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 mariupol.

president zelenskyy calling it evidence of a genocide. ukraine says so far three have died from that attack, including one child. russia has denied it is targeting civilians. evidence would prove otherwise it would seem. this morning they say five medical workers have been killed and at least 63 hospitals damaged since russia launched its invasion. and the city of mariupol embodies the war. it is constantly under attack. the corridors, all six of them, are failing, blocked, putting unimaginable pressure on the people still there. >> we don't have electricity, we don't have anything to eat, we don't have medicine. we have nothing, this woman says. >> and hope for a diplomatic fix

so far looks bleak. the foreign minister of ukraine and russia met for the highest level talks since russia launched its invasion but no agreement on a cease-fire was reached. right now vice president kamala harris was in poland where she just met with that country's leader. the vice president announced that the united states is providing $53 million in new humanitarian assistance to poland. the u.n. says more than 1.4 million ukrainians have fled to just that country alone. among these refugees children, like the one you see there blowing bubbles, wearing an ironman hat, experiencing just a small moment of being a kid again in the face of this deadly chaos. we're going to start with the latest in the region now. nbc's matt bradley is in lviv, kelly o'donnell is at the white house. also with me is jason beardsly,

national director of the association of the u.s. navy. he is a former green beret master sergeant and jay gray will join me from poland in just a few moments. matt, diplomatic talks went nowhere overnight. those humanitarian corridors, it would seem as if the majority aren't necessarily holding, russian troops pushing through just west of kyiv, along with other towns northwest of the capitol. take us through what else is happening right now where you are. >> reporter: i think the best way to look at this is three axis of attack. the most successful and the most advanced one is coming out of crimea to the south. now, the crimean one is falling into the same pattern that we've been seeing in the north, which is kind of like a siege around that city of mariupol.

the only city that's really fallen is the city of kherson, which is now basically occupied. it's the only occupied city in all of ukraine. and now the russians are entering, as you said, a troubling new phase of this war and it's not new for other russian invasions. we've seen it before in chechnya and in syria. they're going to be surrounding these cities and in the great russian tradition of using artillery, which goes back all the way to the czar where they've relied on artillery, it takes pride and place in russian military tradition, they are simply going to pound these cities into submission. that's what they've been doing in kyiv. that's what they've really been doing in mariupol. this dangerous new phase is really the result of stiff ukrainian resistance in the face of this russian incursion.

because the ukrainians are putting up so much pressure and really surprised not only the russians but surprised and impressed the world with how much they were able to fight off this overwhelming force. now we're seeing the gloves off and the russians are going to start pounding these places with their artillery and moving in as best they can in a slow, urban-style combat sort of approach. again, that is going to take a massive toll on civilians. as you've said, the diplomatic talks failed overnight. the one in turkey, a lot of those humanitarian corridors, the six cities that were supposed to have those humanitarian corridors, seems like they've had some mixed results. a couple hundred people were able to get out. we did see one successful effort in sumy and hopefully that can set a precedent for other cities that are now completely surrounded by russian forces. so far it looks as though the

russians and vladimir putin are going to be doubling down. >> we just heard from the mayor of kyiv in a new tv interview, the mayor of ukraine's capitol said at this point half of the residents of that city have left. there are now fewer than 2 million people in kyiv, the capital of ukraine. matt, what are ukrainians -- what are they left to do at this point? >> i mean, it's a good question. we've been walking around talking to people on the street, ordinary people we meet and we've been talking with politicians, mayors, i talked with the mayor of kherson. everyone from the top down have one wish. they want the west to impose a no-fly zone. they understand the risk and the reluctance of western capitals

to put their forces to bare indirectly. they say we are not fighting for just our own land but for the entire west, for all of democracy and we shouldn't have to carry this burden alone. when they hear from western capitals saying it's not possible, we can't grant you that one major wish that you're hearing from everybody in this country, they say it's time to put up or shut up. we really need this no-fly zone. again, this is not some geo strategic abstraction. this isn't from think tankers and military analysts and politicians. ordinary people that i talk to in the streets say we want a no-fly zone, we need this. we need peace in our skies and that's going to help with these humanitarian corridors as well. the problem is there's no guarantee that's going to necessarily work because a lot of these missiles falling on major cities, they're surface to

