they're okay. . good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. right now the russian siege of the port city of mariupol enters a dire stage, completely locked from humanitarian aid according to a ukrainian minister after a horrifying russian attack on a maternity hospital. more than 2.3 million people have fled ukraine according to the u.n. this morning ukraine and russia held their first high-level talks since the conflict began. we'll bring you the latest on what came out of that meeting. vice president kamala harris is in poland trying to reassure our nato ally after the pentagon rejected a polish plan to deliver fighter jets to ukraine. at any moment on capitol hill, the senate intelligence committee will begin a hearing

on worldwide threats where the topic of ukraine will be front and center. we'll be speaking with senator chris van hollen about the growing crisis and what more the u.s. can do about it. we begin with the very latest from ukraine on day 15 of the russian invasion. this morning ukrainian president zelenskyy released a video accusing russia of trying to humiliate the yains. russia's foreign minister is denying that russia invaded ukraine in the first place. on the ground, 60,000 people were able to escape russian-occupied territories. thousands more still need to escape. ukraine says seven new humanitarian corridors have been established. plus we're learning new details about the devastation unfolding

right now in mariupol. ukraine is reporting new russian attacks on the besieged port city after russia bombed a maternity hospital there. ukrainians officials say at least three people died as a result of that brutal attack including a 6-year-old girl. i want to warn you that the next video you're about to see is disturbing. official in mariupol rush to dig a mass grave, quickly burying the dead after two weeks of relentless violence. the u.s. now warns the worst is yet to come. an official telling nbc news they're worried russia is planning to use chemical weapons against ukraine in a false flag operation. joining us, nbc kmus chief foreign correspondent richard engel. you spent the day traveling with ukrainian forces as russian forces are closing in on kyiv. what did you learn? >> reporter: so earlier today we were in the suburb of irpin.

irpin is a front line area. it's just on the northern edge of kyiv. russian forces have been trying to take over this suburb area for the last two weeks and to use it as a beach head to launch a greater invasion into the capital. they currently control about half, roughly half. there's not one specific front line. so it's hard to know. there are pockets held by russian forces, other pockets held by ukrainian forces. but two weeks into this fight, they still have not been able to take over what is a relatively minor suburb, just over two weeks now. they are still being held back at irpin. we saw many ukrainian forces going in, many ukrainian volunteers. some were going in with weapons they bought themselves. volunteers were telling us they have been receiving donations including money and material from abroad, some from the united states, some from italy.

we watched them take night vision equipment out of brand new cardboard boxes and they were handing it out. so they are still getting resupplied and are still sending in forces to keep the russians from entering the capital of kyiv. the mayor -- and i think it was you, jose, a couple days ago, you asked how many people are still left in the capital. the mayor said about half the city's residents have now left. he said just under 2 million people are in the city, and he described it as a fortress. it very much feels like a fortress because of all the volunteers, all the soldiers manning checkpoints all over the city. >> richard, from irpin to kyiv, it's a short distance. what are you seeing as far as the russians unable to continue going forward? >> reporter: it is -- well,

lavrov, the russian foreign minister, who denied bizarrely that russia has launched an invasion. he said, first of all, russia does not plan to attack or invade any other countries and that russia didn't invade ukraine for that matter. i think that he's going along with this line that has been coming from the kremlin that this was never a military invasion, that this was a special military operation designed to eliminate a cabal of nazis and fascists who they claim are running this country which, of course, is not true. he said there was no invasion, that this is special the special military operation. if he had crossed that line and called it an invasion or war, he would have been contradicted the official russian line which has made it illegal to use the word invasion or use the word war in russia. if journalists use it in that country, it could be punishable by up to 15 years in prison. i assume that's why he was avoiding the term. he also said the military

operation is going to plan. if it is going to plan, the plan would mean that russian forces advance very slowly, take heavy losses and inflict a large number of civilian casualties. the only guess i can give you as to why they're still holed up in pockets in irpin is the rush plan is not going to plan. >> it's amazing, richard, to hear him say they have not invaded ukraine. this is surrealistic moments. talk to me about mariupol, a place you know well and has been so devastated in the past 24-48 hours. >> reporter: just to continue with love rov for a minute. he said the pathetic excuses -- pathetic condemnations that have come about mariupol do not recognize the fact that the building was empty and was being

