russia's seelk on ukraine nears the two week mark. as fighting intensifies across the country ukraine krn officials claim to have killed a top russian general. the race to escape blood shed ukrainian citizens make the dangerous trek to safety we're live at the poland border where refugees continue to arrive by the hour as congress rushes to shut the spigot on russian oil, the u.s. could turn to keep ga prices low

their support for ukraine at the awards and marking international women's day. "early today" starts right now >> thanks for joining us us. i'm steven romo. >> i'm frances rivera. >> we begin in ukraine the intelligence agency from ukraine is claiming this morning it killed a russian general and other officers from kharkiv. and russia has not yet commented. for the first time since the invasion began ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy posted a video of himself at his office in kyiv in an interview zelenskyy shared this message to americans. >> i just want you to feel and to understand what does it mean for us because always the american people they speak about freedom and they know what is

it, and now when you look at ukrainians i think you feel what that means for us. >> the u.n. says more than 400 civilians have been killed since ininvasion began but the actual death toll is likely much higher molly, russia is pushing forward for this plan for cease-fire, and some cities in ukraine rejected that proposal what are we seeing today >> reporter: frances, good morning. that's right you just mentioned that 400 death toll that's likely much higher we got a report that 18 people were killed over night in sumy and that's important because that's the one town where the russian side and ukrainian side and agreed to a cease-fire cease-fires are fragile in war this one especially so because the trust is so low after the last couple of days. but we have seen video of icrc

buses, people loading up and leaving the town of sumy going west into ukraine. as we discussed yesterday, the other russian proposals for green humanitarian corridors led citizens out to russia and belarus, to the ukrainian side that was just not an option to send ukrainian civilians of course into russian territory. >> while they're working on that the pentagon is describing russia as frustrated there are now reports that russia is recruiting outside help. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. so there was a wall street journal report earlier this week that said moskow was now going to recruit foreign fighters from syria skilled in urban combat. reporters asked the pentagon about this yesterday pentagon spokesperson john kirby said there was some, quote, truth to that reporting. we know this as it comes -- excuse me -- as 100% of russian

forces are either at the border or in ukraine. >> thank you, molly, thank you so much for the update >> the humanitarian crisis in ukraine gets worse by the hour it's already estimated to have created 1.7 million refugees seeking shelter from the violence our jay gray joins us from poland's border with ukraine and what's it like on the ground there? >> reporter: yeah, steven, we're basically at the cross roads between safety and war you can see people gathered here trying to get a hot meal, others to board a bus but we're right along the walking path, and if you take a look down you can see there's a steady stream of people making the rush to freedom here we now know most all the russian troops and war machines lining the ukraine border are in country and fully engaged in the fight. many now beginning to close in on the capital city of kyiv,

towns and villages along the way left in ruins, relentless attacks at times clearly targeting civilians. >> we're here because of the war crimes being committed >> reporter: foreign fighters continue to travel into ukraine to stand alongside thousands of civilians, many just learning how to fire the weapons they'll carry to the front lines as the fighting intensifies so does the push by so many to escape 1.7 million have left ukraine. unicef saying a million of those refugees are children. >> i hear a lot of noise from bombs. >> reporter: rushing from her home with intense shelling 10-year-old ana maria left her friends, toys and life in kharkiv. >> kharkiv it's like a piece of your heart i don't know where we -- how we

just google tried to help me and it's not >> reporter: not sure where she is and like so many here and unsure where she's going yeah, and, you know, that's one of the most difficult parts of all this, so many families that have grabbed what they can, rushing to safety and still not exactly sure where they'll go next >> so many heart breaking stories. our jay gray, thank you. congress is barrelling ahead on a bipartisan bill that could ban the impaort of russian oil and according to the new quinnipiac poll americans back the move more than 71% say they support ditching russian oil even if prices are higher at the pump. >> reporter: that's right, frances. the white house appears to be warming up to the idea of an outright ban on russian oil. and yesterday a bipartisan group of lawmakers worked late into