surface missiles. they're not necessarily launched by drones or airplanes. if there were to be a no-fly zone, the reality is it would bring a lot of these non-ukrainian countries directly into the war. we can see this conflict metastasize across europe. >> kelly o., we've also learned that officials here in the united states are concerned that russia could be preparing to use chemical, biological weapons, after the defense ministry accused ukraine of planting a false flag chemical weapon attack. what's happening behind closed doors there at 1600 pennsylvania now that this has been raised? >> reporter: certainly officials in the administration, intelligence, department of defense and so forth are looking for clues about the next steps that russia may take. russia has a play book that is well known for signaling some of the steps it may take, and part of that includes this idea of false flags are blaming another

country, setting out to say that there's a scenario that is inherently false to try to draw the russian government in. and to say that there would be chemical or biological weapons used certainly ratchets this up after we heard matt talk about the frustration that russia feels and the degree of bombardment that ukrainian people have been through thus far with chemical weapons. officials are mindful of that concern and trying to set off that warning now saying they do not believe ukraine is in any way setting up that kind of a false operation. and if those kinds of weapons were to be used, russia would be to blame. here is john kirby, spokesman of pentagon laying out the knowledge of this right now and the fact that u.s. intelligence and u.s. understanding of this is ukraine doesn't possess those weapons and the u.s. arsenal of

those kinds of weapons is secure. here's john kirby. >> i have no intelligence indicators that that type of weaponry is in ukraine and being planned to be used. so i want to be clear. but it is of a piece of the russian play book to blame others for that which you are about to do or you're considering doing. they've done that plenty of times before. >> reporter: that is the caution, that is the worry, that that is a signal from russia and it's something that -- the administration is putting that out as we have seen them do a number of times, sort of getting ahead of where might this battle go next. and it is terribly worrisome because of the impact of that kind of weaponry if it were to be used. that's one of the great concerns right now. if putin is backed into a corner, does not feel he's advancing with traditional methods, is that something he might do? he has those weapons.

would he use them? that's one of the questions. craig. >> jason, secretary of state antony blinken noted on "meet the press" early on in this crisis that everything the united states said was likely to happen in the lead up to this invasion actually happened. can you help us better understand the russian play book, specifically when it comes to chemical weapons and how that would reshape this conflict. >> yeah, absolutely. thank you for having me. by the way, i think the white house and your field report did a good job of laying out the case that the russians have a habit of false flag operations, the use of chemical weapons to create a pretext for further violence or further incursion of the russian military. as your field report suggested, the objective now is to really pound these cities, break the will of the ukrainian people and cause the government to flee, in which case putin gets to install his pro-putin regime. but because the white house has

gotten ahead of this, compliments to president biden for showcasing the play book ahead of time. now it's a question of what does nato do if, for example, the russians do use that play book and we've established up front that it was a false flag or it is russia, is that going to change the game for nato? and based on listening to the white house, we know they are not interested in getting involved, that they have made a very clear, consistent line that nato forces will not risk the lives of u.s. men and women in the service of this. so they've made a great case that this chemical potential attack would be a russian sort of fingerprint action but what they have not done is told us exactly what the response of nato would be should they increase or cross this red line. >> jason, as you know, president zelenskyy has continued to call for a no-fly zone. this is what he told sky news. >> don't wait me asking you several times, a million times

close the sky. no, you have to ask to our people who lost their children and say, sorry, we didn't do it yesterday. >> jason, can you help our viewers understand and our listeners on siriusxm satellite radio why this no-fly zone has been a nonstarter for the administration? >> yeah, 100%. we're reeling still from our 20 years inside iraq and afghanistan. american lives are at risk when we enforce these no-fly zone zones. what that really means is after those 20 years, we have to look back and make a decision. does the united states want to write more checks with the sons and daughters of our american citizens in the service of defending the skies over ukraine? what the white house has done, which i think is pretty clever, let's hand the weapons or money, lethal munitions over to the