used as a military -- for military purposes by ukrainian troops and the few people inside were being held as human shields. that is not what local officials, not what witnesses are describing and certainly not what the video depicts when you see pregnant women being led out of the building. it appears that the wards were not completely full. otherwise, there would have been many, many more casualties. mariupol is a city i know well. we were there for weeks before coming to kyiv. it is surrounded now on three sides. the port side being the water, and even that side of the sea of azoff is being cut off by the russian navy. they're running out of supplies. people have had to break into grocery stores to find something to eat. they have melted snow in some cases. we were in touch with one family. the wife and children managed to get to a little pocket, a little village just on the edge of

mariupol, but the husband has stayed behind and we've lost contact with him. so people are in mariupol. they are fighting, that i are dug in but they are surrounded and under attack. >> ollie, you're on the ground on the western side of ukraine. what are you seeing there today? >> reporter: it's been a very desperate situation here. we made the crossing from poland into ukraine. when we were crossing through there was a long line of buses, an exodus of people on the ukrainian side waiting to get into poland. mostly women and children. many of them were carrying their dogs and cats with them with no more than a bag or two between them. everybody looked very anxious. the children looked dazed and confused. jose, those are the lucky ones. those are the people that have the means to get out of ukraine, that have money to pay for their transport, pay for their accommodation, have a network of support elsewhere.

here in lviv you're seeing a lot of people flowing into lviv from the eastern side of the country. the hotel we're at is full of ukrainian people, mostly women and children, again with their pets. i was getting into the lift at the hotel yesterday. there was a young couple with their child and their dog. they had one bag between them and the dog bed under his arm. even the dog looked anxious. it's a really, really desperate situation. i spoke to another young ukrainian lady yesterday who had left kyiv. i asked her, i said do you think the russian invasion is going to spread west very quickly. she said, no, i think they're going to get bogged down in the east. i don't think they'll be able to cross the nipro river. she paused and said, at least that's what i tell myself so i can sleep at night. there's a relative safely in

lviv. you can see people are anxious. they don't know what to expect, what's coming next. they don't know what turn their lives are going to take, how long they'll be exiled from their homes, if their homes are even going to exist if they get a chance to go back there. so everybody here is on tenterhooks. there were the very first high-level talks between the russian and the ukrainian foreign minister. the ukrainian foreign minister said he had very low expectations going into those. there was no progress made on a cease-fire. the ukrainian foreign minister said the options the russians had given for safe corridors were unacceptable because they led to belarus and russia. people here are just waiting to see what comes next. >> ali arouzi and richard engel, thank you so much for being with us this morning. joining us is the co-founder and executive director of the corruption action center in ukraine. thank you for being with us.

you're in warsaw now. what are you hearing from family and friends still in ukraine? we were listening to ali's report, a couple with their dog that made the trek to lviv. they're the fortunate ones, the lucky ones. >> absolutely. they're the lucky ones. those who are the most in need they are in mariupol, in kharkiv, in the southeast of ukraine and there's no way to protect those people, to provide them basic needs and to evacuate them. there's no way to evacuate children from the hospitals which will being bombed now by russia. all this that you see in mariupol, they were caused by russian bombs, by missiles. these are the priority of russians. they can't take over ukraine -- they can win ukraine in an army

on the ground battle. they plan to take over ukraine in three days, planned to take over kyiv in three days. that lost that. they're throwing bombs. already more than 700 bombs which flew on ukrainian cities and simply destroying the most -- facilities with the most vulnerable people. newborn babies now guarding the world democracy from the new hitler. the way to stop that is for our partners to deliver to ukraine air defense system, and they cannot coming. for two weeks we have the war, we don't have air defense systems. we don't have fighter jets delivered from our partners, from nato or other countries which are observing the situation, trying to help, delivering humanitarian aid.

but it sits at the border. it's impossible to deliver the aid to the people who will die from hunger in mariupol in the coming days if we do not close our sky. >> daria, this is so difficult and it's so immediate the emergency, the need, the destruction that is being carried out. it's clear that there's such a frustration by you and so many others on the lack, the lack of solidarity in the sense of, for example, poland. they've got the planes ready. they say to the americans, we'll deliver them to germany. but it's just not happening. >> it's not happening because americans are saying, well, we are doing green light, but at the same time we see there is no will of american administration, of biden administration to provide air defense system to ukraine. so if there was a will, they could have found the way. there are no air defense systems and fighting jets all across the