the night drafting a bill to do just that. despite the ground swell of support for such a ban, the fear is that it could send gas prices surging even higher. just yesterday the average price per gallon jumped a nickel to $4.07. that's up nearly 50 cents from last week. the biden administration is thinking outside the box to clamp down on gas prices nbc news has learned senior officials traveled to venezuela over the weekend to reboot relations. it's a top provider of oil iplatin america. senators say the u.s. can also ramp up production >> the fact that we are even saying that not buying oil from putin would raise gas prices for americans is a de facto admission that vladimir putin has leverage over our economy, something he should not. so the answer to that is more american production. >> we've all kind of different options, but you're doing it to make sure our american dollars aren't going to support a

russian illegal war in ukraine >> reporter: in an update to a story we told you about yesterday, the plan to send fighter jets to ukraine has hit a logistical snag. officials say the u.s. doesn't have a surplus of f-16s to send to poland to replace the jets war saw would provide to ukraine. the administration also worries russia would see the move as a direct involvement in the conflict back to you, frances >> thank you for that. lynching will soon be a federal hate crime in america. on monday the senate passed the emmitt till anti-lynching act. the bill would designate lynching as a hate crime with up to 20 years punishable in prison the measure is among some 200 bills that have been introduced in the past century trying to ban lynching in america. utah's governor spencer cox has vowed to veto a new bill it would ban transgender student athletes from competing in girls sports the measure passed in both

chambers last week in an interview with the salt lake tribune cox said, quote, anyone that's interacted with the transgender community understands how amazingthey ar and how difficult it can be for them he added i don't want to make things harder for them than they have to be some are calling a florida state trooper a hero after she stopped a drunk driver from plowing into a 10k race over the weekend. dash cam shows 52-year-old christian k. watts crashing head onto the veteran trooper both were seriously injured and had to be taken to the hospital. the driver was charged with multiple counts including dui and the incident is currently under investigation. all right, time for a check of the weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins.

>> eventually some snow in areas of the northeast for today the heavy rain develops over areas of louisiana, pushes up by 6:00 p.m., a very rainy evening commute from jackson, mississippi, to memphis heading into northern, alabama, even the atlanta area as we go through tuesday night all this mess heads into the atlantic you're going to wake up with some snow in areas and could be enough to accumulate especially in the higher elevations of the northeast, the poconos, the catskills. most of the wet roads in areas say new york city and i-95 corridor rainfall forecast we're getting some rain in the panhandle of florida and snow in the forecast in the northeast with the roads remaining just wet holding on in

florida. from jackson to orlando temperatures remain in the 80s and we'll talk about the cold going to stick with us for the weekend coming up. you thought they'd punch their ticket until the shot of the day came off the hot hand of david jean-baptiste. let's it fly at the buzzer and it is nothing but net. the shot lifts them and gives them the championship. they now head to their first ncaa tournament in six years wow. well, investors taking a beating as stocks tank across the board. cnbc's steve sedgwicisk ahead

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the 2022 academy of country music awards took place, and kelly clarkson gave a touching performance of "i will always love you" in tribute to host dolly parten and herself ♪ and i will always love you, i will always love you ♪ >> dolly hosted with jimmy allen andb gabby barrett dedicating the entire show to the people of ukraine. and miranda lambert took home the top prize of as entertainer of the year. >> congrats to them. still to come this morning, hundreds of indian students are trapped in ukraine as food and war supplies dwindle and volatility on wall street as oil prices sgeur

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russia's invasion of ukraine bringing the bears out on wall street monday's markets tanked amid slowing oil prices and slowing economic growth. the dow plummeted nearly 800 points while the s&p had its worst day since october 2020 the nasdaq was down almost 500 points officially entering bear market territory down 20% from its record high in november. futures are pointing to another big dip at the open. the growing list of companies in the tech world are continuing to pull operations out of russia. ibm's chairman said in a statement the company suspended all business in russia as a result of the invasion of ukraine. ibm also pledged half a million dollars to humanitarian relief efforts. the electronic arts paused sales

of its games and contents in russia the move comes after ea began pulling russian national teams from fiefa and video games the company said it will donate $6 million. it joins a number of companies announcing donations for ukrainian aid. world economic markets are in turmoil as oil and most stocks go in opposite directions world leaders are working to create some stability. cnbc's steve sedgwick is outside the russian embassy in lat via today with a number of war leaders. good morning, steve. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, frances, good morning, steve let's start off with those markets. i'm afraid those no respite for any of our viewers on the price of gasoline at the pumps

