jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin this very busy monday morning with the latest on the russian invasion of ukraine. the war on the ground may be changing shape, while the capital city of kyiv reported no new attacks overnight, a series of missiles plummeted the western city of lviv over the weekend, as a dire humanitarian scenario is unfolding in besieged mariupol, with critical resources running out. we'll bring you a live report from ukraine. and a ukrainian mother who fled to miami with her children will join us to share her story. meanwhile, the white house is trying to contain the fallout from president biden's comment that russian leader putin cannot stay in power, saying the u.s. is not calling for a regime change in russia. florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will join us to discuss what more the u.s. can do to support its allies.

plus, a controversy in hollywood this morning. actor will smith hitting chris rock on stage during the live oscars ceremony, after the comedian made a joke about his wife. today marks day 33 of russia's invasion of ukraine. the crisis in mariupol is intensifying. the city's mayor says it is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. 160,000 people trapped, living without water, power, heat, or communication. over the weekend, ukrainian forces say they reclaimed several villages from the russians, including key strategic locations northwest of mariupol and east of kharkiv. but russia's air offensive continues. it continues to strike lviv in the west and targets civilian infrastructure. today, delegations from russia and ukraine will be going to turkey, where negotiations are set to resume tomorrow.

meantime, in washington, the white house is walking back president biden's comments over the weekend in poland about russian leader vladimir putin. >> for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> secretary of state anthony blinken clarified on sunday that the u.s. is not pursuing a regime range, but moscow has already responded, calling biden's remarks alarming. joining us now is gabe gutierrez from leave, and with us from washington, carol lee. gabe, what's the mood like there today in lviv? >> reporter: hi, there, jose, good morning. yes, as you mentioned, it was tense here over the weekend, as at least two air strikes hit portions of lviv. it was a fuel depot, as well as a military factor, as we've been reported. air raid sirens have been going off here, also, throughout the weekend, that have become fairly

common. but a lot of the attention has shifted, jose, as you mentioned, to the eastern part of this country. a russian top general signaling several days ago that the military would focus more on that region. a comment widely interrupted to mean that advances on the capital of kyiv were unsuccessful. and now we're hearing from officials in mariupol, that the situation is growing increasingly more dire there. 160,000 people are still there. and we're told a humanitarian adore, according to ukrainian officials, has been shut down into and out of mariupol because of concerns that it may encounter shelling. of course, all of this as a fresh round of peace talks is set to begin tomorrow. a lot of discussion about how far ukrainian officials are willing to go, whether they're able, willing to have -- to agree to neutrality. but again, overnight, president zelenskyy keeping that hard stance, saying that ukraine will keep its territorial sovereignty in response to questions about

whether this country may be split in two, perhaps giving russia part of that eastern flank, as well as the southern portion as well. a lot of questions heading into these peace talks. an adviser to the interior minister here saying that he did not expect any major breakthrough, but that negotiations were important, jose. >> and carol, how concerned is the white house about those comments that president biden said? do they think that it's significant, and the reaction to those comments? >> well, look, jose, they moved very quickly to try to walk back those comments. the white house issuesing a statement, really within minutes after the president had said his remarks, that vladimir putin should not remain in power. and then, as you noted, the secretary of state was asked about this, and he said that the u.s. policy is not regime change. so there is concern. and the concern is about several things. one that by the president saying that he believes that vladimir putin should no longer be in

power, that that could complicate efforts to become -- to reach some sort of peace negotiation. that that could embolden vladimir putin, further provoke him to take more, even more aggressive steps in ukraine. and also, that it would feed this perception that vladimir putin has said in russia, that the u.s. and the west are just out to topple his regime. and that they want regime change in russia. so that's why you saw the white house come out so quickly and forcefully to say that that's not u.s. policy. what's complicated for the administration is that the president is out there, saying that vladimir putin is a butcher. he said, vladimir putin is a war criminal. and so that would, logically, lead people to believe that the president believes that vladimir putin should not be in power. and that's what he said. so, there's a lot of effort to try to clear this up and say that the u.s. official policy is not regime change, and that the president didn't mean exactly what he said.

