six days ago russia's vladimir putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. but he badly miscalculated he thought he could roll into ukraine and the rld would rollover instead he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined he met ukrainian people. >> president biden delivering a powerful message to vladimir putin during his first "state of

the union" as russian military strikes escalate around ukraine. >> then our andrea mitchell on what vladimir putin's end game is and parents from georgia trying everything they can to get their newborn twins enukraine via surrogate into the united states. i president biden delivered his first "state of the union" address. the first item on the agenda was russia's bombardment of ukraine. >> the united states department of justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of the russian oligarchs. we're joining with european allies to fine and seize theiruates, their luxury apartments, their private jets we're coming for your ill begotten gains, and tonight i'm announcing we'll join our allies

in closing off american airspace to all russian flights, further isolating russia and adding additional squeeze on their economy. >> the ukrainian ambassador to the u.s. was a guest of hawn, and blue and yellow could be seen throughout the chamber as members of congress showed their support for ukraine. brie, good morning the president spent a little over 10 minutes talking about the crisis of ukraine and the rest of the speech focused on issues here at home. >> good morning, francis that's right president biden used this as an opportunity to make his case for a lot of stalled domestic priorities he talked about investing in clean energy, child care and better medical benefits for veterans the night was also a bit of a victory lap in the fight against covid with the chamber mostly maskless meanwhile the president said his top priority is getting prices under control. >> one way to flight inflation

is to drive down wages and make americans poorer i think i have a better idea of inflation. lower your costs, not your wages. instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let's make it in america. and now we're launching the test to treat initiative so people can get tested at a pharmacy and if they prove positive receive the anti-viral pills on the spot at no cost we should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. it's to fund them. fund them. the most fundamental right in america is the right to vote and have it counted. and look, it's under assault in state after state new laws have been passed not only to suppress the vote. we've been there before. but to subvert the entire election we can't let this happen

>> congresswoman rashida tlaib of michigad the response from the progressive working family's party she called on president biden to use executive power to pass voting righted protections immediately. and iowa's governor kim reynolds was chosen to deliver the republicans response and criticized the democrats spending plan. >> the president and democrats in congress have spent the last year either ignoring the issues facing americans or making them worse. they were warned that spending trillions would lead to soaring inflation. they were told that their anti-energy policies would send gas prices to new heights, but they plowed ahead anyway >> notably last night democrat senator joe manchin was sitting in the republican section. his spokeswoman said he wanted to sit with his colleague to show partisanship is alive and well in the senate

president biden will travel to wisconsin to continue promoting his infrastructure plan. >> as americans digest everything from the past 24 hours here at home and of course abroad thank you, brie. ukraine is under heavy attack as the russian invasion enters its seventh day russian forces launched hundreds of missile strikes hitting several cities in kharkiv this is what was left of a government building in the town's freedom square after it was bombed according to state officials seven people died and 24 injured in the attack including a child. missile strikes also targeted kyiv's main tv tower crippling their tv stations. five people were injured in that blast. in a video message ukrainian president zelenskyy rallied his country saying they will not back down and will continue fighting for freedom nbc's matt bradley is following the latest for us. >> reporter: it was kharkiv's freedom square that took a

colossal hit russia pounding the civilian center of ukraine's second largest city its opera house damaged. first responders rushing bodies and injured people out seven people died, 24 wounded according to ukrainian state officials. president volodymyr zelenskyy still defiant condemned the square attack. this is the price of freedom, he said what a morning just one part of a day of destruction in kharkiv with civilians carrying the bulk of the burden russian rockets also destroyed this residential building. in response this city has moved underground. >> this is my little child we have nowhere to go or how we will live tomorrow please, we don't have enough food for my baby >> reporter: she's sheltering with her five-month old baby and

other family members in their basement supplies and morale are low and getting lower. a whole maternity ward moved to a bomb shelter one rocket devastated a house just behind where they were sheltering sergei he was in the subway system for days with his wife and son walking to find supplies and food but everything here is dwindling. only hope remains. >> hundreds of thousands of ukrainian refugees continue toflee the country as ukraine's humanitarian crisis grows more dire by the day. poland's deputy interior minister telling a ukrainian station more than 450,000 ukrainians entered thursday. how have these border crossings developed since we last spoke with you 24 hours ago? >> reporter: there's a lot of help that's gathered outside of

border crossings i mean thousands and thousands of people are fleeing ukraine every day. you can see many people who arrive this morning gathered up on top of that hill taking a minute to get some food, to regroup, to wait for a ride. inside this white tent there are even more people having a meal for many of them it might be the first meals they've had in days because oftentimes when they talk to people they talk to us about spending days traveling, leaving where they lived in ukraine. these made by volunteers who came from georgia. russia invaded georgia in 2008, and they told us they wanted to come help because they know what this feels like. most of the people we've seen, like these people here are college students from somewhere other than ukraine, and they were studying when this attack first happened we watched as just people pile off there. the majority of the time it's women, children.

