really appreciate you joining us on what is a pivotal week for your country and for this region. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> such an important message there on refugees. that wraps up a very busy hour here in brussels. we want to say a special thanks to our friend and colleague chris jansing from her great reporting in new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good morning. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with breaking news on the war in ukraine. the u.s. plans to sanction roughly 300 russian elites and block gold from russia's central bank. also happening right now in brussels, president biden has just arrived for a critical g7 meeting as we enter the second month of the largest european conflict since world war ii. this as nbc news has learned that western leaders are

preparing for the worst, making contingency plans in the event putin uses chemical or even nuclear weapons in ukraine or beyond its borders into nato territory. this morning ukrainian president zelenskyy addressed nato leaders and made significant claims against russian troops. more on that in just a moment. meanwhile, russia intensified attacks on civilians in the past 24 hours. we'll talk to a member of the ukrainian parliament about the reality on the ground. and senator bob menendez will join me to discuss the latest on this conflict. also happening on capitol hill, the final day of judge ketanji brown jackson's hearings for the supreme court. what we'll be watching for today. this morning in ukraine new signs that fierce resistance is forcing moscow to rethink its strategy and focus its fury on

the eastern region of the country. in the past 24 hours, a senior defense official told nbc news ukrainian forces have pushed russian troops back east of kyiv at least 12 miles. the latest indicator that russian forces have failed to make any significant progress after a month of fighting. meanwhile in an address to nato president zelenskyy accused russia of using white phosphorus which is banned. it's not possible for nbc news to verify this allegation. we reached out to the kremlin but did not immediately receive a response. a kremlin official today claiming that russia is capable of destroying any aggressor in a matter of minutes. joining us with more on this is nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez, nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell in brussels and helene

cooper, pentagon correspondent with "the new york times" and msnbc political analyst. kelly, what's the message this morning on this critical meeting with allies? >> reporter: just a few minutes ago, jose, we saw the president join with g7 leaders after earlier meeting with nato. this is an emergency session, and you get a sense of the high stakes here and the sense of urgency that these leaders feel, to do something new, something more to try to stop and push back vladimir putin one month into this conflict with so much devastation. so part of that is to find new ways to further penalize russia financially and to block any potential work-arounds that russia might be able to use with the financial sanctions already put in place. so you allowed to some of the sanctions that the u.s. is putting in place today. some of what the leaders are talking about are ways to put up additional roadblocks so things

like commodities like gold, reserves russia may have abroad cannot be used to tap and finance this war. that's part of it. in addis, it will be a conversation about the military steps these leader nations can provide to ukraine. also, i think some of the most difficult conversations have to do with the what-ifs and what next. if russia takes steps that clearly go beyond what has been expected so far and into that danger zone of chemical or biological weapons or even the threat of some kind of nuclear device, what would these leaders do. they've all been clear thus far, they don't want to have a full direct war with russia. what steps could they take? that is part of it. being able to be together in person takes it to another level of engagement with leaders. they've been on the phone, doing virtual meetings. now is a chance to be together in person.

they've heard from president zelenskyy. they've all been on the phone with him. this is a chance to try to show solidarity, send a message to moscow and to try to have concrete steps going forward. >> kelly, are we learning anything about how the u.s. may be willing to step up on a humanitarian front amid this crisis of refugees? >> reporter: yes. we do know the u.s. is prepared to welcome up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees to the united states and to clear the many bureaucratic hurdles that would presently be in the way. the u.s. has had a lot of restrictions about receiving those seeking asylum and refugee caps to welcome people into the united states. some of that has been related, some of that has to do with limits that have been set. they are going to try to make that an easier pathway given the urgency. jose, you're very familiar with these issues. you know there will questions

about the parity of ukrainians to people in other parts of the world seeking assistance. the president says he wants the united states to be open and welcome to those willing to come. many ukrainians who have fled their homeland may want to stay closer in europe. they want to eventually go back to ukraine if that is even possible given the level of devuks. for those who want to settle in the united states, might have family or community they can reach out to in the united states, there will be an opening to do that. that will be part of the announcements that will come out of this meeting. >> indeed, kelly, there are thousands of migrants, refugees on the border with the united states and mexico. they eve been waiting for many months, years to get their process done and maybe they're not going to have the opportunity now helene, you and your colleagues were reporting on the tiger teams of leaders. how is the u.s. and nato

