still, so much to celebrate for team usa, and really for all the olympians here in beijing. back to you. >> steve patterson, thank you for that. that is going to wrap up this hour. i'm chris jansing. jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. and good morning. it is 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart and we begin this busy presidents' day with the latest on the crisis along the ukrainian border. the white house says president biden has accepted in principle a meeting with russian president vladimir putin, but only if an invasion has not happened. this as nbc news confirms the u.s. informed the u.n. that russia is planning to kill and arrest the list of anti-corruption activists, journalists and vulnerable populations in ukraine after an invasion, a plan russia denies. we'll bring you a live report from moscow. and ukraine. happening this morning, in georgia, closing arguments now under way in the federal hate

crimes trial of the three white men convicted of murdering 25-year-old black man ahmaud arbery. we'll get the latest from outside the courtroom. and later this hour, a spotlight on bullying after another family loses their 12-year-old son to suicide. we'll talk to a top doctor from children's national hospital about what families need to know. we begin with the very latest on the increasingly escalaing tensions between russia and ukraine. right now, russian president vladimir putin is holding an unscheduled meeting of the security council at the kremlin. these are live pictures from that national security meeting in moscow. this comes one day after president biden held an emergency meeting with his national security council. you see a picture of it. meantime, both nations continue to leave the door to diplomacy open, with putin and president

biden agreeing in principle to meet to discuss the crisis. if that meeting happens, it would take place after secretary of state antony blinken and russian foreign minister sergey lavrov meet in europe on thursday. both of these discussions are contingent on russia not invading ukraine. however, the u.s. is sticking by its assessment that russia could attack ukraine at any moment. the u.s. official and another person with knowledge of the matter tells nbc news the u.s. has intelligence showing that putin gave russian military officials the green light for an invasion. nbc news is also confirming the u.s. warned the united nations that moscow is compiling a list of ukrainians who could be, quote, killed or sent to camps, following a military invasion. the kremlin calling these allegations an absolute fate, a lie. jake sullivan condemning the move. >> this will not simply be some conventional war between two armies. it will be a war waged by russia

on the ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to harm them, and that is what we laid out in detail for the u.n. because we believe that the world must mobilize to counter this kind of russian aggression should those tanks roll across the border as we anticipate they very well may do in the coming hours or days. >> with me now to talk about all of this, nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin in kyiv, keir simmons in moscow and jeremy bash chief of staff at the cia and pentagon. what has putin been telling his security council live on television? >> this is a carefully choreographed meeting of his security council in which adviser after adviser, foreign minister lavrov, for example, standing up to give their opinion about whether the president of russia should

recognize those breakaway areas in ukraine and donbas and luhansk and person after person, adviser after adviser is telling the russian president that they think he should recognize those regions. so it is potentially possible that after this security council meeting being led by the russian president, live on television, he will announce he has decided to recognize those regions and, of course, that is crucial because while those areas have been somewhat independent from kyiv, for some time, back in 2014, up until now the russians haven't openly occupied those areas, if you like, haven't annexed those areas. are we on the brink of that? jose, i want to tell you i've been wrapped up listening to a briefing of western officials who are setting out what they believe the current posture is from russia. they say that russia's military isn't posture anymore, it is poised saying two-thirds of

groups are within 50 kilometers of the ukrainian border and saying half of those are tactically deployed, so western officials painting a picture of the russians, even more ready, if you like, than they have been up until now. also saying, jose, interestingly, that western officials that intelligence suggests that there are senior military and security officials in russia, who, quote, harbor very serious doubts about the prospect of a war with ukraine. those officials saying that's to be expected. so, jose, we really are on the brink here, people talking about this poised, this posture of russian forces, only being able to be held for a number of days, while president putin displays the theatrics with his security council over whether to

recognize these parts of eastern ukraine. >> that's the view from moscow. tell us how the view is on the ground there in ukraine. >> reporter: hey, jose, all eyes on the donbas region in the eastern portion of the country, where violence has been escalating since thursday with both the separatists and the ukrainian military accusing each other of provoing the situation, some 1500 explosions in one day over the weekend, according to independent monitors. two ukrainian soldiers killed according to the ukrainian military and the separatists two civilians. western officials, u.s. officials, ukrainian officials are all accusing the separatist leaders of stoking this violence in order to create a pretext for war, in order for them to be able to make the case to the kremlin as they are doing today that they should be recognized as independent republics,