now, the remark was the last thing that the president said on what the white house had seen as a very successful trip in europe. and where he met with refugees, he reassured our u.s. nato allies that the u.s. is there and that there's unification within the alliance. and that the u.s. stands with ukraine. and then this speech that he gave was supposed to be the capstone to this trip. and now all of that is being overshadowed by this final line that the president ad libbed at the end of those remarks. >> and gabe, meanwhile, lviv has been, and you've been reporting on this for some time now, has been kind of the center, where millions of people from ukraine have gone on their way out of that country. is that continuing to be the reality on the ground there? >> yeah, jose. this city continues to see thousands of refugees from throughout ukraine, coming through here, on their way to poland. and increasingly, a number of

other countries. we've spoken with some refugees in the last several days that are heading to places like the czech republic. we spoke to one woman from mariupol that was also heading outside of the country and she described the harrowing escape, where she talked about walking with her granddaughter for 15 miles to get out of mariupol into a humanitarian bus, because the buses couldn't get into the city. now, lviv's mayor, jose, after those air strikes on saturday, said that essentially, he believed them to be a agreeing, he called them, to president biden. it may have been the russians sending a message into western ukraine, less than 50 miles from the polish border, which as you said, has been seen as a safe haven for refugees and also for many other people who -- throughout ukraine, who have come to this city. the right now, again, besides the sound of air sirens every few hours, does seem relatively calm. there is a nightly curfew in place. but there were concerns over the weekend that could this be an expanding war into the western

part of ukraine, again, the fighting, though, continues to rage in the east and the south. and of course, in parts of the north. but definitely the east and the south, it is intensifying, jose. >> gabe gutierrez and carol lee, thank you so much for being with us. joining us now, executive director of the anti-corruption action center, an organization that works to make changes in ukraine's government. >>h thank you for being with us. you've noted the situation unfolding in mariupol. what are you hearing about the conditions on the ground there? >> it's horrible. people are dying because of the hunger and there is nothing there. no food, no water, no electricity, no connection. it's really a nightmare for people there. they are starving to death and it's about 150,000 people who require immediate evacuation. this evacuation is not possible to do, because the russians keep

shelling the humanitarian corridors. >> while president biden was in poland speaking over the weekend, you tweeted, quote, while you're talking, we're dying. what did you mean by that? >> i meant that the president gave a speech. he used very strong language. it would be good to use this strong language if it was backed up with strong action and strong action with ukraine backs, requires us, the united states is to provide us with weapons. air defense systems have not been delivered. and we need fighting jets, we need fighting drones. we need tanks. all of these weapons was promised, but not delivered. and all other countries who are nato members, they are looking at what the u.s. is doing, not what the u.s. is saying, but what the u.s. is doing. and they know that u.s. is not keen to send weapons to ukraine for us to end this war. and they are all afraid and they understand that, you know, they might be blamed by the u.s. for

being too proactive, especially countries like poland or slovakia or slovenia, who are close to the border with ukraine. they understand they might be next, and they are a little bit horrified, as well, because the war can come to their territories. and i'm in warsaw now. i feel that people are not very much convinced in article v. >> what do you mean, they're not convinced in article v, which says that an attack on a nato country would be an attack on all nato countries and would be defended by all nato countries. >> yes. there are promises and president biden is keeping talking about commitment to defend every inch of nato territory, but it's talking the talk. what will be their reaction if there is an attack is the big

question. and i think that strong language of president biden regarding protection of democracy is losing trust, because ukraine has been executed for democracy. and we are not receiving help, which we are asking. we are not asking for american troops, for american boys to come to defend our country. we're asking for the tools to defend our country. against aggressor, against fascist state, which is russia now. and unfortunately, we are receiving a polite "no." we are receiving support to the extent that helps us not to collapse, but not to win the war. but in order to rescue those 150,000 people from mariupol, we simply need air defense systems. and it's already a month of the war and we haven't received them yet. i can't understand why.

