just the government doing it, but firms, and firms that have been shamed by employees, whether it's oil, huge oil companies that were late in moving or mcdonald's, starbucks, other companies, it's having an impact. >> yes, just like the protests around europe, and all of the action we have seen here in america. this is politicians responding to anger of their own people who want to do something. >> and that makes a difference, government and individuals along with companies. >> and that's how you create the network you were talking about, people see the mcdonald's closed, it automatically feeds, what the heck is going on, why did that happen, and they get the message from their family in ukraine, they begin to connect dots. >> michael, katty, and barnacle, thank you very much, for willie, joe and me, that closes our coverage for today, but we'll be back tomorrow morning. that does it for us for now, chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. hi there, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in

new york. it is wednesday, march 9th. this morning, we are watching the disintegration of ukraine in realtime. thousands fleeing, trying to get ahead of the russian onslaught, countries and corporations expanding efforts to help ukraine, and punish vladimir putin. yet, the war just keeps getting worse. the numbers are huge, 2 million evacuated. the ukrainian government says 100,000 people fled yesterday alone. but it's the individual pictures here that tell the story of the misery these people have had to endure. this child carried in his stroller over a makeshift bridge to escape from irpin. an elderly woman in a wheelchair if this doesn't break your heart, covered in snow as she is evacuated to the capital. new evacuation routes are being opened in six locations, including from villages around kyiv, as well as the cities of sumy and mariupol, but it remains to be seen if the russian assault will stop long enough for them to remain open.

in mariupol, the situation is particularly horrific. hundreds of thousands of people trapped without power or running water. the red cross is finally getting supplies in there, but it's just scratching the surface of what's needed. one little girl died yesterday of dehydration after she was trapped in the rubble of her home. we're hearing similar stories all over the country, including in irpin just outside the capital. >> one woman, one children, and one. >> were all buried. >> yes, in the park. in the square where two weeks ago, children was -- >> were playing. >> from children playing to being buried. those stories, those pictures are driving the world to take action, and fueling both the resilience and the resistance of the ukrainian people and their leaders. on tuesday, president zelenskyy received a standing ovation

after delivering the first ever speech by a foreign leader in the british house of commons. insisting ukraine will fight to the end. and urging the world to join them. the ukrainian military has certainly done its part, keeping russia out of its major cities for two weeks now. our own richard engel spoke to one native ukrainian who moved to the u.s., joined the army here, and fought in afghanistan but is now back in his homeland defending it. >> we're on the right side, i mean, they came to our home, trying to destroy us. we don't have a choice. we stand divided we fall. so that's it. >> do you think you're going to win? >> right now it looks like we are winning. we're pushing them back, and they have no fuel, and they're dying. >> and in fact, by all accounts, the global response to this war in ukraine has caught vladimir putin by surprise. more is being done every day even though it's not clear if

any of it is making putin think twice. overnight, u.s. congressional leaders agreed to a nearly $14 billion aid package for ukraine. that's far more than president biden had even asked for. this morning, vice president harris is heading to poland to continue talks about sending jets to ukraine, although the pentagon rejected poland's latest plan as untenable. all of this comes a day after the u.s. and uk announced those bans on russian oil. the european union agreed to cut imports by 2/3. and companies from coke, pepsi, mcdonald's, starbucks, all suspending business in russia. a lot to get to. i want to bring in nbc chief white house correspondent, kristen welker, four star general john allen is a marine corps veteran who demanded u.s. forces and nato forces in afghanistan. andrea kendall taylor led the intelligence community's strategic analysis on russia with the national intelligence council. she was also a senior analyst at