essentially innovating russian military assistance. now the kremlin for its part, of course, denying that, but we're seeing that national security council meeting right now. but also over the weekend, the separatist leaders ordering the evacuation of women and children and so women and children by the thousands are being boarded on to trains and buses, taken to russia, destination unknown. they were unable to travel with their husbands, with their fathers. men between the ages of 15 and 50 were not allowed to cross the border. so families are already breaking up in a war that has yet to begin. one woman describing how she is worried for her children. take a listen. >> reporter: i was texting with one woman in donbas who chose

not to evacuate. she chose to say she says she is completely terrified, but that she does not want to leave her home. she says that while the separatists are blaming the ukrainian military for this escalation, she doesn't know who is responsible. jose? >> jeremy, i mean, putin has had these troops surrounding pretty much ukraine now for weeks. 150, 170,000 troops. with this national security meeting now being televised in moscow, jeremy, what does it tell you about the timetable or is this a done deal, you think? >> yeah, from my read, jose, it looks like the russians are engaging in three multiactivities. keeping bat forces at a high state of readiness. second, they're creating a pretext of violence in those eastern provinces, engaging in misinformation, putting out that their forces have come under shelling, which of course they

have not, creating a reason for russian troops to go in, and third they're creating the legal pretext by annexing these provinces and basically saying well, we're invited in, we have a legal right to be here, that's an effort by blunt international criticism because there has been universal condemnation by the west, by the united states and by our allies in europe against these very aggressive moves by putin. i think putin has made the decision, biden made that clear, putin made the decision, the only question is how much will he gobble up, in what phases and under what timeline. i don't think we knowputin is p talking to his tactical commanders about how to move. >> the united states is putting out reams of information, this letter to the united nations saying that russians have a list that they're going to be carrying out to kill or send people to camps. is it not important for the united states to bring that information out, to let the world see exactly what they're

seeing russia is doing? >> yeah, in 15 years of working around intelligence and national security, i have never seen a u.s. government team as agile and as focused as this biden team is, in declassifying intelligence, in calling out russia's activities, making it clear, highlighting social media posts of what the russians are doing, and in so doing, you know, the scenario basically is that putin is like a quarterback who has come to the line of scrimmage, he looks at the defense, the defense has read his playbook, called it out, and so putin has called a time-out. and that delay, jose, that delay by the russians and their invasion has allowed us to arm the ukrainians, close our embassy, get people out of harm's way, has allowed us to galvanize international support, prepare sanctions and prepare and ensure western unity. this has been a very significant play by the biden administration to forestall an invasion. whether it will ultimately deter putin, we don't know. but it yielded major benefits in the battlefield geometry up to

this point. >> jeremy bash, erin mclaughlin and keir simmons, thank you for being with me. to continue our conversation, former ambassador to poland. good to see you. polish shares a border with ukraine. do polish leaders believe the escalating tensions between russia and ukraine could eventually bleed into poland? >> yes, good morning, jose, thank you for the time with you today. yes, it is -- you can almost can't overstate the concern with which our polish friends view events in neighboring ukraine. of course, poland suffered enormously under soviet russian oppression for 45 years after the end of world war ii and add to that that poland has been the major battlefield anytime there is major war in europe for the last several years. so now with 190,000 russian

troops surrounding ukraine, they're very nervous that they might be next. so there is a great deal of worry and concern and the fact that putin is not only demanding control over ukraine, it is also demanding that all nato forces be withdrawn from poland, romania, the baltic states, every state that joined nato since 1997. so that telegraphs to them they could very well be next. >> poland, in the past, has taken missiles away from its territory, to try and see if there is any possibility of dealing with russia in a positive way. but as you said, look, poland knows firsthand the history of russia and how it has acted not only in poland, but throughout eastern europe and ukraine, of course, being a very specific target of the soviet union and in the past. ambassador, how do you see this