more people down this way as well, mothers who have bravely left behind everything they know to try and give their children a chance to grow up somewhere safe everyone we've spoken to, they want to go home. they want to be back in ukraine living their normal lives, but they cannot do that when bombs are falling on their homes, and no one knows when that might stop the people that we have met, francis, the ukrainians, they're so incredibly strong, they will talk to you about hiding in bomb shelters, about the long journey here, about things they have seen, and they will tell it calmly when they break down is where we ask them who they have left behind, it is their fathers, their husbands, their sons and they don't know right now -- they hope but they don't know if they'll ever see them again. >> gut wrenching stories of separation and survival. allison, thank you >> nbc news is projecting a texas sized showdown in the

state race for governor. former congressman beto o'rourke will take on incumbent greg abbott in the texas governor's race this fall o'rourke cruised to the party's nomination winning more than 90% of the vote according to nbc news projections and governor abbott fended off a wave of challengers avoiding a runoff with about 67% of the vote this was the first time the state's strict new voting laws were put to the test which could play a huge role in the mid-term election a swing and a miss is leading to a shorten baseball season mlb in a statement the commissioner rob manfred says the players and owners want to deal with the players as soon as possible it's united in negotiating a fair deal. now we turn to weather and nbc meteorologist bill karins.

what's the morning going to be like >> the northwest is still the area that has the rain and clouds we have a lot of our rivers in flood stages besides that the rest of the country is like what's going on? for early march temperatures should not be in the 80s in kansas city and missouri so potential record highs today. st. louis, we're very warm all the way through texas. even d.c. to virginia is warming up significantly charlotte at 75 degree tomorrow it continues. we should hit 80 in savannah these temperatures are about 15 to 20 degrees warmer than normal and finally in the northeast looks like sunday to monday is when you'll get chances

one on saturday and on monday in areas of colorado. we'll take a look at that weekend forecast coming up >> something to look forward to. the incredible story of parents from georgia trying to desperately to get their primi twins born by a surrogate out of ukraine that's coming up next blch ful. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is the first medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask your doctor

about tremfya® today. hello, how can i? ask your doctor sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops in honey lemon chill for fast acting sore throat relief ♪ahhh!♪ wooo! vaporize sore throat pain with a georgia couple is desperately trying to unite with their newborn twins. the preemie's were born half a world away to a surrogate in ukraine. >> reporter: like all premature babies they were born tough, but the twin brothers are fighting harder than any newborn ever should >> it's unimaginable, what can i say. it's impossible to wrap your mind around. >> reporter: new parents couldn't be with their surrogate at the end of a challenging

pregnancy when she gave birth friday at 32 1/2 weeks in kyiv they were in the u.s. when their preemie twins came into the world. the infants somehow sleeping soundly with the sounds of war in the distance. from another continent mom and dad working the phones trying to find a safe ride to a better hospital, one with its own basement bomb shelter. getting the babies out of ukraine entirely even more challenging. >> the fact they're premature plays against us so there's a conflict. they need to stay put, we need to take them out >> reporter: struggling to breathe. mom and dad hunting down special preemie milk >> i went to the pharmacy in the morning by the afternoon it was already shelled and closed >> reporter: a pediatrician and their surrogate are still watching over the four-day old

boys putting their own lives at risk to keep them safe >> it's families, it's their surrogate, it's their chilled child. >> reporter: the surrogacy provider says close to 100 american and canadian client families have been impacted by the conflict some surrogates still carrying unborn children, some parents trapped in ukraine with their newborns with this plea for president joe biden. >> just get our babies out, or if that's not possible at least to leave somewhere westward where they will be safe. >> and our thanks to jessie kerch for that report. still to come on "early today," har lei davidson becomes the latest company to pump the brakes on russia plus growing concerns over putin's meal ste anttas he grows increasingly frustrated over the invasion's slowing pace. simply shake and spray to unlock the breakthrough power of touch-activated scent technology.

