i want to continue in detail the very important conversations we've been having with all of your colleagues on the agenda that you cited but let me just say at the outset what a pleasure it is to see you in person. we've gotten used to seeing you on video around the world. >> breaking just moments ago, secretaries blinken and austin speaking in poland after meeting in ukraine with president zelenskyy. we'll tell you what was discussed and why the important meeting had to take place in

person breaking overnight, a new york city firefighter has lost his life while battling a blaze in brooklyn. details ahead. to china an extreme covid lockdowns and restrictions leaders have put into place in shanghai residents fenced off in their own homes. france's far right presidential candidate marine le pen is soundly defeated as centrist emmanuel macron is elected in a highly contentious race plus a weekend of deadly wildfires continues to wreak havoc, now in nebraska, where volunteer forces are battling the flames a busy kickoff to your monday. ea "early today" starts right now >> good morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm vinita nair we begin this morning with breaking news out of an historic war-time meeting secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin just wrapped up a three-hour meeting in the overnight hours, meeting with ukraine president zelenskyy in kyiv the previously unannounced trip

was a first for top u.s. officials since russia's war in ukraine began in february. the pair spoke in poland after returning from ukraine's capital. >> the bottom line is this we don't know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign independent ukraine will be around a lot longer than vladimir putin is on the scene and our support for ukraine going forward will continue. it will continue until we see final success. >> for more on this, we bring in nbc's raf sanchez who joins us live from lviv what is the latest given all this developed overnight so quickly? >> francis, this was a trip overnight that was planned in secret it was carried out in secret but now we know the secretary of state, secretary of defense took a train to kyiv. they went straight to the presidential palace. they spent about three hours

with president zelenskyy at his command center there and this was a meeting about substance and about symbolism. the symbolism pretty obvious these are two very senior members of president biden's cabinet coming to country that is at war in a gesture of solidarity not just with the ukrainian government, but with the ukrainian people also. but the substance. secretary blinken saying there were three big deliverables here number one, president biden will in a couple hours' time nominate a new ambassador to ukraine. that will be bridget brink, the current ambassador to slovakia and she will be the first full ambassador from the united states since 2019 when donald trump and rudy giuliani forced out the then ambassador marie evonnevich they will eventually reopen the

u.s. embassy in kyiv that's something president zelenskyy has wanted for a long time this is better late than never from his perspective but this, the american diplomats are coming back. and finally, $700 million in military financing the vast majority of that going to ukraine but some also to other european countries. that will pay for advanced air defense systems as this war shifts to the east but also for soviet era weaponry, the bread and butter of what ukrainian forces are using every day to fight the russian onslaught. fra frances? >> with all the diplomatic development there's, they got to pay attention to the intense fighting that continues to escalate in the south and the east of ukraine. a new report says russia is planning a staged referendum in the southern city of kherson >> that's right. this is the only major ukrainian city that is under full russian control right now. and the fear from both the

ukrainian government and the british is that the russians are about to rerun their 2014 playbook, hold a sham referendum in keherson and ultimately anne it into russia >> raf, thank you. it's easter in ukraine, but as we have seen, the holy holiday brought to pause to the violence nbc's erin mclaughlin has more now from kyiv. >> reporter: unorthodox sunday in the besieged city of mariupol, despite calls for a truce to evacuate trapped civilians. a ukrainian fighter reporting the russians dropped air bombs amid repeated attempts to storm the steel plant. contrary to putin's claim that he would not attack from the ground this as the city of odesa mourns the loss of eight innocent lives, including a 3-month-old baby and her mom, who weeks before the russian invasion talked of a new level of happiness reached at the birth of her daughter that happiness

snuffed out when a russian missile struck their residential building saturday. now on this holy holiday, instead of celebrating rebirth and renewal, the city of odesa joins the rest of the country in grieving the dead. "it's impossible to speak out tears," this woman says. while president putin attends his easter service in moscow outside kyiv and cities and villages once occupied by the russians, investigators have uncovered more mass graves this area used to be a russian camp as you can see now, though, ukrainian forces are working to empty out some of those boxes full of ammunition they're demining this area as well as searching for bodies including the bodies of three civilians from the nearby village, believed kidnapped by the russians but do you think they're alive >> unfortunately no.