eastern border of nato. nato is afraid of provoking putin. i'm tired of all this argument. nato is afraid of provoking putin. is this woman provoking putin? is this pregnant woman who is in labor under the bombs, is she the one to protect europe? i had a meeting with secretary blinken a couple days ago. i said, listen, i'm fighting corruption in ukraine for the last ten years. now i don't believe in rule of law and democracy anymore. now when ukraine has been executed for fighting corruption nks we're begging to protect our sky, to deliver air defense systems and missile systems, and we're receiving no, because nato is afraid to provoke putin. america is afraid that russia

will treat this move negatively. so i am really very much disappointed and disillusioned of america. i know that american people actually care, and american people -- there is a democracy in america, and american people withstand up and demand administration to change its behavior and step in, not just observe all this execution and genocide. it has to be stopped. this is the evil which las to be stopped in ukraine. >> darya, thank you, thank you for your voice, thank you for being with us. let's continue our conversation. we need your voice. >> thank you. we're going to stay in poland. vice president kamala harris is meeting with polish leaders in warsaw. she announced the u.s. delivered patriot missile defense systems to poland along with more than $50 million in humanitarian aid. she also slammed russia for carrying out what she called atrocities of uni'm manageable proportion, such as the hospital attack in mariupol.

>> a maternity hospital, a children's hospital where we have witnessed pregnant women who were there for care for one reason to be taken out because they required care because of an act of violence. >> harris' visit comes after the rejection of moving soviet fighter jets to a u.s. base in germany so they could be transferred to ukraine. with us is josh lederman. the vice president and poland's president were asked about the jet issue during a news conference earlier today. appeared to sidestep that issue. what do we know about how polish leaders viewing the u.s. rejection of this aur? >> we heard from the polish

president saying we all have the same goal, doing everything we can to help ukraine. they heard what the u.s. said, but also the need for nato to act as one. the polish idea here was by putting this in u.s. custody that they wouldn't be boxing nato in to a larger role in this conflict. they would essentially be giving them this aircraft but allowing nato as a whole to make decisions about where they should go and how. part of that may be an attempt to paper over the obviously diplomatic rift here with the pols doing whatever they can to help the ukrainian government and also vice president harris saying the u.s. and poland are on the same page here.

they said the pols got ahead of their skis. they heard what the u.s. was saying and wanted to get these headlines themselves. they might have gone a little too forward on this, but that everyone is focused now on figuring out, given the fact that the u.s. has pretty firmly put the nail the coffin of taking over these aircraft, what else can they do, including more military assistance that vice president harris says will be coming from the united states to the ukrainians. >> as nalgs are put in coffins in hundreds if not thousands of ukrainians on a daily basis. up next, u.s. officials warning russia could soon resort to using chemical weapons. we'll talk to the former attorney general of the u.s. army. ukrainians are pleading for more help. what congress plans and can do to answer that call? we'll ask senator chris val hollen. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports."

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22 past the hour. the attack on the maternity and children's hospital in the ukrainian port city of mariupol was the latest in a series of russian attacks targeting civilians, despite russia's insistence they didn't attack civilians. they're saying they didn't even invade ukraine. as the fighting continues, the cost to ukrainian citizens and soldiers keeps growing.

>> reporter: horror and devastation. this was a maternity hospital, targeting babies even before they've been born. they rush to take her away, no safety here. ukraine's president says a russian air strike caused this carnage and children are under the wreckage. just look at the size of the crater. britain's prime minister called the attack depraved and said russia's vladimir putin will be held to account for his crimes. for mariupol in southern ukraine, it's already a city in ruins after days of bombardments. perhaps trying to soften its image, russia released what it said was aid being delivered to another bombarded city, kharkiv in eastern ukraine. the kremlin also claimed without evidence its military operation had uncovered a ukrainian

biological weapons program. >> translator: they were carried out by kyiv and financed by the united states of america. >> reporter: but information or disinformation is as much of a weapon in this war as tanks and troops and ukraine strongly denied the allegation. far away from the front line, the other unmistakable sound of war. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: three ukrainian soldiers killed on different days remembered together. [ sobbing ] . >> reporter: comrades broken by a war they're still fighting. >> sky news correspondent debra haines for that report. joining us retired