turning out? >> well, all signs certainly indicate that putin is ready to launch the troops at ukraine at a moment's notice as president biden has said. i still think, though, it would be not a very good move on his part, it seems like it would be frankly a stupid mistake given the success that the biden administration has had in mobilizing international opposition to any military action in ukraine. putin has at his disposal a lot of other tactics that are cheaper, and would probably be more effective in terms of destabilizing, the zelensky government, perhaps causing its collapse, the information warfare that it is already using quite effectively to create a pretext for war. so it seems that the invitation or the possibility of a summit meeting between president biden

and president putin in the coming week does allow one last off ramp for the russians to pull back. so let's hope that putin is wise enough to take that. >> on the other hand, you know, russia has already really affected and hurt ukraine. billions of dollars have been lost in ukraine because of this buildup and everything that we have been seeing for weeks now. how is it, ambassador, do you think that western europe can be of more assistance to the people of ukraine and other countries in eastern europe to try and help them help themselves? >> well, i think our european allies have generally stepped up to the plate in the past couple of months to provide more defensive military equipment to the ukrainians, to help them defend themselves if the russians nevertheless go ahead and invade. it is going to be incumbent upon

them and us to make sure that there are severe consequences for the russians in violating this post war security arrangement in europe. the germans, the french, the british, all of our european allies have said they will stand with us and that in that turn of events, so we need to make sure that they stand by that. >> yeah, let's certainly hope that we're not looking at another first of september of 1939, but instead of poland, it being ukraine. ambassador stephen mull, thank you for being with me. still ahead, queen elizabeth tests positive for coronavirus as boris johnson gets ready to roll back covid restrictions. live at buckingham palace with an update on the queen's condition. plus, why does the cdc fail to publish critical covid data that could have helped local officials in their strategy to

fight the virus? we'll talk to a doctor about it. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching "jose you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. ♪♪ in wash-scent booster ♪♪ downy unstopables people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin

increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. hello, how can i? 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

19 past the hour. british prime minister boris johnson is expected to address parliament soon with his plan to lift the nation's covid restrictions, and to learn to live with covid. this just a day after 95-year-old queen elizabeth ii tested positive for the virus. media reports she is still

expected to hold virtual audiences and is set to talk to the prime minister via telephone this week. joining me now is nbc news correspondent kelly cobiella from london. what do we know about the queen's condition and this boris johnson announcement today? >> reporter: yeah, so jose, good morning to you. we know that the queen has mild cold-like symptoms. that's what buckingham palace told us. they haven't told us much more than that other than the fact that she tested positive for covid yesterday. now, they don't typically give a lot of details when it comes to the queen's health, they cite medical privacy issues when explaining that. you'll remember when she had that health scare last october we were only told after the fact, after it was reported by a british tabloid that she had spent the night in the hospital, and at that point, buckingham palace simply saying that she had undergone some preliminary tests and she had been put on light duty. we know she's had some health issues over the past couple of months.

she's had some mobility issues and is using a cane. but according to buckingham palace, really trying to reassure the public saying, look, mild symptoms, and she's continuing on with these light duties, like the virtual meetings and her meeting -- weekly meeting with the prime minister, albeit via phone, not in person. as for the prime minister, and those latest covid restrictions, jose, we're expected to hear in just about an hour, hour and a half from now the prime minister announcing that the last really tough covid measure, the legal requirement to self-isolate for a minimum of five days if you test positive, that's apparently going away. that's what we expect to hear. we don't know what the timing of that will be. it may be in just a couple of days or potentially by the end of the month. but basically boris johnson leaning on the fact that the majority of the adult population, 81% of adults in

england have been double vaxxed and have had their booster shots. he says, look, it is time to get back to some kind of normal. jose? >> kelly cobiella in london, thank you so much. back here in the u.s., a new report from the "new york times" says the centers for disease control is not publishing critical data on covid boosters and hospitalizations broken down by age and race, despite collecting this information for more than a year now. a cdc spokeswoman explained the slow release of data this way, quote, basically at the end of the day it is not yet ready for primetime. she added another reason, fear that the information could be misinterpreted. joining me now is dr. blackstock, founder and ceo of advancing health equity, also an msnbc medical contributor. doctor, always a great treat for me to see you. this key data could have been helpful, i presume, to local and state officials as they battle