>> 33 days into the invasion. thank you for being with us this morning. i very much appreciate your time. >> thank you. coming up, could the president's remarks about putin only play to russia's advantages? we'll ask former u.s. ambassador to ukraine his take. and later, ukrainian mother, a mother of three young children who fled the war in ukraine will join us here in miami. her story, ahead. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? this is a hero, walking his youngest down the aisle, which to his bladder, feels like a mile. yet he stands strong, dry, keeping the leaks only to his eyes. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. you'd think the sax player would be getting

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15 past the hour. while those nine words the president said about putin during his speech in warsaw got a lot of attention, that wasn't the only gaffe during his european trip. here's what he told members of the 82nd airborne division, who had been deployed to poland when he spoke to them on friday. >> the average citizen, looking out and stepping up. and you're going to see when you're there, if some of you have been there, you're going to see, you're going to see women, young people standing in the middle, in front of a damn tank, just saying, i'm not leaving. i'm holding my ground. >> after the white house reiterated that the u.s. troops will not be going into ukraine. with us now to take a closer look, chief correspondent for the pbs "newshour" and an msnbc contributor and john herps, director of the eurasia center

at the atlantic council. how did these commens made by the president or did these comments made by the president in any way overshadow the message he was trying to send during his trip? >> jose, i think it's fair to say, every little word uttered by the president of the united states right now really matters. that is how high the stakes are. and this is a president who often does sort of make remarks off the cuff, to punch home some of the points he's trying to make. but at this stage, whenever every little word is being dissected by what it could mean in an uncertain and high-stakes situation, those words really matter. we know that there were a number of european allies that were not happy with what the president said at the end of that speech in poland, that putin cannot remain in power. we know the president clarified his remarks when he was leaving church on sunday. he was asked, was he call for regime change in russia, which has not been the u.s. policy stance.

and he said, "no." but we heard from french president emmanuel macron, expressing some displeasure with those remarks, warning that they could be inflammatory in some way. the bigger concern is two-fold. one, these kind of words, this kind of language could escalate in some way. again, they're trying to contain and not give any kind of excuse for putin or russian forces to escalate on the ground. that's been the guiding principle for the u.s. and for nato members, allies from the beginning, but there are concerns that could lead putin to believe if he has nothing to lose. if the end goal for the allied nations is regime change, then why not double down. why not escalate anyway, because he really doesn't have anything to lose. i will share, though, i was messaging with a senior european official during that speech because they gave a much more nuanced take. that official said, look, part of biden's speech was reiterating to nato allies that what has been at the core of the unified nato response. that don't you dare move on an

inch of nato territory. that was a reassurance to the allies. the last line this official said was really more of a message to some of the eastern european nations, who are concerned that any kind of deal negotiated between ukraine and russia right now could return or could risk returning conditions to the pre-sanctions status quo. that's not what they want, but that may be what putin wants. so he's saying, that last line is meant to assure someone that it's not someone he wants to work with. the sanctions will stay in place because of putin. but it is a reminder of just how much every little word matters right now. >> we're just speaking with daria who is in warsaw and was there when the president said his speech. and what she was tweeting was, while you speak, we die. there are people that are just -- that's why what you said is so important. every word matters. ohio republican senator rob portman had this to say on "meet the press" about the president's

comments on putin. >> by saying that, that regime change is our strategy, effectively, it plays into the hands of the russian propagandists and into the hands of vladimir putin. >> is it possible that the russians could use this? they're using everything and i don't really know -- i mean, is it possible that they could use something like this to their advantage? >> senator portman is exactly right. putin has conducted this war and he'll point to what president biden said, see, it's not about my war in ukraine, it's putin wants to change the government in russia. i think the white house they made a mistake, but it's really unfortunate the president said that. >> there is, john, this day 33 of an invasion into a country that has stood up valiantly and not accepted. and yet, sometimes they're fighting overwhelming odds with not a lot of material.