lieutenant general ben hodges, previously served as the commanding u.s. army in europe. we saw a funeral for ukrainian soldiers that were killed. the war is watching russia launch these attacks on hospitals, pregnant women and children. what is the strategy here for russia? >> jose, thank you. what a gut-wrenching last ten minutes on your program. that, debra's report. i know darya. she's an incredible woman. what russia obviously has decided to do, they're going to murder as many ukrainians as they possibly can, smashing their cities to put pressure on the zelenskyy government and all of us in hopes that the unit of our alliance will contract and say, for the love of god, we'll do anything, please stop this. this is a premeditated targeting

and murder of ukrainian citizens. general oleg mark vet ski is the russian air force commander responsible. we know from captured russian pilots he is the one giving the orders at the targets. i think everybody in the world ought to see his picture and know his name. this is an intentional effort to use murder, terror, to put millions of refugees on the road and to put pressure on european capitals, on us, to do something to allow russia to claim a victory. >> russia in the past, we know the modus opinion ran da, aleppo, the destruction and annihilation of an entire area. general, we're on day 15 of this invasion. the ukrainian people are showing such extraordinary valor and resistance. the u.s. is warning russia could soon resort to use chemical weapons as a false flag

operation. what does that mean, and what could it look like? >> certainly nobody should be surprised if the kremlin, which has used poison on its own people, on its political opponents, might, in fact, resort to using chemical weapons on ukrainians. i personally don't have access to intelligence that says that, but i think anybody that's been watching what russia is doing would not be surprised that they might contemplate doing that. i would also imagine that the white house, along with other european capitals are working very hard to think through options, number one, to prevent russia from doing that, but also possible response. >> general, what could the response be to help the ukrainians defend, protect themselves. poland is offering the jets. that apparently is a no-go. germany, where you're at, said they're not going to be sending

fighter jets anywhere. what is it that could be done to help people defend themselves from this daily slaughter, and is the world just worried about not provoking putin when putin provoked the destruction of a country, of an independent country and is daily killing its people? >> i completely agree with you, jose. there are some things i think that are worse than the risk of escalation. i think that we have allowed ourself, after initially a good start we've allowed ourselves to become deterred by the kremlin, and threats of use of chemical weapons or nuclear weapons instead of using the power that we have, the collective power of all the members of nato. of course, keeping the alliance together has got to be our priority. i think we could be doing a lot more, number one. most of the damage that's being

caused is by rockets and artillery and missiles. what are we doing to help ukraine destroy the sites from which these missiles and rockets are coming? ships in the black sea and sea of azoff, ground-based systems in ukraine and russia, providing intelligence, long-range capabilities. anti-shell capabilities. these are the things i think we should be doing immediately that would help ukraine neutralize what's actually causing most of the damage. >> general ben hodges, it's always a pleasure to listen to you, and i thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. up next, how russians are reacting to the string of businesses closing up shop in their country. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." step styl. five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier.

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. 33 past the hour. today russian president vladimir putin met with his cabinet to talk about how to minimize the impact of international sanctions on the russian economy. russia is facing growing fallout as more american companies suspend operations there. nbc's senior international correspondent keir simmons brings us this report from moscow. we should note russia is

cracking down on the media there, limiting what reporters can say under threat of imprisonment. >> reporter: this morning with the kremlin accusing the west of declaring economic war against russia, one of america's most iconic brands preparing the temporary closure of 850 restaurants. russians young and old packing into mcdonald's or grabbing a final takeout. >> we will miss it a lot. >> it was very delicious. my friends and i really like it. >> hard, hard times. >> hard times are coming? >> yes. >> reporter: the grand opening hype was as foreign to moscow as the hamburger. >> reporter: 30 years ago as the iron curtain fell, the golden arches arrived in the soviet union. it fell like a new chapter. now that era may be over. at the same restaurant today, it was easy to find supporters of

president putin. everything is going the way it should be, this woman told us. this man disagrees. a growing list of western companies closing their russian businesses or suspending shipments to the country, though the full impact is yet to be felt. in moscow we counted five starbucks and seven mcdonald's still open, one with a line for lunch. it is sad, but it's not a big deal. we'll survive without mcdonald's this woman says. it's wrong because it's the only affordable place for me where i can eat, says another. others are defiant. we're a pretty brave people. we can't be threatened by this. this past few weeks the atmosphere in moscow has quickly changed. on the streets outside mcdonald's, signs of a city on edge. inside, many enjoying what was once a simple burger and fries, now a last supper. >> our thanks to keir simmons

for that report. happening now on capitol hill, top national security officials are testifying about the biggest worldwide threats, including the war in ukraine. what they're saying next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." rts. ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's