omicron, but wasn't released. what is your takeaway for this? >> hi, jose. thank you so much for having me. yeah, no, this is incredibly concerning and looks like it is due to several different factors. one is the cdc uses a very dated data system and the federal government has put about a billion dollars into modernizing it and that will help with communication between the federal government and state and local public health departments. there is also significant amount of bureaucracy within the cdc. there are processes in place that are not appropriate for a pandemic time where we need an urgent response and communication of data. and finally there is sort of this paternalistic culture within the cdc where there is concern that the public may not be able to adequately interpret the data. i think that speaks more to what the cdc can do better in terms of messaging and making sure that it is clear and concise. but we need that data very badly. i think it speaks to the chronic

underfunding of our public health system. >> but it seems like the cdc is not chronically underfunded. a lot of others are, and yet two years in, they're still not able to get their act together? doctor, this comes as we're learning new details about the effects of long covid, and the toll it takes on the body resulting in issues like fatigue, cognitive issues. what kinds of issues are you seeing with patients? >> right. i think long covid is basically going to be more significant than we expected, about 10% to 30% of people, whether they have mild or severe covid symptoms initially go on to develop long covid symptoms. we're seeing significant amount of fatigue, being a primary symptom, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, and focusing, and also people are coming in complaining of chronic shortness of breath. and what this is all related is to what the virus does to the body. it essentially causes a chronic inflammatory response that affects the blood vessels, and by affecting the blood vessels,

it affects the uptick of oxygen by different organs of the body. that's what we're seeing in the symptoms that patients are are presenting with. >> and how long term could the effects be? could these be permanent? >> right. we don't know yet because it has been such a short period of time. we know people who were infected at the beginning of the pandemic, march 2020, are still having symptoms, even now. so people say that this pandemic is a mass disabling event and we're seeing evidence of that now with our patients. >> dr. uche blackstock, thank you for being with me. coming up, 12-year-old boy dies by suicide after being bullied. his parents plea to the nation ahead. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." tion ahead. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports.

why do people who live with generalized myasthenia gravis want a new treatment option? because we want to be able to get up and get ready for work. because the animals need to be cared for, and we like taking care of them. because we want to go out to dinner with our friends. because, in family photos, we want to be able to smile. a new fda-approved treatment for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis could help them do more of the daily activities they care about. to learn more, go to now4gmg.com and talk to your neurologist.

welcome to the eat fresh refresh at subway wait, that's new wait, you're new too nobody told you? subway's refreshing with better ingredients, better footlongs, and better spokespeople. because you gotta you gotta refresh to be fresh allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from because you gotta overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. 29 past the hour. right now closing arguments are under way in the federal hate crimes trial of three men convicted in the murder of ahmaud arbery. over four days the prosecution called 20 witnesses as they attempted to prove that the defendants were motivated by racial animus to chase and murder arbery. if convicted, all three men face

potential life sentences. they have pleaded not guilty. joining me now is nbc news correspondent blayne alexander. what is the latest out of the courtroom today? >> reporter: well, jose, closing arguments are still going on. we're still hearing from the prosecution right now. remember, the central point of their case is to prove the three men who have already been convicted in state court for the murder of ahmaud arbery, now the federal government has the burden of proving they did so because of the color of his skin, that they chased him down that day and those events were ultimately done because he was a black man. so right now we're listening to the prosecution, and they're really trying to knock down what has been the central point of the defense's argument the entire time, which is that the three men who are on trial, followed arbery that day, not because of the color of his skin, but because they suspected him of being involved in a number of recent crimes in the area. the defense has said that it had nothing to do with the fact that he was black. but we're listening to the prosecution, she said a number of things, like, there is a

difference between being vigilant and being a vigilante, and she is arguing that what happened back in february of 2020 was not being a good neighbor, it wasn't being vigilant, but rather taking the law into their own hands. jose, the other thing we have heard just come out of these closing arguments today is really what has been at the heart of all this, which is race specifically. the prosecution is saying that after hearing from 20 witnesses and dozens of digital files that show that the men used either racial slurs or made racist remarks about black people, the prosecution says that gives a window into their mindset, that shows that they made an assumption about arbery that day that they associated criminality with black people and that's what caused them to ultimately follow him. so we're going to hear from the prosecution, we're going to then hear from three defense attorneys in order and then the prosecution again before this goes to a jury. and one final thing, jose, the timing of all of this is very significant because this wednesday marks the second anniversary of arbery's death.