is there something that the united states. the disposition has been barely adequate. we should have been sending serious weapons to ukraine before russia invaded. even now, the war has been going on for almost five weeks, and the high-altitude antiaircraft systems have not been sent. the administration only now seems to be making the decision to send anti-ship missiles to ukraine that should have been sent months ago. we need to send not just short-range drones that biden announced a couple of weeks back, we need to send longer-range drones in better quantities. we need to be getting those bombers from eastern europe to ukraine. all of these things the administration should be doing, they should not be intimidated by putin's idle threats. >> the new nbc news poll also

found that we just had here at nbc that nearly 80% of americans support a ban on russian oil imports, even if it causes higher gas prices. but 83% of americans say they are increased about the increasing costs of goods and service like gasoline. many americans concerned that the war will involve nuclear weapons, and that the u.s. troops will head to ukraine. what does this tell us about how americans are feeling? >> i think it tells us americans are really supportive of the president's overall goal. we know the president has been very strong about messaging, about what's at stake here when it comes to democracy and the threat of autocratic regimes. that's an idea that americans can get behind, but that their patience is limited. because there is an impact here at home. we know the white house has been very clear about messaging earlier, in the ways they're trying to mitigate some of those rises in fuel prices that we've seen. the longer this goes on, the more that energy impact will be felt. both here at home and around the

world. >> the way that they contain that has to be -- assist very complex situation, right? they're also working in concert with european allies, who are already much more deeply impacted by that energy impact on the market and will continue to be. and that's a long, long road ahead in terms of trying to gain some of their energy independence back from their russian dependence. but haas something the u.s. has to work with in concert with those european allies. it is being felt here at home. that's why you're seeing the longer this war goes on, americans' patience may start to run thin. and that's where you're seeing that dip in numbers. >> thank you so much forring with us this morning. i appreciate it. coming up. russian forces on day 33 of the invasion continue to destroy parts of ukraine, including a holocaust memorial in ukraine. coming up, we'll speak with congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz about what putin is doing and how the future of ukraine could depend on the

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27 past the hour. for the second time since russia

invaded ukraine, russian forces have damaged a holocaust memorial. ukraine's defense ministry says a holocaust memorial near kharkiv was damaged on saturday. the memorial honors an estimated 15,000 jews who were shot or forced into mass graves at a ravine outside the city in late 1941 and early '42. earlier in the month, the russians bombed a tv tower in kyiv located right by the site where more than 30,000 jews were murdered in september of '41, in one of the largest mass killings of jews in europe in 1942. joining me now is florida congresswoman, debbie wasserman schultz. congresswoman, it's a pleasure to see you. it's been 33 days since russian forces have mutual fund into ukraine. the u.s. has given ukraine billions of dollars in military and humanitarian assistance. what more do you think the u.s. should be doing to help the ukrainians? >> well, jose, first of all, i just want to acknowledge the horror that putin is raining

down on the ukrainian people to have made the case or suggested that the reason that he needed to invade ukraine was to denazify it, with its jewish president, and now hitting a holocaust memorial or a sacred site for the second time, just shows you that the lies and true motivation behind why he is doing that is certainly nothing more than power and control. and a desire to recreate the eastern block. i'm so proud of president biden and the leadership role he took in bringing the nato alliance, as tightly united as we've ever seen. and the trip this past week to further indicates that we're going to send a billion dollars of resources to the ukrainian people, so what we can make sure