preparing for the possibility of chemical attacks? >> hi, jose. thanks for having me. this tiger team, jake sullivan, the national security adviser, signed the order just four days after russia invaded ukraine, and this is a team of experts that the white house assembled to game out all these different very scary scenarios including whether or not vladimir putin uses chemical weapons, biological weapons, all the way up to nuclear weapons. the reason this is so front and center right now is because a month ago nobody expected that vladimir putin would be in the position that he's in now with his military on the ground having failed him so. there was no expectation that the russian military would be pushed back from ukraine as we're now told -- from kyiv as we're now told russian forces have been. they have been stalled for three

weeks, 15 kilometers outside of kyiv to the north, and now they've been pushed back even further. vladimir putin's military has utterly failed him on the ground, and that's a course of a whole nother different discussion. then you look at what does he do now. his back is to the wall and he doesn't have -- he's not getting the performance he was expecting from his troops. so there is a fear that he may then resort to his bigger weapons. he's certainly being threatening it for the last month. and the utterances coming out of senior russian officials, we have nuclear weapons, we can destroy -- we can change the lay of the land in minutes, all that sort of thing which is what they've been saying for the last month, has forced the biden administration, senior biden officials to start looking at what the u.s. response would be and what kind of contingency

planning we might have to do forceps. the expectation he may go to nuclear weapons is very, very low, but at the same time there's something they feel they have to start getting ready for, and how would the united states respond? i talked to a senior biden official about this and he said that all bets are off if vladimir putin were to try to use one of his, say, tactical -- they call them tactical. these are still pretty strong nuclear weapons in ukraine. i don't think there's any consensus at this point about exactly how -- what the nato response would be. this is something that would have to be an alliance decision, and that's what they're talking about now in brussels. >> gabe, as helene was talking about all the contingency plans and observations and such, we were seeing these extraordinarily difficult images of mariupol virtually destroyed.

civilians, gabe, where you are on the ground in this country paying the price for this conflict. what are you seeing? >> reporter: that's right, jose. as you mentioned earlier, the ukrainian military making significant gains in and around kyiv, fighting back against the russian troops there. also in the eastern and southern part of the country they have destroyed a russian supply ship, ukrainian authorities say, and also set fire to the major ukrainian port that's under russian control at this point. right now some of the heaviest fighting remains in the besieged city of mariupol which has about 100,000 people still in there. ukrainian authorities say thousands of people have been killed. just this morning, jose, we spoke with a family from mariupol that was in lviv catching a bus to the czech republic. they say they barely escaped that city. they had been inside a basement for several weeks. it's the type of story we've been hearing over and over

again. this family shared with me some video of the explosions that they heard. this is a mother and her 7-year-old son essentially running for their lives. take a look. [ screaming ] . >> reporter: you just heard that explosion there and the mother saying to her son, don't cry, don't cry, run fast. she's very grateful this morning to be in a relatively safe place, jose, heading out of this country. she managed to make it out. so many of her friends and relatives remain in mariupol. this is a conflict again that has devastated that area and we're still just trying to get a full grasp on the devastation

occurring there. ukrainian authorities have called it a war crime. the united states has also officially called it as well. >> gabe gutierrez, kelly o'donnell, helene cooper, thank you very much for being with us. joining us senator bob menendez, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. always a pleasure to see you, sir. just a reaction to what is now going into the second month of the russian invasion of ukraine. >> well, the butcher of moscow won't stop the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, won't stop trying to starve out cities in contravention of security resolution 2417 which russia voted for that says, when you prohibit humanitarian corridors from taking place and humanitarian access from taking place, it is a war crime. russia is committing under putin

war crimes as defined by the very un senate resolution they voted for. the ukrainians have shown an incredible spirit, courage, the fight that they've taken to the russians is extraordinary. but people are still dying. and that's why i applaud the president for being with the nato leaders to figure out what else can be done both in terms of lethal assistance to ukraine, both in terms of sanctions and other elements against putin so that economic noose around his neck continues to tighten until they're asphyxiated. >> president zelenskyy told nato members today that russia has used phosphorus bombs. nbc news has not been able to independently confirm these claims. when it comes to the use of