ukrainians and allow them to fight. president zelenskyy says his people are willing to fight the fight themselves. they've been doing a phenomenal job on the ground stalling the military and causing the aggravation. the white house has been pretty specific, nato is not interested in getting sucked into this conflict. when we put airplanes in the skies to shut the no-fly zone down, we're risking targets. it's a bigger case to be made than just do it for the feel good. americans know what the cost of war is. we've been doing it for 20 years. we've buried our sons and daughters in places like arlington and they are still at walter reed. for president biden, it's a no

starter. >> i want to put a map back up to show them the sheer number of people who have left ukraine and where those folks have gone so far. you can see a handful in romania, moldova but 1.4 million so far have ended up in poe poland where you are. what are you seeing at the border, jay? >> reporter: we have seen some of that on the ground, craig. that number that you gave is growing. people continue to pour in. we're about 500 yards from the border. two days ago this would have been empty fields but volunteers have moved in and they're bringing those supplies you're talking about. something else i want to show you, as they continue to walk

down this path, this is the walking path from ukraine into poland. hundreds of thousands making this trip. you can see what we have here is a line that is building, it continues to build. it is people waiting for a bus. obviously there's no bus schedule when it comes to an evacuation. this line stretches much longer than a mile right now, craig, of people waiting to get on that bus to then go to a train station to get on a train and go somewhere else. these are families, some of them that have walked two or three days in bitter cold conditions. it's colder today than it has been throughout my two weeks or so here. some of them carrying their children just to get to this point, to a point where they can then take a breath, feel safe and you see a lot of people anxious that they've funlly gotten here. now they have to deal with this line and trying to get to that train station and trying to move forward.

this is when we talk about the crisis that's developing here, this is the situation because this line right here, and i want you to look back down because it just continues to go, this situation is stretching this area to its limits. and unfortunately, craig, we know a lot more people are on the way. >> it really does break your heart. jay gray for us there on the ground in poland. jay, thank you. jason beardsly, thank you, sir, for your insight and analysis and kelly o'donnell, thanks as always from the white house. thank you all. >> a live look at the senate intelligence committee and we're showing you this because there's a hearing happening right now, countries' top intel officials talking about the biggest security threats to the united states and the dni just laid out the number one priority for us as we try to help ukraine from this russian invasion. we'll talk about that. first, though, vice president harris in poland this morning. she's working to smooth things

over after that disagreement about poland sending fighter jets to ukraine's capital. we'll check in on her visit and what the white house wants to get out of it. we'll do that next. >> we will do everything together in partnership, in solidarity to support what is necessary at this very moment in terms of the humanitarian and security needs of ukraine and the ukrainian people.

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this morning vice president kamala harris is in poland facing one of her biggest moments on the world stage, if not her biggest so far. she just met with poland's president. her meeting was scheduled to reaffirm the u.s. commitment to our nato allies, but looming over that meeting was of course that very public dispute over sending fighter jets to ukraine. josh letterman is in warsaw, poland with the vice president. i'm also joined by the former german defense minister. before that he was the economics and technology minister. he is now founder of spitzberg partners, a distinguished statesman. josh, we'll start with you there on the ground in poland. any signs that this issue with regard to the fighter jets, that that issue's been resolved or are both sides just ready to move beyond it?

