signal her impatience. a dozen times a day, she would ask her team