the cia, and melinda herring is the deputy director of atlantic council's eurasia center. we know how grateful ukraine is for the financial aid, for the oil ban, but they're begging for planes. it looked like there might have been a deal in place yesterday, until there wasn't. what happened and is it completely off the table now? >> i don't think it's completely off the table, chris. here's what happened. poland made that announcement, and it really caught the administration off guard. they didn't tell the biden administration they were going to make that announcement before they actually announced it. part of it was to pressure the president to agree to this deal, and look, pentagon spokesperson john kirby said in a statement quote, it is simply not clear to us that there is a substantiative rationale for it. we will continue to consult with poland and our other nato allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents but we do not believe poland's proposal a

tenable one. let's go back to that word, logistical challenges, part of the concern in the biden administration, and the european allies is that sending these planes would escalate this conflict with moscow, would engage nato in this conflict with moscow. that's exactly what they're trying to avoid, there's real concern about this escalating into world war iii with a nuclear armed russia, and concerns about putin being increasingly isolated and erratic. that's where the concerns come from. as you point out, vice president harris is on her way to poland right now, as she will be front and center. she will be talking to polish officials about this, and this is really her second trip to europe within the month aimed at reassuring america's allies, and shoring up support and pressure campaign against vladimir putin. we know that the administration was considering working out a deal with poland to send planes to ukraine because the secretary

of state talked about it over the weekend, so the question is can the vice president reach a deal with poland. this issue has gotten increasingly complicated in the wake of that surprise announcement yesterday, chris. >> so general, the ukrainian military has held off the russians so far. the key question is can they continue to hold them off without these fighter jets? >> well, we hope so, and thank you for this coverage that continues to shine a light on this awful humanitarian catastrophe, the russians have imposed on a peace loving people. they're doing very well, the ukrainians, it's a tough fight for them, though, because well, the russians have failed in many respects to achieve a lot of their tactical objectives, and to stay on their time line. they have defaulted to what they typically do when they get in a situation like this and that's use massive fire power, and they're not even using it against the ukrainian military or the resistance elements, they're using it against the population, believing if they kill enough ukrainians or push

enough of them on to the road to evacuate as refugees that that will crush the will of the ukrainian people, and that's not working. the ukrainian people are being incredibly brave, and incredibly resourceful, and incredibly resilient. the question about airplanes is an important question, and i'm happy to see that the vice president is on her way back into the region to have the conversation. we have to get the conversation out of the media so we can talk through the various components of how those aircraft would be transferred ultimately to ukrainian pilots, and the ukrainian air force, and to get them into ukrainian airspace to be based off ukrainian airfields, that conversation has to occur outside the glare of media attention, so that we can work those pieces out, and happily, we didn't hear an absolute no. we got some tentative reactions to it from the white house and the department of defense, but we didn't get a no. >> i think it's important to

point out that from zelenskyy and ukrainian standpoint, every day this goes on, more people die, more people are displaced. this isn't a conversation that can be a slow conversation. let me bring in nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel in the capital of kyiv. tell us more about the situation on the ground that's driving the push by zelenskyy to get more air power. >> reporter: as you were just talking about, russia has changed tactics, it's engaged in a punishment campaign. it is attacking the cities, pushing in on the capital kyiv, and the russian troops are driving in primarily from the north. and they're pushing in from the northwest and northeast and there are several towns and villages that are being systematically destroyed and depopulated. we were at a hospital earlier today where people were wounded and evacuated from the northern suburbs of kyiv, and they talk about russian troops moving

through their towns and villages, in some cases, looting, in some cases firing indiscriminately at homes. one family we spoke to was trying to leave. they were -- it was a family in a civilian car. they spoke to russian troops. the russian troops, they said, were surprised that they were speaking russian because the russian troops were apparently convinced by the russian propaganda that all the people here are not nazis and who hate the russian language. the russian soldier told the family that they could leave, they were holding a white plastic bag outside the window. but they only were able to get a few yards before another russian patrol opened fire on the vehicle shooting everyone inside exempt for the 8-year-old boy. there was four people in the car, a husband, wife, 16-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, and the 16-year-old girl was shot in the back, and fell