that they can continue their valiant efforts to maintain their sovereignty, which i am confident that we will continue to help them do. >> i'm just wondering, congresswoman, because -- and you do mention that putin, you know, said that he was going to go de-nazify it. it reminds me of what hitler said when he was going into czechoslovakia, they're hurting the germans. and you know, 1932, 1933, the excuses they've used in the past, stalin, putin's idol. how do you see this finishing or ending, congresswoman? >> you know, it's a little personal for me, too, jose. i have great grandparents on both sides of my family that emigrated to the united states from ukraine. this is something that is so horrific and it must be brought to a peaceful end. the ukrainian people must maintain their sovereignty. putin has no right to have invaded. he has no claim on any portion

of this independent nation. and, look, i'm glad that president zelenskyy, he's been so valiant in his rallying of his people and the military that has -- the ukraine military have really done a remarkable job. this has to end through a bilateral, peaceful negotiation to bring an end to this conflict and this war that putin started, so that the ukrainian people, that we can commit worldwide to helping the ukrainian people rebuild. and that they can go back to living in these sovereign nations. their sovereignty, which they so rightfully deserve. >> congresswoman, have you have been so busy and forcefully supporting ukraine, you're also -- you and a number of your house colleagues from florida are asking president biden and alejandro mayorkas, to do to

protect emigrants. what is it that you're asking for? >> well, what we're asking and that i'm confident will be provided is the extension of tps, which president biden, you know, thankfully extended to venezuelans that are here in this country a year ago now. if you remember, the previous president refused to do that. and when he did that, there's an expiration, because tps is extended for 18 months. that comes up in september. in july is when an extension can be granted. and we've asked him to do that to include venezuelan who is came here by the end of this past year, december 31st, 2021. clearly, the crisis in venezuela has gotten worse, it's not over. and the reasons he extended tps in the first place still exist. so i'm very hopeful and believe. i had a chance to talk to

secretary mayorkas and they said they're very closely looking at that possibility. by the way, putin has his tentacles in there, as well. so doing everything we can to push back on the maduro regime, to make sure that they're not able to continue to harm their own people anymore, which is completely supported by putin, with military assistance is also absolutely essential to making sure those advances don't occur in the western hemisphere. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, thank you so much for being with us this morning. coming up, historic oscar wins overshadowed by the moment that many people are talking about this morning. it's not that one that they're talking about, although this is history in the making. this is what a lot of people are talking about. we'll talk about that and the history-making moments at the oscars when we come back. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." ck you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports.

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37 past the hour. it's the moment everyone's talking about, when actor will smith slapped comedian chris rock on stage during the 94th academy awards last night. the lapd now says rock declined to file a police report and will therefore not press charges. nbc's joe fryer has more on what happened, as well as some historic moments from the big night. >> reporter: it all started with a joke by presenter chris rock, directed at jada pinkett smith. >> "gi jane 2," can't wait to see it. moments later, will smith rushed the stage slapping rock. uncensored clips that aired in other countries shows what smith said after. >> keep my wife's name out your [ bleep ] mouth. >> reporter: smith revealed in 2019 that she had alopecia, which causes hair loss. about 40 minutes after the

stunning altercation, will smith won his first oscar, portraying serena and venus' father in the film "king richard." >> i'm being called on in my life to love people and to protect people. and to be a river to my people. i want to apologize to the academy. i want to apologize to all my fellow nominees. love will make you do crazy things. >> all of it casting a shadow over hollywood's biggest night, including an historic win for best picture. >> okay. "coda." >> reporter: for the first time, a streaming service won the top prize. appletv plus's feel-good feature, "coda." in the coveted acting categories, jessica chastain scored her first oscar, and arianna debose won the coveted acting. >> you see an openly queer woman

of color, an afro-latina, who found her strength in life through art. >> reporter: and "coda"'s became the first to win an oscar. >> dad, i learned so much from you, i'll always love you. you are my hero. thank you. >> and joining us now to discuss is vincent cunningham, staff writer and theater critic for the new yorker. thank you for being with us, vincent. now that you've had time to process what you saw last night, what did you take away from it? >> thanks so much, jose. it's wonderful to be here. it's hard, unfortunately, as you kind of laid out, to take much from it, because the noise of that slap is still reverberating around the country, it seems. there are so many wonderful things in terms of the diversity of the proceedings, i thought a