chemical, biological or as helene cooper was saying, possible tactical nuclear weapons, are there any red lines that the world, nato, the united states should have on these issues? >> well, jose, that's what they're at nato discussing. this is a whole new world. what is an attack? if, in fact, for example putin makes the extreme decision to have a tactical nuclear weapon explode in ukraine, it doesn't mean that only ukraine will suffer as a result of it. whether or not the winds would take that into neighboring countries would be a question. is that an attack against a nato ally? what is the response to that? of course, there are chemical weapons conventions that could be invoked against russia for violating those international agreements of which they are part of. there's always a consideration,

is there a limited military response to such an action? these are all decisions nato leaders have to make because it has to be a nato response at the end of the day if it is to take place. >> senator, a source familiar with the biden administration's thinking says the u.s. is to announce plans to welcome up to 100,000 ukrainians into the country. what do you make about that? >> this is exactly what i called on the administration to do in a letter i sent to the president and the secretary of state. we have nearly 4 million ukrainians that have fled the country, millions more displaced inside of ukraine. our allies in europe and poland and other places -- other countries, i should say, have borne the brunt of it. we need to be part of that solution. we are a beacon of light to the rest of the world. doing 100,000 ukrainian refugee

resettlements i think is an important part to show that we will do our share as we ask other countries to meet the burden. we have significant ukrainian communities in my home state of new jersey and elsewhere where there can be significant family reunification, and where those at risk, journalists and human rights advocates, that have had to seek refuge, should be given refuge in the united states. if that's their final decision, i applaud it. it's what i called for. >> senator, how do you see this war in ukraine ending? >> that is the ultimate question that everybody is asking ourselves and trying to decide. of course, trying to fully understand vladimir putin and whether or not he's still a rational actor is the open question. you know, i could see putin trying to ultimately say, okay, you have to recognize crimea as

russia, take the donbas. you take that section of mariupol that they have included that they near the midst of still fighting for which creates a land bridge into crimea, and basically you split off the eastern part of ukraine and saying that and neutrality -- i don't know that president zelenskyy will decide that. but i can see that being an offer that russia makes as a way for which for them to stop their indiscriminate bombing. these are hard choices that president zelenskyy would have to make, and certainly it's for him and the ukrainian people to decide after suffering so much, what is it that they will or will not accept. short of that, what we see is a continuing bombing of cities because his troops on the ground, the russian army has not been able to achieve what they were supposed to achieve.

so he's now using his fire power indrim matly to ultimately destroy ukrainian cities. as i said before, using the encirclement of these cities and denying humanitarian corridors which is in violation of un security council resolutions that russia voted for and that is a war crime. that's why i'm glad to see the administration, secretary blinken say they have come to the determination that actions of the russian military in fact amount to war crimes. every day there's nor evidence of that. >> senator bob menendez, thank you for being with us. i so appreciate your time. >> thank you. the fourth and final day of confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson is under way. we're live with the latest from capitol hill next. you're watching "jose diaz balart reports."

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switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. new and existing customers get amazing value with our everyday pricing. switch today. 22 past the hour. day four of confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson. right now lawmakers are hearing from legal witnesses on jackson. senators wrapped up hours of intense questioning wednesday. >> can you provide a definition for the word woman? >> can i provide a definition? >> yeah. >> no, i can't. >> you can't?

>> not in this contact. i'm not a biologist. >> you sentenced him to 28 months. why? >> senator, i've said what i'm going to say about these cases. no one case can stand in for a judge's entire record. >> if you're not going to explain it. >> senator, would you please let her respond. >> no, not if she's not going to answer my question. >> just part of a back and forth. joining us, nbc's garrett haake and maya wiley, msnbc legal analyst. garrett, what's happening in hearings today? >> reporter: the hearings continue in the room behind me, jose, mostly with outside witnesses. we heard from the american bar association who called judge jackson well qualified. we're hearing from joyce beatty, the chairwoman of the congressional black caucus. these are more lightly attended from the senatorial perspective.