on top of her younger brother, protecting him. they managed to get out and are now in the emergency room, all of them, except the young boy, sharing one hospital room. so we're seeing increasing numbers of civilians who are being shot, including civilians like this family who are being shot at very close quarters. >> i mean, it's beyond horrifying, so andrea, you're the russian expert. some of our top intelligence people were on the hill. i want to play what they had to say about vladimir putin's frame of mind. >> i think he's likely to double down and try to grind down the ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties. >> the west does not give difference, and perceive this is a war he can not afford to lose. >> the general feeling is in the long run, he probably can't win. the ukrainian insurgency would make that impossible, but what is winning or losing even look

like to vladimir putin. >> i think we have to remember that the russian decisions on ukraine are decided by one man and one man only, and that is vladimir putin. there could be some opportunity but there is also grave risk, and when i say opportunity, i mean because vladimir putin doesn't have any constraints or checks on his power, he does have the latitude to change course. it gives him the latitude to back down, to change course, and he has control over the russian media that would enable him to sell something to the russian public. >> what might that look like? so far we haven't figured it out. he hasn't been backed into a corner tight enough yet. >> that is plausible, and he could try to find some win, some diplomatic solution to this situation, but the far more likely scenario was the risk piece that i was talking about, and that is if he does feel that

his hold on power is less now, he is, as the intelligence official says, likely to dig in and double down. that means he will take increasing risks. we know the history of these personalist regimes, when they lose power, they can expect to be jailed, exiled or killed. i think that's what putin expects, and so he will use all tools at his disposal to prevent that fate, and it does put us in a risky situation where we have to do everything possible to support ukrainians, their ability to defend themselves, we have to put pressure on vladimir putin, and we need to do it in a calibrated and careful way so we do avoid the risks of escalation, and seeing the conflict spread beyond ukraine's borders. >> i want to read part of what tom friedman wrote yesterday in "the new york times." quote, there is only one thing worse than a strong russia under putin, and that's a weak, humiliated disorderly russia

that could fracture or be in a prolonged internal leadership turmoil with different factions wrestling for power, and with all of those nuclear warheads, cyber criminals, and oil and gas wells lying around. i mean, it seems like the most horrible kind of catch 22, the worse the war gets for russia, the more the risk for the rest of the world. >> that's right. and so we have to tread carefully, but, you know, when we look at the way that these authoritarian regimes tend to transition, often times you get a new consensus candidate, if putin is ousted and it is at the hands of someone from within his elite, it is plausible then that that person will be able to maintain control of this system, and we will see the persistence of the regime. if it happens at the streets, then i think we have greater prospects for change. if we have someone outside this elite circle who is able to come to power, then we have the prospects for a more liberal

trajectory, more change inside russia, but these transitions are fraught with risk so that is, i think where the world is. this is an incredibly risky situation, both for the people inside ukraine clearly but also the potential ripple effects that can stem and emanate from russia. >> general, the pentagon's presser person, john kirby said this yesterday. there's not a substantiative rational for deal on polish jets because of the risk of wider confrontation. from zelenskyy's point of view, it's the one hope to end all of this before it gets to the point almost of no return. militarily, militarily right now at this point in the war, does getting those jets into the hands of the ukrainian military make sense today, tomorrow, as soon as possible. >> i think it does, actually. as president zelenskyy has said,

and as we've been watching this tactical situation unfold, particularly as the russians attempt to encircle unsuccessfully kyiv, they're moving into assembly areas potentially for the final assault on the capital. and as they move into those positions, having the capacity to deliver close air support against russian formations or against those long columns of russian support troops, and russian reinforcements could have a real effect upon russian morale, a real effect on the russian capacity to achieve its objectives. let me add to our previous conversation here. i'm really puzzled that the media has not brought china into this conversation. the chinese on the 4th of february, issued a joint statement where they talked about no limits to their friendship and nothing was forbidden to them and the russians turned right around and