pretty good producing job by the movie producer, will packer. great hosting by regena hall and by wanda sykes, two of my favorite performers. but so much of that was kind of blotted out by what happened not too long before the end of the show. >> and it's just like -- i mean, how do you even process that? you know? and then, 40 minutes later, to go up and say, love makes you do crazy things. >> if you told me, this is my child in some ways tying myself in a not. if you told me one day will from "the fresh prince" would assault him in the middle of an award show, i don't know what i would have said. i really don't know what i would have said about that. >> and you know, you were talking about, you know, how -- i mean, there were so many other important moments, right? like arianna debose, the first

queer afro-latina to win, the first male deaf actor to win for "coda." and of course, how about the great performance in spanish, right. there were so many kind of like important moments that i think, unfortunately, being overshadowed. there's that performance. that was fantastic. >> it was fantastic. and i think in some ways, this kind of triangle of drama between will and jada and chris rock, in some ways, you know, what's lost in it is the disservice it does to everybody else, because it's just hard to -- i stayed up writing about this and i certainly couldn't think about anything else. and i can't imagine that too many others can. >> well, listen, love to read you at "the new yorker." i very much appreciate your time with us.

thank you, vincent, cunningham, for being with us. >> jose, thank you so much. >> thanks. >> coming up, from kyiv to miami. the journey one ukraine mother took with her three kids to take her family to safety. she'll be sharing her story, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports."

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46 past the hour. we have breaking news out of ukraine. the mayor of irpin just posted on facebook that the city has been liberated by ukraine forces. nbc news has not been able to independently verify the claim yet. in just over four weeks, more than 3.8 million people have fled ukraine. think about that. more than 3.8 million people have left their country, according to the united nations. poland has opened its doors to the overwhelming majority of those looking for safety, with nearly 2.3 million people crossing its border. during his trip to poland, president biden met with refugees and pledged that the u.s. would accept 100,000 ukrainian refugees. joining us now from warsaw is nbc news correspond, josh letterman. josh, what are you seeing there today? >> well, jose, that announcement

from president biden that the u.s. would take in up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees brought fresh hope to many of the millions of ukrainians who are now here in poland, but also new frustrations. today, we watched here at the u.s. embassy in warsaw, as the line stretched down all the way to the end of this street, with people trying to get an appointment for a visa. they all went home now, because the embassy is closed for the day, and they've all been told to try to come back again tomorrow, if they can. and some of the reason this has been so confusing for refugees is that the u.s. is taking them in under a whole variety of programs. some through the traditional refugee program, some on a parole status. others being encouraged to apply for immigrant or non-immigrant visas. and every process is completely different. if you're applying for an immigrant visa, you're supposed to make your way on your own to frankfort, germany, for processing. something that's a huge challenge for folks who have ended up in poland, with just a

suitcase and whatever they could carry on their backs. and i want you to hear from erin eric, who is from sarasota, florida. he and his wife, who's ukrainian, are trying to get their 84-year-old mother, who took a bus 11 hours from ukraine to here in warsaw. they are trying for the third day to figure out if they can get her a visa and they're still not sure how they're going to get her to the u.s. take a look. >> we have her now in warsaw, poland, and she's in a wheelchair and a walker and she's alone. and we have a flying back to the united states in a week, and we can't get an appointment until june 27th, 2022. how is she going to survive and be taken care of and we're going to be left alone here in poland. >> the state department says that the covid crisis as well as the trump administration's rollback of the refugee program is one reason people are facing

