where he reiterated america's support for the country against russian aggression by announcing a new $225 million aid package. nbc's kelly o'donnell is reporting from paris. also with us, mark mckinnon, former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain and creator of the circus. rick stengel is former under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. former biden transition team member and an msnbc political analyst. rick, it's good to have you here on set. so you just heard the president asking us to stay true to what america stands for, but how challenging is it in this moment when there's so much division about what this country stands for. >> yes, and there hasn't been a moment, i think, since the end of the cold war where democracy itself was so much under threat. for the last 20 years, the number of countries that democracies have been increasing, and tyrannies and authoritarian states are coming to the fore.