invaded ukraine. sorry, general, you froze for a second. go ahead, continue. as we look for some means or some way to get putin an off ramp in this, we need to bring the chinese into this conversation as well because they clearly had green lighted this invasion, and ultimately bear some responsibility for where the russians are in this. and they may be the only country on the planet that can ultimately bring putin to the table with a cease fire to begin the kind of serious conversation that can save the ukrainian nation, and save the ukrainian people. i'm just puzzled that we don't have this conversation going more broadly in the media because it needs to be had. >> melinda, let's go to that big picture because obviously what has been done so far has not changed vladimir putin's calculus, so what are the other diplomatic options, what are the options beyond fighter jets, what are the conversations that

might be being had among nato leaders, might be being had with the vice president as she travels to poland today that look for an off ramp for vladimir putin. >> chris, i think we need to talk about fighter jets a little bit more. i know you want to look at other options. what the pentagon said is nonsense. they said it's logistically difficult to move about 30 migs from poland to ukraine. that's nonsense. if you talk to military experts, flight from the base in poland to the base in ukraine where we need to move them is less than an hour. the white house does not want to do it. the white house is weak and doesn't have any, that's what this boils down to. i think the white house needs to consult some external military experts and get some different views on this. i think it's unconscionable that millions of ukrainians are going to die, innocent children, innocent women who have done nothing wrong and we're standing

in the way, so i am really disappointed with the biden administration. in terms of diplomacy, the russians and ukrainians have started talking about options, and yesterday zelenskyy said that he's open to some options and the russians have said that they want crimea to be recognized as theirs and they want the people's republics to be recognized as theirs, and they want ukraine to give up on its nato aspirations, so that's the first sort of real opening between ukraine and russia and there's going to be talks very soon, but i wouldn't expect very much from the harris visit ch . she's not a foreign policy expert at all. >> i want to go back to what you said at the beginning, we're out of time but i think it deserves a follow up, what do you say to the biden administration, what do you say to the nato leaders who say, yes, even if we can do this, what you're looking at is the very real possibility of world war iii. >> wrong, this is not a possibility of world war iii.

moving under 30 jets in a flight that is less than an hour is not going to escalate the conflict. if you want putin to stand down, tough show real strength. that's the only thing that's going to stop this war. >> such a consequential debate that's going on. >> i agree. >> you agree. all right. so the story continues and kristen welker will be on top of it. i can't thank all of you enough for your thoughtful analysis this morning. melinda haring, general john allen, and of course kristen welker, and we appreciate all of you as well as richard engel in country. coming up, record shattering gas prices in the united states a direct consequence of the invasion in ukraine. what it means for the price you pay far beyond the gas pump. we're going to take a look inside russia in our first report, since vladimir putin restricted what journalists could report about the war in ukraine under threat of

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the need is growing by the minute, refugees arriving this morning in romania, escorted on to buses to be taken to their next destination, many with no idea where they'll end up. in poland, tens of thousands of women and children arriving around the clock, cold, tired,

hungry and in total disbelief. >> absolutely insane because it is 2022, and people are going to the moon, and we have tesla cars, and we have all that amazing technology now in our world, and here comes war. this stupid war. >> let's go right to jay gray in poland near the border with ukraine. jay, obviously the need is immense. there's no end in sight. so how are officials keeping up? >> reporter: it's overwhelming, and this is one way they're doing it. we're inside a refugee center. i want to show you, this is the registration, and you can see all of the donations, the donations that continue to come in, and we're talking about food, obviously here. this, believe it or not, chris, two weeks ago, this is a shopping center. these were vendors in this area.