>> well, it's been resolved, craig, in that the idea is now off the table. it's clearly not going to happen. and both side are ready to move beyond it. we heard from vice president harris, who kind of side stepped directly answering a question about this issue over the planes saying the u.s. and poland are united in what they're going to do and continue to help ukraine full stop, those were her words. the polish leader saying the goal is the same between the u.s. and poland, it's to do everything they can to help ukraine and the pols wanted to make sure they didn't back nato into a corner by forcing a decision regarding sending planes that could further embroil nato into this conflict. they were saying they thought this was a compromise that would allow for nato to make that decision alongside the u.s. instead of just the pols but clearly there was a breakdown in communication that has really exposed for one of the first times since this crisis started

a gap, a distance between the u.s. and a nato ally. harris was also asked as she was meeting with polish leaders here in the polish capital of warsaw about whether russia has committed war crimes. he also had this to say about what she called atrocities committed by russia. >> a maternity hospital, a children's hospital where we have witnessed pregnant women who were there for care for one reason being taken out because they required care because of an act of violence unprovoked, unjustified. >> reporter: and as kamala harris tries to show how the u.s. is going continue supporting poland craig, the

anti-missiles batteries have arrived and announced more humanitarian assistance the u.s. will be providing to help ukrainian civilians. she also had a chance to meet with people who were displaced. >> this concern from the pentagon that this would be viewed as direct involvement by nato allies and could ratchet up tensions with russia. it could in words of a previous guest help metastasize this conflict. do you agree with that

assessment. >> most germans would agree with that assessment. if you see these horrible pictures, they're atrocities. it seems impossible to say no to that demand. we'd give putin the reason to call it as an act of aggression and use it as an attack on nato territory. and the germans and many others would agree to that concern, yes. >> carl, can the ukrainians win this war? and if so, how? >> i'd say it's extremely hard to win the war. however, they can keep the fights in a way boiling for weeks and months to come and

create more and more frustration in russia about it as well. but again, without sounding cynical here, this is just a horrible option because it will cause losses and civilian losses and others in ukraine, so we should really come to some kind of a solution that finally all these horrible pictures will be swept away at one point. >> i wish we had more time. i do want you to come back. i want to get more of your analysis and perspective. thank you, though, for your time on this thursday. right now leaders of the u.s. intelligence community are testifying about the biggest security threats to our country. we're going to dig into their warnings about russia specifically next. warningsbo aut russia specifically next. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth.

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right now the top intelligence chiefs in our country are testifying about the biggest threats facing our country and our allies, and they're doing it for the second time this week. this time they're in front of the senate intelligence committee. russia's attack on ukraine the dominant topic but this is just some of what we've heard so far. >> our number one intelligence

priority is defense of the homeland and we will remain vigilant of monitoring every aspect of russia's strategic nuclear forces. with tensions this high, there is an enhanced potential of miscalculation, unintended escalation and we hope to mitigate those concerns. leann caldwell has been watching and listening to every moment in that hearing. i'm also joined by evelyn farcas, former deputy assistant of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia. we just heard that russia is operating with reckless disregard for the safety of

americans. >> also she went on later during the question-and-answer portion to say that they are very concerned about russia's strategic nuclear forces and activating those forces. they also talked about that this suggestion that there's a false flag operation regarding ukraine biochemicals. the officials went on to say that there is no evidence that ukraine has any capacity or is pursuing bioweapons and that it's a typical russian strategic play book to say so. so they did warn about that. also, the head of the cia, bill burns, he has been warning in the previous hearing on tuesday and today that russia and putin overestimated the fight of the ukrainian people over -- excuse me, underestimated, also

underestimated the role and the coalescing of the rest of the global community and he also said that russia underestimated the impact sanctions would have on his country. let's listen to what he said. >> among the many profoundly flawed assumptions that president putin made in launching this invasion was his assumption that he had built a sanctions-proof economy. i think he deeply underestimated the economic consequences and i think they're just now being felt in russia and it's going to intensify. >> reporter: there's also a lot of talk about the transfer of old russian aircraft from poland to the u.s. to ukraine, something that the administration has really pushed back on over the last 24, 36 hours. that was just addressed in the hearing where the intelligence officials said they are concerned that it could escalate the conflict and that's part of the reason why they aren't moving forward with that transfer. so that's something that we're going to keep paying attention