through tear, the mom of one of the missing says this easter she hasn't given up hope >> our thanks to erin mclaughlin for that report. breaking overnight, new york city firefighters are mourning the loss of one of their own firefighter timothy klein, a six-year veteran died fighting a massive house fire in brooklyn klein came from family of firefighters his father was one and so were some of his relatives. authorities say he became trapped after a roof partially collapsed on him and another person a second body was recovered but has not been identified. more than 100 firefighters were battling the blaze eight firefighters were injured, some taken to the hospital a south carolina community is rocked to its core by a shooting that left a local police officer dead. 28-year-old drew barr was one of three officers responding to a domestic disturbance call in the city of casey. authorities say a suspect opened fire from inside the house, killing barr police then negotiated with that suspect for seven hours before the man shot and killed himself. officer barr was a six-year

veteran of the force he had been shot on the job previously, sustaining nonlife-threatening injuries in 2017 turning now to france, where emmanuel macron is celebrating he has won a second term as president, defeating his far right challenger in a tens runoff election. nbc's keir simmons is in paris >> reporter: elation underneath the eiffel tower emmanuel macron's followers celebrating the first french president to be re-elected in 20 years. >> merci >> reporter: and by a wide margin 16% ahead. macron took 58%. marine le pen nearly 42%. it's 8:00 here at the macron rally and people have just gone crazy because they have announced the on the big screen. the exit polls how are you feeling? >> all good. it's a good future

>> now we better seeing the result is so better >> reporter: the french vote for continuity amid the turmoil of war in europe and for president biden one less thing to worry about. biden and macron see the world in similar ways. marine le pen supporters devastated it was an unprecedented showing for a far-right candidate. underscoring deep frustrations across france over domestic issues like inflation, but tonight they booed the results and tonight police in paris clashing with protesters, angry over the outcome le pen's past praise for president putin weakening her appeal macron had compared a victory for her with the election of president trump and brexit tonight she promised not to abandon the french people, but it is the third time they have rejected her populous politics instead choosing a leader whose election slogan was all together

>> our thanks to keir simmons for that report. we are nearly done with april, but winter isn't letting up in some parts of the country. a blizzard slammed north dakota, dropping a whopping 18 inches of snow the wind gusts of up to nearly 80 miles per hour. the storm cut power to hundreds, and shut down some roads there this is the second to hit the dakotas this month meanwhile, wildfire season is already burning strong, and the flames are spreading much farther than the west coast. a fast-moving inferno in nebraska has even turned deadly. nbc's steve patterson has the details. >> reporter: out of control. a rare and deadly wildfire surging across tornado alley authorities say a 66-year-old volunteer fire spotter was killed when this cluster break out friday near cambridge, nebraska along the kansas border, this fire spreading fast, already ripping across more than 50,000 acres. driven by powerful

50-mile-an-hour winds and bone-dry brush nebraska's fire outbreak is burning in at least five counties 11 firefighters injured so far the national guard called in to assist how unusual is this for the state? >> it's difficult to manage this many fires, especially when the fire service in nebraska is almost entirely volunteer based, even small fires have just blown up out of control. really, really quickly. >> reporter: in new mexico states of emergency across nearly half a dozen counties fires scattered across the state threatening hundreds of homes. officials warning get out of harm's way. >> if you have been asked to evacuate, please evacuate. >> reporter: the governor saying half the state is now on high alert. >> we experienced a combination of conditions quite frankly that is unprecedented in new mexico history. >> reporter: in arizona crews no closer to containing the tunnel fire wind-driven flames chewing

through more than 20,000 acres near flagstaff hot, dry, windy weather in the forecast could only make it much worse. this year's rain of fire off to an early start and primed to spread steve patterson, nbc news. from blizzards to deadly wildfires, let's bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman now with a look at what is ahead as we kick off the new workweek. good morning, michelle >> good morning to you both. wild spring continues. we continue to be dry in the southwest. warm and dry and windy today we're watching unsettled weather in the middle of the nation we're looking at showers from the great lakes all the way to the southern plains. even some heavy rain that's our biggest concern this morning, early this morning we're seeing some lightning, some heavy rain already where you see the darker colors, the reds, the oranges, the yellows that's going to be the story as we head throughout the day our biggest concern excessive rainfall we have a flood watch in spots also watching the chance for damaging winds and the

northern plains. just 34 in fargo all right, guys, we'll talk about that unsettled weather today. and then we're going to look ahead at the week in just a few minutes. >> okay. thank you, michelle. time for today's quick hits. detroit tigers fansed witnessed a moment in history when star hitter miguel cabrera reached 3,000 hits he is the 33rd player in major league history to hit the milestone. celebrities and comedians came together to honor one of their own. jon stewart received the mark twain prize for his lifetime achievement in humor. birthday wishes in order for prince john. they marked the occasion with a photo shoot at the beach shot by