it's been turned into the center to help those that are moving. you can see they have moved in 800 cots so they've got a place for everyone to rest here, and as we keep moving down the way here, you'll see what is basically a cafeteria at this point. this is one man who's done all of this, a doctor in this town who said i've got to do something to help these people. he convinced the vendors that were here to move downstairs and then created this in a matter of maybe two days, i'm told, 48 hours, to get it all done. look, they have catered meals for those that come in. and let's keep going, there's a lot to show you here. they've got this all installed in 48 hours, a washroom where people can wash their clothes, dry their clothes, kind of get things together here. donations continuing to pour in as well. so they can pick up new clothes, things that they may need. here, you get in, you have been traveling for days, you have a place where you can make a sandwich, fruit and things like that. and here's one of the most important areas, this area right

here, it's a spot that's a medical center. it is 24/7 with a doctor on call. i talked to one of the doctors today who was here, i studied, i trained in ukraine. it was vital that i be here. this is the kind of area where people finally can get a chance to lay their head down, take a breath, and just try and figure out what comes next. >> jay gray, thank you, and how remarkable that that doctor was able to get that together in such a short period of time. people's resilience, and their creativity is off the charts. up next gas prices soaring in the past week. this may be the start after the u.s. banned russian oil imports, will they get to the broader impact on our economy at large. don't go anywhere. impact on our economy at large don't go anywhere. a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential

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transporting goods across the country. air fares likely higher just in time for summer vacation. uber and lyft drivers say they are changing routes they are driving and the amount of hours they're behind the wheel. there's also a risk to restaurants, shopping malls, small businesses. if americans decide to stay home because they can't afford to fill up their tanks for nonessential activities, and the impact of higher prices goes far beyond what you're paying or they're paying to fill up. 60% of global oil consumption is fuel, the other 40% goes to a staggering array of products and household goods. look, everything made out of or packed in plastic, like smartphones, computers, tvs, grocery prices are impacted because industrial fertilizer contains fossil fuels, which means higher prices on grain, impacting the price of meat, eggs, and dairy products, medicine, blood pressure medications, in some cases up 200% or more because petro

chemicals are involved in production. >> it's so hard to tell a patient, especially with groceries going up, gas prices are going up, now your medication you need on a day-to-day basis to survive is going up as well. >> a great panel of experts joins us now. nbc correspondent jo ling kent is in los angeles, geoff bennett, and patrick dehan, head of petroleum analysis for gas buddy. joe, two new polls show americans support the ban on russian gas. 71% last week, and then earlier this week, it went up to 80%. the question it seems is how high are people willing to go, how high are they willing to pay to support ukraine, what are you hearing this morning? >> yeah, that's certainly an economic and a political question. and people here in los angeles say that they have to keep things in perspective, the drivers that we've spoken to say

people are suffering in ukraine, so they are willing to support the russian oil ban in order to, you know, stand with the people of ukraine, and pay a little bit more. but as you know, inflation at 7 1/2%, we get a new read on inflation tomorrow morning and what we expect to see is continued pain across the board when it comes to making those budgets work as you said, for groceries and all across the board, and so as these price impacts continue to hit all across categories from mascara to medical supplies, you'll start to feel it more beyond just the pump and that, then, becomes a political question, because according to recent polling, inflation remains the number one issue for people as they look, you know, in the next seven, eight months to the midterm elections, and so the drivers we have spoken to said they're happy to make changes in support of ukraine. they understand why this is happening, and why the president is making these moves, and although the u.s. only imports

about 8% of our supply is made up of russian oil, we are still subjected to the global oil prices, and so drivers expressing frustration, but understanding at this point, and certainly the white house watching closely to see how long that understanding and that patience will last here. >> which brings me to you, geoff. the president was reluctant to make this move, overwhelming support in congress, how worried are they at this point about how high prices could go, and what they could do to prevent some o. of the pain from being felt. >> it's a major concern, and one of the key challenges for president biden is no president really has control over gas prices or energy prices so what the white house has tried to do is manage expectations, warn americans that prices are expected to go higher as they've gone every day since the russian invasion started. he's tried to empathize with the