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or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. 40 past the hour. right now the heads of the united states intelligence agencies are testifying before the senate committee. the house passed a massive spending bill including $14 billion for aid for ukraine. joining me is capitol hill national correspondent leigh ann caldwell. what's the latest on the hearing going on right now. >> good morning, jose. this is the second time this week this intelligence community official has testified before congress. they testified before the house of representatives on tuesday, and they're back today before the senate. so far we've heard the opening

statement from avril haines, the director of national intelligence. she gave some more dire warnings about what is happening in ukraine and mute tin's motivations. she said -- she called him reckless, said he'll continue to indiscriminately attack civilians. she said putin is unlikely to be deterred and he is very confident he can militarily defeat ukraine and he has no plans to stop. she goes on to say that the united states' biggest intelligence commitment, however, is to keep the u.s. safe. that is something that they are continuing to work on and to ensure. now, the question-and-answer portion of this hearing just started. the head of the committee, senator mark warner just asked his first question. this is going to be about 2 1/2 hours long. then they go into closed session where they get a classified briefing from these top intelligence officials. so this hearing is extremely

timely given what is happening in ukraine. but they're also going to talk about the other threats facing the united states and facing the world including china, they say. including iran. including the global pandemic and including change, jose. >> leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill, thank you. joining us, maryland senator chris van hollen who sits on the foreign relations and appropriations committees. a pleasure to see you. the house approved a nearly $14 billion aid package for ukraine. what do you think the united states should be doing? more or is this enough? >> i would say this is about double what people were originally thinking because of the growing needs. just around $14 billion. half of it to increase military assistance to ukraine. half of it to help address the humanitarian crisis. we will continue to stand by to look at needs as they unfold. if more is necessary, i think we'll provide more on a

bipartisan basis. >> senator, should the u.s. be looking at bringing in some folks that have had to leave their country because of this war into the united states as refugees? >> oh, i do. i think we need to do our part for those that want to come to the united states. a number of these refugees have families in other places in europe and would prefer to go there. of course, many hope to go home at some point. but for those who have no place to go, my view is, yes, we should be doing our share. i was pleased that the president provided protection under the tps program for ukrainians who are currently here in the united states. we obviously don't want to send them back into a war zone. >> senator, you and other senators from both sides of the aisle released a resolution for putin to be accountable forward crimes. how would you do that? >> we would do it through the

international legal apparatus, the international court of justice, the european court. and we are -- at one point we were saying we're collecting evidence. now the evidence is there before our eyes every day in terms of these attacks on hospitals and civilian targets. so i do believe that in addition to doing everything we can to punish russia's economy -- and we saw the ruble just totally collapse the other day, and doing everything we can to provide weapons. we also need to make clear that we will do everything we can to hold putin accountable under the war crimes statutes. >> senator, that spending bill that includes aid for ukraine, also includes a boost for fundings for u.s. immigrations and custom enforcement and u.s. immigration service but leaves out things like extra legal aid funding, detention resources. how do you feel about that? >> well, it does also include

additional funds for more administrative watches so we can quickly determine claims for asylum. it also increases funds partly to have to deal with the covid situation, where we want to make sure there's more distance between beds, for example? importantly, jose, it provides no additional funds for family detention. in fact, it directs that funds be used to take us away from family detention. at the end of the day, these bills, these appropriation bills require bipartisan support to get out of the senate. i think all things considered, this legislation takes us in the right direction, even though i might not agree with every provision. >> senator van hollen, thank you for being with us this morning. appreciate your time. >> good to be you, thanks. up next, we'll go bag to ukraine and talk to a documentary filmmaker.

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49 past the hour. of the 2.3 million people have

fled ukraine, unicef reports 1 million are children. before the russian invasion, a documentary called "a house made of splinters" was released in ukraine, following three children living in an orphanage children in ukraine. since 2014 when russia annexed crimea and conflict broke out, more than 14,000 people have died in eastern ukraine. joining me now is daria basel, co-producers of "a house made of splinters." thank you so much for being with us. how are you doing? what was it like to have to leave where you were? >> well, it was quite painful, i must say, and actually a lot of my friends, filmmakers, ukrainian filmmakers are still in kyiv, some of them are in the heart of kyiv or in mariupol, in