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russia all its apple products on the russian online storefront are listed unavailable and traffic and live incidents in ukraine have been disabled on apple maps and more tech companies are imposing their own sanctions on russia following their theivation on ukraine. snapchat said it's halted all ad sales to russian and belarusian entities in the wake of the invasion >> facebook and instagram deleting russian content from their global news feed har lei davidson is putting the brakes on shipments to russia. the motorcycle company is also suspending its business with the country. >> former first lady melania trump tweeted her support for the ukrainians during the crisis adding a link to the donate to the international red cross. >> two more film studios are joining warner brothers in pulling their films from russian studios. we should mention universal

studios is owned by our parent company, nbc universal and actor sean penn said he walked out of ukraine after working on a documentary on a conflict penn said he and two colleagues walked to the polish border. the world number 15 plans to donate her prize money to the ukrainian army and humanitarian aid. >> as russia's siege intentifies there are growing concerns about putin's secretary of state and what he might do if backed into a corner andrea mitchell has more >> reporter: vladimir putin frustrated and angry with the pace of his assault on ukraine the worry for washington, is he acting rationally and will he ramp up the violence against ukraine citizens there is no new intelligence on his mental state, but u.s. officials say everyone including president biden sees an angrier putin, increasingly detached from reality in his speeches,

isolated from long time advisers, rarely coming into the kremlin. and when he does meeting on opposite ends of a super sized table, more than 20 feet apart >> that, i think, creates this kind of delusional bubble about what he thought was going to happen when he first launched this attack. >> reporter: officials tell nbc news putin has lashed out at underlings in private and in public bullied his top spy on state tv say it directly, he said what do you think is going on there? >> i don't know what is the matter there, but whatever it is the people of ukraine are paying the price for it >> reporter: now he's raising the stakes for u.s. military planners by putting russia's nuclear forces on heightened alert. >> you don't want a mad man backed into a corner with nothing to lose especially if that mad man has nuclear weapons. >> reporter: with the russian economy collapsing under the weight of global sanctions and some of his own oligarchs even criticizing the invasion, what

might he do to stay in power >> he can threaten or carry out cyber attacks against the west including the united states, and he can threaten to use battlefield nuclear weapons. >> reporter: u.s. officials say president biden is deliberately down-playing putin's nuclear threats and not raising the alert status of u.s. nuclear weapons, trying to de-escalate the crisis with an unpredictable enemy. well, bill has got a look at your weekend weather forecast coming up. plus wve ge'ot the latest from the ukrainian border as jay gray joins us live ier and healt. so every touch will protect like the first. pampers new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. king c. gillette is a complete lineup of tools

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asktremfya® today.ut the russian invasion has triggered europe's fastest migration in three decades that's according to a report by "the new york times. at least 660,000 people have fled ukraine a displacement like this has not been seen since the balkan wars of the 1990s it's causing a massive backup at border checkpoints nbc's jay gray joins us live now from the ukrainian border with poland so, jay, tell us what it's like there. >> reporter: yeah. and right now, francis, we're in the train station a few miles from the border.

you've got trains coming in from ukraine, one constantly. one from kyiv expectedn the next 35 minutes or so. you've also gos place in constax and i want to show you and do wt they can to get where they can here and we'll take you inside and just show you some of what's happening here as we come through. and you can see it's an area that is just packed full of people trying to take a breath and figure out what comes next the relentless attack on ukraine has intensified. the most damaging and deadly strikes coming through the air >> terrible situation. >> it's terrible >> reporter: and getting worse the city of kharkiv now surrounded by russian troops this emergency services center taken out, officials say, by a missile. kyiv is also a primary target, though a senior u.s. defense

official tells nbc news a russian convoy that stretches for 40 miles outside of the capital city has stalled, facing fuel and food shortages. as the fighting intensifies so does the rush to get out close to 700,000 have already left ukraine, and that number expected to grow significantly over the next several days >> and this is big for me to leave my city and actually i don't know whether i'm going to come back or not match and i don't want to leave but it's complete dangerous to stay here. >> reporter: dangerous and dirys empty. >> no food, no bread, no water, no pharmacy, nothing and people they are staying no money to go out, to run, no money. >> reporter: the u.n. is warning the situation could quickly become europe's largest refugee crisis this century. and not hard to believe when you see scenes like this, people

just stopping anywhere they can and trying to figure out exactly what's going on, perhaps get a quick hot meal that's the latest from here. back to you. >> understandable they need a moment all right, jay thank you. and thank you for starting this ash wednesda