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a strict covid lockdown in china's biggest city is pushing residents to the brink millions in shanghai have been confined to their homes for more than a month but as nbc news's janis mackey frayer reports, the clampdown is not stopping the spread, and now people are starting to resist. >> reporter: harsh new tactics in shanghai to enforce the covid lockdown metal fencing put up around some apartment buildings to keep residents from being able to get out. security guards on duty 24/7 authorities calling it hard quarantine but people are fed up. videos posted to social media showing some pulling the fences down much of the city locked down for over a month now and struggling, with isolation and lost income this man not wanting to be

identified to avoid trouble with local officials. >> it's going to take an even longer if the most basic problems are not getting solved. >> reporter: the world's largest container port still idle, with more than 500 ships waiting to dock but with all the zero covid rules keeping shanghai at a stand still, covid is still rampant. more than 21,000 cases added saturday and 39 deaths and now lockdown fears spreading in beijing authorities here announcing mass testing. triggering panic buying at stores, with most items wiped from shelves and long lines of people anxious to stock up wary of the chaos that shortages caused in shanghai that hardship was captured in audio recordings that went viral across social media this weekend. there ain't no water, no food says one man sensors quickly removed it the government here insisting lockdown measures will only be

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>> the plane is out of control the plane is out of control. >> the faa is investigating after a plane crashed during a risky midair stunt luke akins and andy farrington were trying to complete the first plane swap

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live claritin clear. in today'stop story, a florida sheriff's deputy hail adhere row for a dramatic fire rescue caught on camera. look closely on the white railing. that's orange county deputy william climbing on the balcony of the three-story apartment building over the weekend. in the thick black smoke, you can hardly see him but he makes his way up, grabs a 1-year-old girl from her mom and lowers the baby to his colleagues right there below everyone made it out of the fire safely >> that is unbelievable footage. the national labor relations board is suing starbucks, laming the company retaliated against

employees for union campaigning. the board's phoenix chapter filed an injunction, demanding immediate reinstatementment of three removed from their jobs. it's part of an escalating conflict between a coffee giant and labor unions starbucks has accused organizers of breaking federal law. since august more than 200 starbucks stores have filed paper work to union nice bernie sanders and congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez spoke at a rally on staten island where a sorting center begins to vote today on unionizing a nearby fulfillment center formed the city's first union last month amazon says it is disappointed in the union efforts saying they believe a direct relationship with the company is best for employees. talks to take over twitter turn serious for tesla's ceo elon musk. according to "the wall street journal," the twitter board of directors met sunday morning to discuss musk's bid and later met with his team to hash out a

potential deal no further details have been released the news comes days after musk revealed a $43 billion bid fans in minnesota got more than the game during the timberwolves/grizzlies matchup during the third quarter a protester tried to run into the court only to be tackled instantly by a squaurd the person is part of a group of animal rights activists angry at the timberwolves owners over alleged cruelty on farms owned by his company two other protesters have also disrupted play this month. one even gluing her hand to the court. >> what a quick response there if you need more evidence, the housing market is hot right now, a house in fairfax, virginia just sold for more than $800,000, and that comes with a stranger living in the basement. the listing agent told "the new york post" someone who had offered to clean the home years ago now lives in the basement without paying rent, and the seller is an elderly man in the hospital

his family can't afford to go through the eviction process they received five cash officers in less than one week. >> wow i don't think i've ever heard anything a lot of stories about the real estate market right now. but not like that. >> nothing like that thank you for kicking off your week with "early today." i'm vinita nair.

the bottom line is this. we don't know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign independent ukraine will be around a lot longer than vladimir putin is on the scene, and our support for ukraine going forward will continue. it will continue until we see final success. breaking news this morning u.s. secretary of state and defense speaking just hours ago in poland following a weekend in ukraine, meeting with president zelenskyy. we'll tell you what they