strain that american families are feeling, that's particularly true for working class families who over the years, over decades have seen a disproportionate amount of income go to energy prices and sought to blame putin, not russia, not the russian people, but vladimir putin directly. yesterday he used that phrase that these are putin's price hikes and hours later the white house press secretary said to reporters that this is putin's spike at the pump. this has not been prompted by sanctions. the question, though, even as white house officials point to those surveys, those national polls you highlighted, 71%. and another poll, 80% of americans say they are willing to pay higher prices, if it means standing in support with the ukrainians and punishing vladimir putin, the question is for how long. and if this knock on effect continues where it's not just higher prices at the gas pump but for every day products. >> patrick, one of the things president biden says he will do

is release 30 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to offset some of the high gas prices, but again, back to geoff's point, what can be done, and can americans expect any relief or is it just a matter of if you're willing to pay more at the pump, that's what you have to do to support ukraine. >> pretty ugly situation, and that's exactly what's happening here, we start to see the effects, and by the way, update some of your numbers, even worse, now americans are spending $0.60 more since just a week ago. we're at $4.30 a gallon. maybe good news depending on how things go. the price of oil is down this morning. that could mean that the price increases start to throttle back but much of this is indeed because of those russian sanctions and it pretty much statistically correct to say this is putin's price spike. >> so look, we're used to seeing

gas stations varying by price. i'm told by my coworkers who live in the suburbs, used to be just a few cents, now they're seeing literally from corner to corner, 25 cent difference, 30 cent difference. is that what's going on here, are there other factors at play, what are you seeing? >> i wouldn't call it price gouging at all. stations, their cost is volatile, they're passing it a along. some stations are getting a higher replacement cost sooner. 99.9% of stations are passing along their costs, whatever it may b and given the volatility and price of oil, stations may be passing it along faster or slower. ty i see nothing nefarious. gas stations are passing along the higher cost that the market has decided. >> beyond the price of the pump, americans could be seeing higher prices, did i miss anything,

what should we all be prasing -- bracing for in terms of the larger picture of how much money we have to shell out. >> you had a good opening segment, look around your house, if it's not made of wood or metal, there's probably some petro chemical in there. almost everything has some form of it in there. if not, it took oil or some form of energy to get there. we may be growing with silicon molecules, and being happy about our economy, we still run this economy on hydrocarbons, the one thing you might have left out is food prices. ukraine is a major food exporter, wheat and sunflower, russia as well. i talked earlier this week with zelenskyy's top economic adviser, and he told me, this is the time that ukrainian farmers should be in the field to be planting their spring crops, but most of the places where the ukrainians farm are occupied or

otherwise war zones with the russian invaders, so that's going to be another shoe yet to drop. the other thing that i think is interesting here, and this is a potentially good bit of news here, it's not really america's boycott of russian oil that has raised the price up. what's happening is all around the world they're not accepting russian oil because of the economic sanctions. if that sorts out and the russian oil does get to somebody's market, you could have some easing of the pain on the oil front because right now, a lot of russian oil, like 70% is just plain off the market, forget the part that's not coming to the u.s. >> a question i have is how quickly do these prices, like, move according to what's happening in, you know, the international oil market. what are the implications for the overall u.s. economy, and rising inflation, and if there is an easing of some of these concerns, how quickly does it

translate back to lower prices? >> right, so as you pointed out, tomorrow we get another cpi report, it's not going to be pretty. it's up 8% year over year. i suspect that the price hikes we have right now will be working their way in. inflation was already on the way up, and now we have this added to it. but lower oil prices will be reflected relatively quickly into the global oil market. what's happening right now among other things is fear of supply. if you're afraid you're not going to be able to get oil for your refinery or whatever need you have for t you would buy and buy forward and pay almost any price that's out there. so if it does start to come down, you should see that relatively quickly. every time over 30 years that we've had these oil price spikes, there's an investigation in congress of the u.s. oil companies gouging american consumers, it just never shows up as evidence. >> steve leaseman, and jo ling kent, geoff bennett, patrick,

thanks to all of you. our team got rare access to a private train station hall now being used to shelter single moms and their children. the kyiv city ballet dancing to a packed house in paris last night with proceeds going to provide humanitarian aid to the ukrainian people. this was the last show of their tour that left dancers stranded and of course worried about loved ones back home. but they danced to excerpts from the classic "swan lake" to "the nutcracker," a reminder to them and us of beauty and grace, and before the curtain fell, the audience gave them a long and emotional standing ovation. ♪♪