judge jackson has at least two meetings with democratic senators we know about. she's trying to meet with folks not only in the judiciary committee, already preparing for the next steps in the confirmation process. >> maya, you say you wish you had an anger translator. what did you mean by that? >> i did say it. i'll say it again, jose. what we're seeing in this confirmation hearing is nothing short of unbelievably dangerous. it's dangerous because these are hearings that are supposed to help determine the qualification of the candidate, and qualification, as we're hearing from the american bar association, as we heard this morning, she has gotten the highest rating the association of the bar can offer a judicial candidate. there is simply no question about her qualification, but what we've seen in these hearings is essentially by

some -- not every single republican senator, but unfortunately by far too many, to ignore qualification, ignore a record of integrity, a record of i understand length and the record to experience on the supreme court in an effort to paint her in a light that is simply not demonstrated by her record. and it is not lost on many of us that as the first black woman to sit in this confirmation with the highest accolades of the profession and nine years on two federal benches and having been confirmed by this body three times, three times for coveted positions before arriving at this hearing that she's been in this week, we have seen disrespect. we have seen an outlandish effort to paint her as someone who she is not and, frankly, a

whole lot of gotchas that are unfortunately ones that say rather than a democratic process that evaluates the capacity of the candidate, we're going to tell this black woman, and we or going to tell frankly every black woman and every person who does not traditionally serve in the courts, which is not only black people, asians are underrepresented, latinos are underrepresented, muslims are underrepresented, people with disabilities are underrepresented. all these folks that have so much to give and offer, doesn't matter how qualified you are, and that is bad for the country. >> maya, the other side -- i want to play from senator cory booker in part of the questioning yesterday. >> it's hard for me to not look at you and not to see my mom, not to see my cousins. when that final vote happens and

you ascend onto the highest court in the land, i'm going to rejoice, and i'm going to tell you right now the greatest country in the world, the united states of america will be better because of you. thank you. >> just your thoughts on that, maya. it touched so many people. >> it's bringing tears to my eyes right now. it brought tears to my eyes yesterday. you know, what senator booker said was the god's honest truth about what this country needs to hear. what he said was no one will steal my joy. i will not let them steal my job. we should all as a country, essentially as he has pointed out eloquently, should rejoice that we have in our pluralistic democracy, a democracy that has

aspired to but not often enough reached its highest aspirations about being one, that it's a country for all of us, for all of us, and what is being -- an attempt to steal from us in this confirmation hearing is exactly that rejoicing. it's exactly this moment in history where traditionally we have always had bipartisan support for historic qualified candidates, but no more. he said they're not going to steel my joy. >> maya wiley and garrett haake, thank you for being with us this morning. up next, breaking news from the biden administration, the new rule that could ease some of the immigration backlog. you're watching "jose diaz balart reports." balart reports."

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join us. protect the promise. 32 past the hour. breaking this morning, the biden administration is ash ewing a new rule that will allow asylum officers, not just judges, to decide whether or not immigrants can stay in the u.s. it comes as migrants continue to make the dangerous journey to the united states. for more on this, let's bring in

nbc's julia ainsley. julia, break down what this means. >> reporter: previously, jose, any immigrant who came to the united states would get a hearing, but whether they were able to stay remained up to an immigration judge. there's a 1.2 million case backlog which means immigrants are waiting two years in a purgatory where they can't work, don't know if they can be deported or not. now they're going to let asylum officers make that decision. if they find an immigrant does qualify for asylum, they can grant that. if they say the immigrant does not qualify, then the immigrant would go to court where a judge would make the final decision on deportation. this, of course, is to bring down that backlog and it's also making good on something that was put into practice -- into consideration over the summer. but exactly where, when and how many people this will affect, the administration has not yet confirmed.