the cities suffering the most right now and they are continuing filming and documentaries about the war crimes of russia against ukraine but i was not that brave. i decided to leave kyiv on the first day of the war. >> it's not a matter of not being brave, it's a matter of everyone's personal decision and how to deal with this unimaginable tragedy. the conflict in eastern ukraine has been going on now for eight years, since 2014, and now we're seeing a full-scale invasion. what do you think the impact of this kind of relentless war has been, especially on the children of ukraine? >> well, actually the first thing i would like to say that it is not a conflict, it's the war, it's always been the war of russia against ukraine, even eight years ago. it was not a question for ukrainians whether it's a conflict or a war, it is the war

and it was the war. and while we already see and we've been witnessing the consequences for children and for many other people of this war and the consequences are just awful and horrible. people are fleeing their homes. people have huge psychological problems. and, well, i don't know what to say. it's just the generation that is ruined probably. >> and up said that the world needs to highlight ukrainian voices and recognize that ukrainian and russian culture are different or distinct. what do you mean by that? >> well, what i see right now because i'm working also at the documentary human rights festival and they have a lot of friends in -- around the world, a lot of international film festivals who right now are trying to support us and they are organizing different kind of

film screenings or panel discussions. and what i see that they invite much ukrainians and they do not screen ukrainian films but they are screening russian films, even though those are russian filmmakers and ukrainian filmmakers, they do not have voice, they do not have possibility to tell about ukraine and the russian filmmakers steal our telling to the world about their situation. and i think it's totally unfair. i think right now it's the time to listen to ukrainian voices and to understand the complexity of the situation. >> yeah, i mean, i'm just looking at history at the many attempts that russia has played in the past to try and destroy ukrainian culture in 1932, closing all ukrainian education

in '46. it goes on and on how russia has tried to destroy ukraine through its culture and has been unable to do so. let's hope that continues to be a reality that ukraine is not destroyed in any way. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> a special team got between ukrainian babies out of ukraine. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. italian-style capicola on the new mozza meat and supreme meats. love the smell of italian food. subway keeps refreshing and refres- this is the planning effect. if rayna's thinking about retirement, she'll get some help from fidelity to envision what's possible. fidelity can help her prioritize her goals by looking at her full financial picture. plus they'll help her pick an investment strategy,

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get started with internet and voice for $64.99 a month. and ask how to add securityedge™. or, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. 57 past the hour. this morning two american twin baby boys of safe in poland after they were born prematurely days ago in kyiv to a surrogate. a rescue team took a daring trip to get them out of ukraine. jesse, you spoke with the team and the baby's father. tell me about it. >> reporter: yeah, jose. you can imagine how hard it has been for those hundreds of thousands of children to get out of ukraine safely. now imagine if you're the parent of newborn babies and you're not

with those children so you're trying to work remotely to get them out and then add on top the extra challenge this family faced. those babies needed extra medical care, making in a very challenging situation that ended happily. for days one american couple could only see their newborn twins through a camera. with warren gulfing ukraine, lenny and moises were born at 32 1/2 weeks putting these preemy twins at even greater risk. >> if the hospital loses power, they're going to die. >> their american parents watched in anguish from the u.s., doing what they could by phone. that's when brian stern and project dynamo stepped in, assembling a team of doctors, neonateologists for what stern says was nearly a real life

mission impossible. >> we've evacuated and rescued thousands of people between afghanistan and ukraine and this was by far the most complex and sensitive operation we've ever done. >> reporter: but stern's team remarkably found a way, documenting this escape, passing this massive check point line on the way to poland where their dad was waiting. >> it was dangerous, scary and hopeful. >> reporter: the boys arrived safely at a polish hospital where they're getting stronger. >> i think the most incredible thing about this is seeing them alive and seeing how tiny and precious these little babies are. >> alex specter finally able to do something so simple, reach out and embrace his baby boys. soon they'll meet mom, too. >> for us it's the happiest story in the world. >> thank you. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time.

you can always reach me on twitter and instagram and be sure to follow the show online. craig melvin picks up with much more news right now. a good thursday morning to you. craig melvin here following new developments in the russian invasion of ukraine. ukraine's president zelenskyy says his heart is broken by the death spreading across his country and he is ripping into russian forces calling them, quote, monsters. the clearest images of the savagery of the war so far out of southern ukraine, injured ukrainians being tended to and brought out on stretchers after the bombing of a maternity and children's hospital in