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women and children filing through the train station out of their way to find safety in another country, but what you don't see is a private hall above the station where single mothers and children seek refuge from the chaos. nbc's molly hunter got a rare look inside, and she joins me now. molly, tell me what you found. >> chris, that's right, look, arriving at this central train station is confusing, it is chaotic and everything is exhausted and around the back of the train station, a private hall, a lifeline for young mothers who are exhausted with their children, and we met some of them. take a look. >> leaving home like this is traumatic. no one chooses this for their children. millions making their way west to lviv central train station. >> arriving in lviv central train station is chaotic, confusing, but there's a group separating out mothers, and children, and infants, taking

them upstairs. it's essentially a sanctuary on their very long journey. >> up the stairs, it's just mothers and youngest children. 5-year-old miroslav, and mother natalia left. >> you left your husband, but she's safe. >> natalia says miroslava finally believes that once again. they left kharkiv as the bombing intensifies, russian air strikes every minute she says, the circle getting smaller and smaller around their house. but here, there are still smiles and plenty of hugs to go around. women arriving sometimes carrying just their children and greeting them are young ukrainian volunteers eager to help their country in some way. >> it will be fine, you're in the right place. >> 23-year-old sophia is a single mom of sonia and malita.

as we're talking, a volunteer came up, it was time to go. packing up and racing out so they wouldn't miss their ride, first poland, then hopefully italy. for some women, this room is the first moment they have had to stop and think. 28-year-old ira, and her two children left kharkiv just yesterday. my children are traumatized she says. so they knew it was scary, they knew it was war. >> they think it's some kind of game. ira says she's so disappointed with how her life has turned out and doesn't know what's next. but here in this room, there's relief and shared gratitude for making it this far. chris, one of the anecdotes that we couldn't quite fit in the piece, we asked 9-year-old sonia, with her mother olga what she put in her backpack, what she packed, and she told us she packed a set of colored pencils but sharpened them extra short so she could take more colors,

and when we asked that on her 24 hour train journey, she had given them all away to all of her new friends, chris. >> wow. remarkable, thank you so much, for your reporting, molly hunter, now, in addition to those children who are there with their that there are a lot of unaccompanied children. they've been separated from their parents, their family members, stressing these kids are at a heightened risk of violence, abuse, exploitation. as of this morning, some good news. unicef's first shipment of aid had has reached ukraine with 62 tons of supplies. that includes 72,000 blankets and warm winter clothing for children. joining us now, james erld. i want to play for you just one example of what these children are facing. this is 10-year-old ana maria, who fled kharkiv. here it is. >> i hear a loud voice from bombs. i don't know where my friends

now. kharkiv, it's like a piece of your heart. i don't know where we -- how we just google, tried to help, that's all. >> she said it's like a piece of your heart. you're on the ground. tell us what you're seeing. >> reporter: yeah, exactly that. i'm seeing pieces of hearts everywhere today. a mother had a mere child, she was trying to carry bags, very unusual if someone gives you a bag, normally, it didn't cry. and we both said to each other, it's because of the trauma. so there are traumatized children across everywhere we stand here. your correspondents are there. those who are fleeing in trains. it looks like world war ii, through misted windows of trains, as they stand and their fathers just watch them as they leave. and then there are the children in bunkers, the children who are