jose? >> blayne alexander in atlanta, thank you so much. this morning we're taking a closer look at the growing emotional health crisis and the impact of bullying on our nation's children. in utah, the family of 12-year-old drake harden is bringing attention and awareness to the devastating effects of bullying after losing their son to suicide. drake's family says their son had a heart of gold and loved to make people laugh. they're now calling for parents to talk to their children more about bullying. joining me now is dr. adelaide rob, the division chief of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at children's national hospital. thank you for being with me. drake's death comes three months after another utah child died by suicide at 10 years old, their family says she was a target of bullying as a person of color living with autism. doctor, what are the signs that parents, we should be looking for in our children? >> first of all, thank you for having me, jose.

i think bullying has been a problem long before the pandemic and certainly even now. i think if your child has changed their level of anxiety, they don't want to go out, they don't want to be around people, they're having difficulty eating meals, they're not sleeping, their grades at school are dropping or they're having more tantrums, all signs something is disturbing them. and i think it is really important for parents to ask, is everything going okay? we as mental health practitioners and pediatricians at all the checkups we have should be checking, is anybody picking on you, do you feel safe at school, are people bullying you? and things like the internet, so there is a lot of cyberbullying on all kinds of different things, whether it is instagram or facebook or twitter where people may be excluded or made fun of. it is very important to ask. >> you know, sometimes i think that for the victims of

bullying, it is best they think to just keep it inside, to not talk to their parents about it because they feel certain sides of shame or feel like there is nothing they can do about it. how is it that we can talk to our children when maybe they're not telling us that they're being victimized? >> sometimes one of the easiest ways is to share the parent's own experience in school. many parents may have been bullied as kids themselves. you can say, you know, when i was in fifth grade, the mean girls wouldn't let me sit with them at the lunch table or when i wanted to play softball or baseball, i kept getting kicked off the team and i felt horrible. has anything like that happened to you? and it doesn't make it a normal experience, but it makes it a safe place to talk about it. i think teachers, coaches, religious leaders, other places where the kids might feel a little bit more comfortable sharing because it is not your

parent or your pediatrician. and they too can ask has anybody done anything that got you upset or been mean to you. >> yeah. meanwhile, doctor, utah and florida, three reported cases of venezuelan kids being bullied and punched, the parents of two of them say their child was bullied because of how they spoke. 2019 task force report found that the suicide rate among black youth is increasing faster than any other ethnic group. how do we address a growing crisis of mental health and suicide within our communities, the communities of color? >> i think within the communities of color it is even more important to ask. we know they're victimized in the same way that kids who are transgendered are more victimized and bullied. i think raising the awareness, especially among the teachers, because they're watching things happen every day, are you seeing kids sitting by themselves in the lunch room, on the

playground, are you seeing kids being pushed or knocked down, is stuff happening in the hallway or in the restrooms where kids may be isolated and punched or hurt? i think teachers are great allies in helping avoid bullying. >> yeah, and they really do have to, if they see or sense something, take action. doctor, thank you very much for being with me this morning. if you or someone you know is struggling, they can call the national suicide prevention lifeline, 24 hours a day. you see the number. 1-800-273-8255. 273-talk. you can text strength to the crisis text line at 741-741. and at that national suicide prevention lifeline, there are people.

still ahead, we'll go live back to kyiv and talk to a ukrainian reporter about the latest developments. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." developme. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life, and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams. spend less. get way more. shop everything home at wayfair today. if you have type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure you're a target for chronic kidney disease. you can already have it and not know it. if you have chronic kidney disease your kidney health could depend on what you do today.