such delays. just to give you a sense of the wait if you're trying to get a visitor visa to the u.s., here at the u.s. embassy in warsaw, you're looking at a wait of 125 calendar days for an appointment. in romania, 172 days. almost a year at the u.s. just

for your family, especially for your kids, because you need to understand that only. your kids,o understand that only >> if you have sopt some property, something that you need to take or something like that. i was not able to just come back home. i just do not think about anything. i just take the train to warsaw. i do not have a place to stay there. i do not have any plans for future. but then it's all like, complete, and the people help us in poland and here. so that's why, you know, now, i'm just thinking about the people that are staying in ukraine, for example, in mariupol, they cannot live this

leave this city. they do not have food or drinks. the water. so it's most important now to be like the healthy and safe. i don't know how it will be and i hope that the war will be finished soon. >> what do you think needs to happen so that that war can be finished soon? >> i think the whole country should not like provide the information that the ukrainian situation, it's the war. it's russia against ukraine. we need to understand this. and we need to stay for ukrainian, because now ukrainian is fighting for all the war. >> do you fear for the future? you have three beautiful children that are here. your husband is back in ukraine. your mother there, your dogs, you have two dogs there in ukraine that are part of your family, as well. when you see this, do you have fear for the future? hope for the future? >> of course. we all now have the fear.

but we try to not think about it. if i try, i just crying every day. and i will not be so good mother, you know, if i be like, in the full distress. i need to be like the critical thinking, i need to check what will happen, i need to thib the next day. i cannot think about the -- the after, the day after. >> what do you tell these three beautiful children you're about -- >> what happened? >> yeah, and what they're living through. >> now they think that they're on vacation. because -- but they understand that something happened. they know that the russia attacks ukraine. they heard the bombs. but we are not so worse like the people that are staying now in ukraine, the kids see, they feel this. we are left ukraine on the first day of the war. so i don't know how it's going to be like happy or we are likey. but at least my kids are now in

safety and we are just waiting until it's all finished. >> would you go back immediately? >> i don't think so, that we will be able to come back immediately. because it's not safe pip wish the war should be finished soon. that's all what i wanted to know now. >> iryna tymoshenko, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. thank you. coming up, we're going to go to the fastest-growing county in ohio to see how voters there feel about how president biden is dealing with the war in ukraine. also, the increasing gas prices. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. g diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ♪ ♪

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58 past the hour with less than eight months until the 2022 mid terms. a brand new poll found president biden's approval rating has dropped to 40%, the lowest level of his presidency, with democrats looking to lose control of both chambers of congress. joining us now is shaquille brewster from delaware county, ohio. good morning. what did voters there have to say? >> reporter: there was some nuance in their responses. that poll showed 68% of americans want president biden's top priority to on controlling the economy and getting control of inflation. for the folks i talked to, they said that ending the war is the best way to do that.

listen here. >> if we don't get right what's going on over there, there might not be a here. i would say first and foremost, how do we diffuse the situation, let's focus on that and then let's bring it back domestically. >> i think as long as innocent civilians in ukraine are dying, that needs to be a top priority. >> reporter: the top priority? >> the top priority. that's going to affect inflation, that's going to affect gas prices. >> reporter: one thing at that that poll also showed that voters agree with is that there are differences on who and what they blame for the increase in prices, not only in polls but when you talk to voters. >> thank you so much. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can as you reach me on twitter and instagram. thank you for the privilege of your time. craig melvin picks up with more news right now.

and a good monday morning to you. craig melvin here this hour. we have the rapidly changing situation, including a possible shift in russian strategy on the ground. in just the last hour or so, the mayor of the city of irpine said ukrainian forces have liberated that city. it's a claim that can be not independently verified by nbc news but they say russia could try to split the country in two. ukraine's military intelligence chief said putin has realized he, quote, can't swallow the entire country. also the russian government is out with a response to president biden saying vladimir putin, quote, cannot remain in power. we'll have that response. plus, we'll have insight from a former member of ukraine's parliament i