under threat, as you and i speak. >> well, to that threat, a million of the refugees, we're told, are children. one of our correspondents and that a family, they were all hospitalized, because they left their apartment, the russians told them it was safe, and then they got shot. what, if anything, can be done for folks, particularly the children, who remain very much in danger in the country? tell us what you're seeing to help. and we know that the scope of the problem is overwhelming. >> look, first and foremost, what has to happen is, the bombs have to stop. the only way to keep children safe is for this war to end. that's the clearest thing. and then, as you say, we need these humanitarian corridors. we need, we need children to be able to get out. when we hear there's a humanitarian corridor, not for children then to be attacked. these attacks on civilian areas have to stop. and then, yes, unicef will go

everywhere we can, but we need those humanitarian corridors for us to go in with those emergency medical supplies and the safe water that you spoke about. first and foremost, the safest, surest way to keep children safe is for the war to stop and, yeah. >> yeah. >> that's it. >> you mentioned medical supplies, and i know that you've been talking to pediatricians. what are they saying about what they're dealing with right now? >> i was at the hospital an hour ago. we've got dozens of children that have come in over the last couple of nights from kyiv, who were [ inaudible ] these children, they need support. we've got supplies going in there as well. but the doctors are saying they

expect many more kids. this city is overrun with people. they have regular problems as well. children who have cancer, i spoke to the doctor who is the head of pediatric across the country. she brought out 50 children who need support here that they can't get in a bunker. and, you know, then the pediatrician explains to me, like, he's a surgeon. he'll do anything for kids. that's what he does. now he's being taught to prioritize children. so, you know, you get 50 kids come in with wounds of war. okay, well, a green sticker means, put them there, they're fine. a yellow sticker means, that child needs support. a red sticker means critical support right now. and the pediatrician said, james, a black sticker on this child, it's too late. we're not going to be able to do anything with them. they'll have to be there, they will die. >> the idea of triage when you're talking about little kids almost more than anybody should have to bear. james elder, thanks to you, thank you to unicef, and please

stay safe out there. we appreciate your time today. still ahead, our first report from inside russia since vladimir putin passed that law restricting what journalists can and can't say about the war. what putin is doing to ease the economic pain of sanctions on his people, next. his people, next (vo) right now, the big switch is happening across the country. small businesses are fed up with big bills and 5g maps that are mostly gaps— they're switching to t-mobile for business and getting more 5g bars in more places. save over $1,000 when you switch to our ultimate business plan... ...for the lowest price ever. plus, choose from the latest 5g smartphones— like a free samsung galaxy s22. so switch to the network that helps your business do more for less—join the big switch to t-mobile for business today. my daughter has so switype 2 diabetesork that helps your business do more and lately i've seen this change in her. once-weekly trulicity is proven to help lower a1c. it lowers blood sugar from the first dose. and you could lose up to ten pounds. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes.

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russians. and a note, russia is cracking down on the media there, limiting what reporters can say under threat of imprisonment. our keir simmons is in moscow. >> reporter: just hours after president biden announced his ban on russian oil, president putin unveiling restrictions on imports and exports, to ensure the safety of the russian federation. it's not clear what goods or countries are targeted. before the u.s. announcement, the russian deputy prime minister saying, rejecting russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market. and warning russia could cut gas supplies to europe. the european union did not join the u.s. ban, but did propose gaining independence from russian fossil fuels by 2030. european imports 45% of its gas from russia. and 25% of its oil. while russian oil and gas revenues reached $119 billion in 2021, according to russian's finance ministry.

the leaders of germany and france spoke with china's president xi. in february, the chinese leaders stood shoulder to shoulder with president putin, ahead of the olympics. xi called for maximum restraint, warning sanctions against russia will dampen the global economy. but despite the diplomatic tension, a senior russian foreign minister official called for maintaining a constructive dialogue with the u.s. in international security. >> our thanks to keir simmons for that report. that wraps up this hour. i'm chris jansing. jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. >> good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart reporting from washington. new today, russia is now accusing the u.s. of unleashing an economic war after president biden banned russian oil from entering the u.s. this as more evacuations are happening right now in ukraine. people are now fleeing through new humanitarian corridors, hoping they can escape alive. people in the outskirts of the capital are