♪far-xi-ga♪ farxiga is a pill that works in the kidneys to help slow the progression of chronic kidney disease. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in women and men, and low blood sugar. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may lead to death. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. and don't take it if you are on dialysis. take aim at chronic kidney disease by talking to your doctor and asking about farxiga. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪far-xi-ga♪ [music: sung by craig robinson] astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ [sfx: sniffs] ♪ and my clothes smell so much fresher than before ♪ try gain flings and you'll be a gainiac too! the only detergent with oxiboost and febreze.

you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire we now return to ukraine where the shelling in the eastern part of the country intensified over the weekend with russian-backed separatists firing artillery and mortar shells at government-held areas. the separatists claim ukraine is planning an offensive against them, which the ukrainian government flatly denies. as the shelling continues, so did the mass evacuation of women and children from separatist-held areas. some evacuees complained they're being dumped in russia without food or a place to stay. richard engel talked with a ukrainian soldier who says he doesn't want to live under putin. >> we don't know what's coming.

>> reporter: how do you think this ends? >> translator: good always triumphs over evil, he says. but if this starts many will die on both sides and many civilians. as churchill showed in the end, it will be victory. >> with me now is alexi sorokin, political editor for the kyiv independent. good to see you again. i was lucky enough to be able to speak with you about two weeks ago. how has the situation changed since the last time we spoke? >> well, obviously it got worse. today we're about to see russia recognize the russian-occupied regions as independent states, something they did in georgia. this is an escalation and obviously this is going to kill the minsk peace agreements. so we're awaiting that every day the situation is getting worse and worse. >> is the minsk agreement really in a sense dead anyway?

is there anything you think -- i mean, because ukraine hasn't done anything, right, to provoke russia in any way. >> yes. >> what is there left before putin decides one way or another? >> unfortunately nothing. the minsk agreements have been dead since the day they were signed. ukraine and russia are completely different on the way how the agreements should work. but ukraine can officially exit them because this will be seen by russia as an escalation. so ukraine is trying to negotiate with russia, but obviously russia doesn't want any negotiations with ukraine and it is only interested in talking directly to the states. >> ukraine has been for years, decades, even centuries the desire of so many different foreign governments and empires,

right? why ukraine and why now? >> unfortunately you're correct that it has been the whole history of ukraine that foreign powers want to invade and take part of the country. russia saw an opportunity in 2014 and for the past eight years it has been killing ukrainians, escalating and now we see that russia made a full cycle and are ready to reinvade, further invade ukraine at this very moment. >> president zelensky, as you know, elected in a landslide in 2019. he was a star in a hit tv show, had really no political experience. your boss at the kyiv independent sent an editorial over to "the new york times" and in it, among the things he says and the headline is the comedian turned president is seriously in over his head, mr. zelensky, the showman and performer has been unmasked by reality, and it has been revealed him to be a

mediocre person and leader. is that how some or many or most ukrainians think? >> well, zelensky is still the most popular politician in ukraine. he has around 25, 27% electoral support. obviously a lot of people who elected him, 73% in the second round, they expected more. he has been doing a pretty bad job domestically in terms of fighting corruption, in terms of cleaning the system, reforming the courts, but i would say right now when russia is at our borders, when there is 190,000 russian troops, he's been doing a pretty good job, i would say. he's obviously no churchill, but he's not chamberlain as well. >> always good to see you. stay safe, my friend. let's keep in touch. let's continue our conversation. >> thank you very much. >> i thank you. >> sure. up next, morgan radford is here with us after speaking with

donovan carillo, a great story that only morgan can bring us. y that only morgan can bring us.

we hit the bike trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel,

your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles with a vaccine proven to be over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your pharmacist or doctor about shingrix. shingles doesn't care. but you should. what are you recommending for muscle pain? based on clinical data, i recommend salonpas. agreed... my patients like these patches because they work for up to 12 hours, even on moderate pain. salonpas. it's good medicine

49 past the hour. the winter olympic games have come to a close. sunday's ceremonies do not end an ongoing controversy. the request was denied for non-u.s. they have not received their medals because the olympic committee decided not to award medals where russian skater kamila valiyeva finished in the top three. she tested positive for a banned substance in december. we're also learning more about one of the truly inspiring stories from this year's olympic games. mexican figure skater donovan carillo after becoming the first figure skater in 30 years to even make it to the olympics. morgan, it's great seeing you. he has to be feeling as great

now as much of the world is celebrating this young man's accomplishments. >> jose, you can only imagine. he said all along his goal was to advance to that final event and represent his country in front of the entire world. figure skating not the most popular sport in mexico so he actually had to train in a shopping mall when he got started, share the rink with just casual skaters. the number one question they would ask him is "where is the bathroom?" not even realizing he was an olympian. look at him now. he made it to beijing and he said this is only the beginning. >> your story is pretty impressive. you started in a shopping mall and you made it to beijing, so

when did you realize that this was a dream that you could reach? >> so when you were 10, you saw your first olympics happening in vancouver but you were watching it on tv? [ speaking spanish ] >> and from that moment you had the dream to represent your country in the olympic games. what would you say to young athletes so that they can achieve their goals? >>. [ speaking spanish ] speaking sp]