to because members of congress are really pushing for that transfer of those russian aircraft to the ukrainians very heavily. they think it's important but the administration has a different position on this. now, this is just the open part of the hearing. they are going to go in a classified session later this afternoon where these officials, the senate will get more information, craig. >> all right. leann on the hill, keep us posted there on the hearing, please. thank you. >> evelyn, let me, first of all, get your reaction from that testimony about putin, this idea that he won't care, doesn't care about civilians casualties. given your experience in prior administrations, do you think things will get much worse, especially when it comes to civilian casualties? >> i mean, i think, craig, all signs indicate that things are going to get worse. people in ukraine are going to start starving in the cities they've encircled and the russians are using indiscriminate bombing, they

don't care about loss of life. that's how they gain control. we've seen them do it in syria and still up to it and we saw it in chechnya in 1999. so putin doesn't care. we do have to worry a bit about his escalation. i was surprised to hear them mention the strategic nuclear forces. i've always focused on the tactical nuclear forces but any kind of use or discussion of nuclear use is alarming. i don't like the fact that we get into these public debates about providing either humanitarian no-fly zone or aircraft or stingers or what have you. i don't think we should let putin deter us from providing whatever assistance we need for ukraine to help them better defend their populations. >> you think we should be providing these fighter jets directly? >> i don't understand the rational, why are they different

from stingers or javelins. stingers and javelin have been taking down russian planes and tanks, so i don't know why the fighters are suddenly so different. now that all this attention has been placed on them, i almost think we need to do it because we can't let putin deter us. i don't think he's going to seek war with nato over these fighter jets. i just don't. >> and apparently i've been told senator tom cotton was making just the same point in that hearing that we were just showing, that this distinction between types of jets, the distinction may be a bit silly. evelyn, earlier this hour we reported on concerns within the administration that russia could be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons in ukraine. just last hour the claims were shot down that ukraine is developing chemical weapons of

its own. listen to what she said. >> this is completely consistent with longstanding russian efforts to accuse the united states of sponsoring bioweapons work in soviet union. so this is a classic move by the russians. >> evelyn, how worried should we be about this possibility that russia could carry out a chemical attack? >> we should be worried, craig, because every time the russians accuse their adversary of something, it means they're almost certainly doing it or contemplating it. i would say certainly contemplating it if not doing it. so i am really worried now they would use chemical weapons. they don't care. they use novachuk to

assassinate. >> evelyn, thank you so much as always. >> a ppe and medical supplies, that's just some of the aid unicef is sending to ukraine to support hospitals in some of the hardest hit areas. up next, we'll get a live report from lviv and we'll hear from a group of ukrainian exchange students and how they're coping. >> if i had a chance to go back, i would go back. >> reporter: why is that? >> i want to be with my family. >> i want to be with my family n♪ ♪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 looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone?

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we are civilians. >> that was a civilian fighter on the front lines in lviv. many are building barricaded check points and stacking sandbags. as they prepare to fight the russians, more help is on the way for the people of ukraine. unicef is delivering 70 tons of supplies and are expected to help roughly 20,000 children and mothers. take us through what you're seeing right now and how the evacuation efforts are going, ali. >> reporter: we came in yesterday and while we were making the border crossing, there was an exodus of people trying to get from ukraine into poland. there was a long line of busses

and they were women and children and pets and many looked very dazed and anxious but relieved to be through on the other side. those are the lucky ones, they had the means to get across the west and to the border. here in lviv there are many, many ukrainians, the lucky ones in our hotel yesterday, i came across a couple with their young child and their dog getting into the elevator in the hotel and they are really distressed. they'd left everything behind in kyiv and they were here with an uncertain future here in lviv with very, very small supplies. i spoke to another young woman yesterday who had left kyiv and i asked her, do you think the russian incursion is going to come west very quickly? and she says i don't think so. she said i think they're going