>> julia ainsley, thank you very much. up next, as the war goes into its second month, we'll talk to a member of the ukrainian parliament who hasn't seen her family in weeks. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." -balart re. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. it's still the eat fresh refresh, and now subway's upping their italian sandwich game! we're talking the new italian-style capicola. it's savory, smoky, and spicy. man, this is the triple-threat of deli meat! subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and refreshi-

38 past the hour. today the united nations children's agency reported that more than half of ukraine's 7.3 million children have now been driven from their homes in one of the largest displacements of children since world war ii. a mother and son spoke with sky news about their harrowing story of trying to escape the besieged city of mariupol. >> translator: we watched as we went to the checkpoint, cars were shot there. >> translator: there was an old man and woman in the car. they were shot next to each other, and for so many days they just were in the car, nobody picked their bodies up. >> joining us from kyiv is ina

sovsun, a member of ukraine's parliament. thank you for being with us. what's the latest on the ground there in kyiv? >> well, the situation in kyiv remains it pretty stable, if you can call it this, for the past couple days. we had battles in the northwest of the city. they're constantly on going. the ukrainian army has pushed russia a little further from the city boundaries and is trying to regain control over the city of irpin. major battles are still taking place there. it seems like ukrainian army is progressing rather well in terms of regaining control over the city. again, the russians are fighting back. they constantly try to strike the city, missile attacks. but nothing major has been hit as of the last day here today. it did allow for us in the parliament to have an emergency session today again which was important i think for us to do.

it was also important because we did have some guests who were the speakers of the three baltic parliaments who are speaking the the ukrainian parliament today which is an immense sign of solidarity on behalf of the baltic states for us, lu also the ukrainian people. >> president zelenskyy today in front of nato leaders talked about the russians utilizing some bombs that are against the geneva conventions. is it possible that the russians could soon be using chemical, biological weapons? >> everything is possible. i believe starting a month ago we are living in an understanding that any development is possible. the level of evil that we are all facing, not just us as ukraine, but the world in general is immense. i know it's scary to accept that. but it is possible. yes, we understand that. we want that to stop. we want the world to help us to

stop this. we understand that probably -- and that is what the analytics are saying, given that russians cannot get closer to kyiv, they can try to use some other weapon like chemical weapon around kyiv or other areas where they cannot get closer to. that is a real possibility unfortunately, yes. and the phosphorus weapon they have been using in eastern ukraine and very recently just in an area really close to kyiv. >> in your case, you haven't been able to see your family in weeks. how do people get through these days? one month -- 29 days of bombings and destruction, death. how do you deal with that? >> that is one of the biggest challenges. the polling in ukraine says 44% of ukrainians have been separated from their family

members and loved ones. i wasn't able to see my son for three weeks. i went to see him a couple weeks ago and then came back to kyiv which was a huge relief. a couple hours ago, i saw my boyfriend for an hour when he came back from a mission he was on. i'm relieved, if you can call it this way. i don't know when i'll be able to see him again and when i will be able to see my son again. ha is extreme pressure. we try to think -- the positive news is that all my loved ones are alive which is not the case for thousands of people here in ukraine who have lost their loved ones. so we have to keep strong. i think that's the only thing we're left with. >> inna sovsun, thanks for being with us. appreciate it. up next, more on the reporting that ukrainian forces have successfully pushed back some russian troops. we'll speak to the former commanding general for the

united states army in europe next. you're watching "jose diaz balart reports."

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46 past the hour. right now in brussels nato

allies are working on contingency plans if russia uses its most dangerous weapons. on the ground ukrainian forces are fiercely fighting back. a senior defense official says ukrainian troops have pushed russian forces at least 12 miles further from kyiv. the official added a russian assault to the north of kyiv has stalled leaving russia to refocus efforts on the eastern region of the country. joining us the persian chair of strategic policy and analysis. also with us susan page, washington bureau chief at "usa today." general, how do you think these developments we're talking about could change russia's path forward in this conflict? >> jose, i've been so impressed as i watched day after day of ukrainian soldiers going about their tasks, and i've noticed they're all well equipped, the

way they carry their weapons, they all have their helmets on. this is not natural. it's always a challenge to keep soldiers in their right kit. what we're seeing is growing professionalism but also the growing confidence of ukrainian soldiers. compare that to the just destroyed columns of russian trucks and armored vehicles, much of them are very, very close together, which is the sign of a force that is not well trained and well disciplined. this is contributing to a change in the war. we're in the decisive phase right now. the momentum i think is shifting to the ukrainian side. i believe that the russian forces have culminated which means they can still murder innocent people, but they cannot carry out further offensive operations. i think that's where we are. >> susan, the u.s. government