it's going further north of $4 a gallon and i just saw on brent that is significantly higher than wave seen for many, many years. i'm here actually as you mentioned because the secretary of state mr. blinken has been visiting he's been endorsing the security of the region. let's listen in to what the secretary of the state had to say. >> united states commitment to article v an attack on one is an attack on all, that commitment is sacrosanct, and as president biden repeated to the american people in his "state of the union" address just a few days ago, we will defend every inch of nato territory if it comes under attack no one should doubt our readiness, no one should doubt our resolve. >> reporter: that was secretary of state antony blinken talking in lat via and lithuania

he's gone out to estonia north of where we were at the moment saying the baltic nations will be defended by nato. of course there's more troops, helicopters in this region both to outline that opponent from a defensive point of view and to show russia they mean very seriously they're going to defend this area who else is in tune today we've got the nato secretary-general is here, jens stoltenberg, and also justin trudeau, the canadian prime minister and to underline that sense of common security in the minds of canada and the u.s. across the region >> thank you for that break down after a taste of spring snow may be on the way for parts of the u.s. and coming up nbc has the details as hundreds of trapped indian students in ukraine are fighting to escape we're team players and artists.

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♪ everybody hurts sometimes so hold on ♪ everybody loves a sad song from time to time. according to a survey 2,000 adults rem's 1992 everybody hurts song was dubbed the saddest song of all-time nothing compares to you and whitney houston's i will always love you for some of the runners up for tear jerky tracks how about some here comes the sun or the rain is gone. >> i was trying to think of those. let's check in with bill karin's i'm i'm sure he's got some happy songs for us >> actually, no. this forecast is more like depressing, cold and not happy the next blast of snow with

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cost support options. as the refugee crisis worsens hundreds of indian students are now trapped in eastern ukraine. nbc has more on their fight to escape >> reporter: at least 700 indian students trapped in ukraine, according to india's government and students on the ground now pleading for rescue. >> we may not die in this war zone but we will die wourt water and food >> reporter: in verified videos students even melted snow for drinking water >> we are getting water via snow

now. >> you can see this, no water. >> reporter: have you and other international students tried to get out? >> we are waiting for advisers because we don't want to be, you know, any casualty >> reporter: verified reports show many students still bunkered at sumy university by the russian border she's one of them. >> everyone is here freaking out. >> reporter: she's seen air strikes in the sky, gunfire on the sidewalk and military on the roads. now a spokesperson for an indian student group has been advocating for trapped students online >> we are receiving hundreds of calls per day from their families who are very much concerned. >> reporter: verified videos shows more student groups pleading for help. >> we cannot wait anymore. >> reporter: what is being done to get these students out? >> there's no proper response from the indian government >> reporter: the government of india did not immediately respond for comment but on monday india's prime minister called russian president vladimir putin to express deep

concern, quote, for the safety and security of these sumy students she now has electricity and fresh-water, but the supplies haven't subdued her fears. are you afraid for your life at all? >> yes, sometimes when we hear bombing. we have seen a very beautiful ukraine, and we are seeing it destroyed. >> our thanks for that report. today's celebrations and demonstrations are taking place around the globe in recognition of international women's day in what's being called the largest collection of statues of women ever created the smithsonian museum in washington, d.c. unveiled its hashtag she can exhibit. over 130 statues were placed to comemerator. google's iconic doodle is paying homage to all women do and from the screen to the streets people all over the world march in both celebration

of a day and a protest against ge gender inequality. hope somehow people across the world can celebrate with what's going on especially. >> thanks for watching "early today. >>

intensifying in ukraine overnight as russia ramps up attacks. the decision president biden is now considering taking to punish russia, and the impact it could have on gas prices here in the u.s. >> they just keep shelling and bombing and dropping rockets on civilians. >> the refugee crisis continues to deepen. a number of refugees now seeking safety approaching 2 million people, and counting. the emotional reunions in the bay area as more ukrainians arrive here. this is "today in the bay."