to get bogged down in the east and then she paused for a second and said at least that's what i tell myself so i can fall asleep at night. that's part of the bigger problem. you're having problems with evacuation coming from the east. the corridors are safety are not be respected by the russians. there was meant to be safe passage out of mariupol, it's horrific condition there is. the russians bombed that safe passage. in around kyiv, mariupol, sumy, they're having problems get in there and getting people out. the only place they were able to get people out was sumy. the talks today, the highest level talks between the russian

foreign minister and his ukrainian counterparties didn't bear any fruits. they were asking him to respect these safe passages and nothing came of it. the conditions continue to be very dire here and uncertain for many ukrainians. >> in western ukraine for us, ali, thank you. imagine being thousands of mile away from your home, a war breaks out in your home country, you can't talk to your family and you have no idea if you have a place to even go back to. that's the reality for these exchange student. shaq is in connorsville and he's at a highs school there. the students are part of an exchange program sponsored by the state department. what did you hear from them? >> reporter: there are about 200

of those exchange students in high schools all across the country. look, they're dealing with a lot of stress right now. we know high school is already stressful. but these are students dealing with the reality that there is a devastating war going on back in their homeland that is thousands of miles away. i got to talk to them, listen to their stories. just listen to what a couple of them had to say, starting with dasha who said she found out there was a war going on based on a text message she got from a friend. >> my friends texted me i love you. they didn't know what to expect because they heard a lot of bombing near my town and it stresses me out. it stressed me out a lot. >> they don't have data at all. sometimes they can make phone calls but it takes time. they also don't have electricity at all. so they use parts of their cars to charge their phones or computers to just text me that

they're okay, that your still alive. >> my grandparents a still in kharkiv and i'm trying to check them at least twice a day. it's only 20 miles from border, it's a really dangerous place. this is just like a feeling that you can't really understand. >> reporter: craig, just consider the fact that that last gentleman that you heard from, he's 17 years old. if he were in ukraine right now, he wouldn't be able to leave the country. he would likely be handed a weapon to help defend his country. that is the reality that these students are trying to deal with as they're dealing with the regular stressors of high school. and, you know, i should also note they all say they've been receiving a lot of support from their fellow classmates and from their colleagues talking about things like donation drives, fund-raisers for them. the head of the program, i spoke to the director, they're already preparing to help students out with costs for things like prom gowns and prom dresses.

instead of getting money from their homeland, they're likely sending resources in to folks in ukraine. >> it's good to know their friends are rallying around them. it was also good to hear that perspective, shaq. that was not a perspective i had read or heard so up next how these dancers are putting their lives on hold to take up the fight. >> do you think you're going to dance again? >> yes. 100% i go back again. o back agan ♪ ♪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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from the stage to the battle field, professional ballet dancers in ukraine are picking up rifles and working as paramedics on the front line thins fight to defend their country. nbc's erin mclachlan. >> they're the butterflies of kyiv performing for the final time in france. back home, their country torn apart by war. now, some of ukraine's premier ballet dancers have swapped tutus and slippers for guns and

fatigued. putting life's work on hold to defend their country. of course i'm scared says artist. i'm not a military person but i couldn't just sit on the sidelines and observe. just days ago, he was a principal dancer in his prime. now a military paramedics. his life as an artist, a distant memory. i don't even think about ballet anymore, he says. now it seems like another life. dancer says art has prepared her for war. ballet teaches you to have a strong spirit, she says. in 2019, she says her husband died fighting on the front lines in eastern ukraine. says she's armed herself to protect her son and country. i love to perform on stage, to travel, to come back to ballet, she says but the most important thing now is for the war to end with our victory. opera houses in theaters are closed.

>> now is not time for performance on a stage. now we have performance on our street. we have bombing. >> last time alexander danced, it was the night before the war began. now he's building antitank hedge hogs. do you think you're going to dance again? >> yes. 100% i go back again. >> the artistic soul of ukraine is standing by until they've secured their freedom. nbc news, laviv, ukraine. >> and our thanks to erin mcfwlaufline for the reporting from ukraine as well. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. orts" starts next five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, styling has never been easier. it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose.

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