>> so no one else can tell us where the journey ends for us. we define that for ourselves, no one can stop us but you have to dream big but work just as hard to get there. interesting about when i asked if he thought the perception of ice skating has changed, especially for men and he said fighting for his career has something he's as you had to do. he hoped people opened their eyes to bigger possibilities. already thinking about 2026 jose. >> our treasure, our bilingual treasure. you can watch morgan every day mostly in english, though she can translate simultaneously, as you can see.

up next, why the supreme court is taking up the "roo main in mexico" policy. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." watching diaz-balart reports.

imagine a world where we have the tools to sell things that mean something. like a sunscreen made for melanated skin

that blends in. proof that things don't have to be the way that they've always been. the world's been waiting for what you do. at xfinity, we live and work in the same neighborhood as you. we're always working to keep you connected to what you love. and now, we're working to bring you the next generation of wifi. it's ultra-fast. faster than a gig. supersonic wifi. only from xfinity. it can power hundreds of devices with three times the bandwidth. so your growing wifi needs will be met. supersonic wifi only from us... xfinity. at xfinity, we live and work in the same neighborhood as you. we're always working to keep you connected to what you love. and now, we're working to bring you the next generation of wifi. it's ultra-fast. faster than a gig. supersonic wifi. only from xfinity. it can power hundreds of devices with three times the bandwidth. so your growing wifi needs will be met. supersonic wifi

only from us... xfinity. i may be close to retirement, but i'm as busy as ever. and thanks to voya, i'm confident about my future. voya provides guidance for the right investments. they make me feel like i've got it all under control. voya. be confident to and through retirement. welcome to the eat fresh refresh at subway wait, that's new wait, you're new too nobody told you? subway's refreshing with better ingredients, better footlongs, and better spokespeople. because you gotta you gotta refresh to be fresh the supreme court has agreed to hear a key argument from the biden administration friday. the case against the trump era remain in mexico policy. the biden administration expanding the program, something

immigration advocates claim the administration was under no legal obligation to do. pete williams joins me this morning. what are the arguments in this case? >> reporter: the main argument is this, did a federal judge in texas get it right when he said that immigration law actually requires the government to expel applicants for admission to the u.s. whenever there isn't enough capacity to detain them? as you know, that's almost always the case. last november, for example, the u.s. had the capacity to detain immigrants but had more than 86,000 apply for admission. many are allowed to remain in the u.s. while their case is decided. opponents say that practice is a bad one because many vanish into the country and never show up for their hearings. the biden administration says the policy is discretionary, that the u.s. can send applicants back to mexico to wait while their cases are

pending but say it doesn't has to so says the judge was wrong and complicates things in mexico and exposes immigrants to dangerous situations on the border. two courts say the biden administration didn't take all the required legal steps when it tried to shut down this policy. >> what's the timeline for the supreme court? >> the court is taking this on a fast track. normally it wouldn't be held until next term but the supreme court agreed last friday to hear this case in late april. we'll most likely get a decision in late june or early july. >> pete williams, good to see you, my friend. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. be sure the follow the show online. thank you so much for the privilege of your time.

joe fryar picks up right now. >> in the last 20 minutes, we saw lloyd austin and secretary of state blinken arrive at the white house as we follow major developments in eastern europe. in ukraine, there's shelling in the east and rising tensions. plus new intelligence in the u.s., a letter to the u.n. warning we have credible information russia plans to target dissidents in ukraine, to either kill them or send them could camps. russia calls it fake but president biden's national security adviser is talking about that intelligence saying this earlier on "today." >> we also have intelligence to suggest that there will be an even greater form of brutality. it will be a war waged by russia on the ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to

ha