has formally accused russia of committing war crimes. senator menendez was talking about this. it didn't name putin specifically. what is the administration willing to do next to hold putin accountable? >> i think the administration feels the war is at an inflection point. the calculation is what will putin do next? will return to weapons of mass destruction? that's why you see discussions about that going on in brussels now. or might there be an opening for some kind of negotiated settlement that would end the war and what would that look like. i do think you see president zelenskyy and the biden administration trying to see if it's possible. when president zelenskyy spoke to the nato leaders remotely this morning, he didn't call for ukraine to be admitted to nato which from russia's point of view is a non-starter. we're at the point we didn't

think it would be at. when the war started, predictions ukraine would fall in one to five days. we or at the one-month mark. the moment is in in the other direction. >> i'm just wondering whether putin would decide to go chechnya or syria, which is a little bit of what he's been doing in mariupol but to a greater degree, more lethal and much more widespread. >> well, you're right. they already have gone chechnya in terms of using destruction of cities, murdering innocent people. this is not chechnya. this is russia. this is how they have fought for centuries with a total disregard for human life, including of their own soldiers. so they have already transitioned into that. i think what you're asking me will they use chemical weapons,

will they use a nuclear weapon? i honestly am skeptical as to whether they would use a chemical weapon. the most likely they would use would be something they supported in syria and enabled the assad regime. and the affects would not be any worse than what they're doing in terms of casualties but it would put things, as secretary-general stoltenberg said, put things in a different cat degree. so i think it would backfire on the kremlin if they were to use chemical weapons because then it would be very difficult for the u.s. or canada or european allies to hold back anything else. and then with the nuclear weapons, same thing. in fact, the nuclear weapons are useful only for russia as a -- when they talk about it.

if they actually do it, they absolutely are going to lose. so that's why i'm less -- i think it's less likely that they would use either of those. >> you know, although when the world saw what happened in syria with assad, russian help on chemical weapons, really not a lot of reaction. so they're looking at that. thank you both for being with us this morning. i really appreciate it. up next, why droves of russians are camping out at the u.s./mexico border. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. watching jose diaz-balt reports. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven

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55 past the hour. the journey across the u.s./mexico border continues to be a life-or-death situation. a another from nicaragua died after being swept away in a current in the rio grand trying to make it to the u.s. she would have turned 33 years old today. now russians are now a group added to the many migrants trying to make it to the united states. >> that's right. these are people saying they are persecuted in their country along with ukrainians. the russians are having a very hard time requesting asylum. >> a russian camp with families

with children set right at the u.s. border. they posed the invasion of ukraine and have fled across the world with no visas to enter the u.s. camping out for days in front of the port of entry, anton and his wife, julia, say going back home is not an option. >> yes, i do feel unsafe in russia because there has been some police tracking after me. i know that my political activism is known, has been noticed by the government. >> reporter: the mexican government is now bracing for more russians on the way, but their arrivals began before the war. many of them now attempting to seek asylum in the u.s. this group, rushing the san diego port of entry in december of last year. others renting or buying cars to

make it just inside the american territory where the car is then left behind. illegal actions triggered by necessity. the border still closed to asylum seekers, title 42, put in place during the pandemic, has been shutting the door to team of people of all countries with strong push back. >> what should the u.s. government do? >> we're asking for title 42. >> they have issued guidance to border agents reminding them exemptions can be given for humanitarian reasons. an internal memo of that guidance shows ukrainians mentioned but not the russians. at the border, most ukrainians being allowed to enter while anton and julia watch along with other russians.

>> we're already here about a week. while i would like to wash my hair. my husband is a bit sick so you hear his voice. >> julia and her group had to pick up camp and move away at the port of entry but they'll remain at the border with other russians stick in limbo. >> the border officially closed to seek asylum legally by walking up, many are forced to take illegal methods, using a car to get into the country or earlier people crossing through a river or just finding a way to enter the country where they can seek asylum. >> like so many other thousands of migrants from all over latin america and the world that aren't allowed in. thank you so much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on twitter and be sure to follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of

your time. craig melvin picks up with more news right now. and a good thursday morning to you. craig melvin here. our eyes are on europe and what the nato leaders call the biggest war in ukraine. any moment president biden will head to the european council where he will hold a bilat rahal bilateral summit. earlier ukraine's president zelenskyy addressed nato virtually. president zelenskyy made a