i am katy tur. it's day 37 of russia's war in ukraine. here's what we know right now. russia and ukraine are talking again, this time over a video call. the good news at least at this moment is there's a cease-fire in mariupol allowing trapped residents to finally flee. still those evacuations are not easy. the red cross said extracting the besieged residents is not easy, because ukrainian forces are still in control and others are not so lucky. ukraine's deputy prime minister said 45 buses from evacuees from mariupol were blocked by russian forces and 14 tons of food and

medicine that were on their way to ukrainian civilians were intercepted and taken by russian forces. meanwhile russia accused ukraine of unleashing the first attack on russian soil. two helicopters that flew over the border to attack an oil depot, and the kremlin calls it an escalation. and nbc news has not been able to independently verify those claims but we can verify this fire. and two russian columns of russian troops left the site after radiation exposure, and russia is calling for backup according to british intelligence. "the new york times" reports that syrian mercenaries have been called up to join the fight in ukraine as well. joining me now for the latest is

nbc foreign correspondent, ali from ukraine, and i do want to focus on the evacuations. what is the status at this moment? >> reporter: well, katy, as you mentioned, the buses being escorted by the red cross did not make it in and the russians made it clear no humanitarian aid or food would get into mariupol, and supplies have been running low for quite sometime, and all food that was on those buses, and we have had reports some people on their own in their own private vehicles made it out of mariupol but the situation continues to be dire. they were hoping to get up to 54 buses in mariupol today to get out thousands of people, but that has not happened. around 150 to 170,000 people

still remain heavily hemmed in in mariupol while the russians have that place completely encircled. it's not just mariupol experiencing that, and we spoke to the mayor of chernihiv. and the civilian boats is the only way to get small amounts of humanitarian aid into chernihiv, which that is also running out. a humanitarian disaster after humanitarian disaster, and chernihiv looking very much like mariupol. >> the cease-fires don't sound

like the cease-fires we are expecting from the term and not allowing the red cross to get in with humanitarian aid is a pretty big deal. what about the claim by the russians that the ukrainians have escalated by attacking a tanker? >> reporter: the russians said it would complicate peace talks, and we have not confirmed from the ukrainians they flew in there, but if they did conduct that attack it would be the first time they have done that in this war. it would be a significant morale boost. it would not be a huge strategic change in the war, but they would be able to ma tphaoufr the strategic attacks.

if confirmed that's what they have done in this area in russia early on in the morning. it's a very dangerous mission. they fly low so they can avoid air radar systems and they are more susceptible to anti-aircraft and anti-helicopter, the those things fired by the shoulder. but the danger is, if they fly at night visibility is low and they could collide with objects on the way in and out. if confirmed it was a successful mission for them and it will be a big morale boost but not a huge strategic change in the war. >> yeah, i want to talk about the refugees. we have seen millions cross the borders. we focused a lot on poland. poland has gotten hundreds of thousands of refugees.

how is that complicating things not just economically on how to house all these refugees, but politically? >> yeah, katy, 400,000 refugees, and the reason it's complicated is poland is led who you will remember back in 2015 closed his border off with razor wire, and the reason they kept the syrians out and ukrainians in, they say ukrainians are real refugees. the people fleeing bombs in aleppo were refugees just like the people fleeing kyiv are. the war is a dominant issue here. his opponents are hammering him with his close relationship with

vladimir putin. he probably has the closest ties to the russian president of any leader of any nato country. he's hoping on sunday he will replace the prime minister as hungry. i asked how is the war next door impacting the election here. >> it has become one of the biggest issues, one of the most important issues, and he has been waging war for several years against homosexual and brussels, and he has been serving putin for 12 years and all of a sudden everybody realized that putin is a war criminal that is killing innocent children and pregnant mothers, shelling hospitals and shooting at nuclear power plants, so of course now it's a

threat. >> katie, orbon for his part said he is keeping hungry out of the fighting next door, and he has not allowed direct weapons over, and he is refusing to allow that to happen. the situation is complicated here because he has been in charge for more than ten years and he's a authoritarian leader, and he controls the state institutions and much of the media here, and the opposition says this is not a fair fight but they think they have a chance to unseat him and take back that country. >> distancing himself from vladimir putin is new, as you rightly pointed out, and accepting refugees is a pivot for him, and does that signal he knows in order to win -- that at the very least he is worried about the opposition? >> i think this is about walking

a very fine line between russia and nato. the way the opposition puts it, at every point orbon does the absolute minimum as a member of nato and as a member of the waste, so he is allowing eu sanctions but refusing to allow the most severe form of those sanctions. he is not allowing weapons to be transferred through into ukraine. talking to people here, there is a real fear about getting dragged into the fighting next door so his message is resonating with a lot of voters here. he said he does not want to see a single hungarian caught between what he calls is the russian hammer and the ukrainians, and people said they were very nervous about the fighting next door. americans are worried about being dragged into the fight and that's an ocean and continent away, and this is a couple

hundred miles between the scene of the russian fighting and ukrainian forces, and his message that he will keep this country safe seems to be resonating in some quarters, and the polls are close. >> that could be a very big story. thank you very much. since the start of the war, 4 million refugees have left ukraine, and that does not include those displaced inside ukraine. unicef's global director of emergency programs is joining me. thank you for being here. you are within the country, and in the past we have spoken to one of your colleagues in poland. tell me what is it like trying to operate inside ukraine at the moment? >> it's difficult, as you can imagine. i know you said more than 2 million -- 2.5 million children are displaced within ukraine, so it's important to reach them

with wherever they are, and it's difficult because your reports earlier mentioned access is complicated and there are places we cannot get the trucks and the people in that really would be needed right now, so we are trying to find different ways including providing cash to families that have been displaced or families particularly displaced, and it's dangerous but we are trying. >> we have gotten reports and claims from local governments inside ukraine, the deputy mayor of mariupol told us the other day that families are being separated and children are being separated from their families by the russians and taken away. you have heard any of that? what is unicef doing on that front? anything? >> we have heard the same reports but we don't have evidence. we were not able to verify that because we are not able to access mariupol and access some

of the areas where that would happen. it is hard for us. we cannot confirm, but obviously if that's the case this is not acceptable. we really want to be able to access children and families and talk about what their issues are, and we know the protection issues are huge in this crisis, and that's the fact of being under shelling or in war zones, it's terrible and also the fact of being displaced, there's a risk of trafficking around europe and outside of ukraine, so we are concerned. we are really concerned about the protection of children in this crisis. >> i saw berlin was sending out a warning that people might be posing as good samaritans, and mothers and children are exhausted after traveling so long with children, for them to be wary. what sort of threats are the

refugees facing once they supposedly make it across the border to what should be safety? >> well, trafficking is not new, trafficking men, children and women. families just cross and they are exhausted and without means and they are vulnerable, and anybody that can come and say let me help you, and in many cases they would want to follow. this is important that we give them information and warn them of the risk, and the authorities in the countries receiving these people are really there at the border with that kind of information and support they need with the people that can tell them, look, this is the right thing, be careful of this. this is where you can be helped and receive that kind of assistance. we have set up a number of blue dots, a one-stop-shop where you can access that information, and we are trying to use facebook and mobile apps if we can to

provide information and make sure people know what is legit and what is not. >> when you are trying to set people up, are you trying to set people up permanently for a long-term stay for wherever they are going or is it short term. i was talking to one of zelenskyy's advisers who is inside kyiv, and he was telling people to come back to kyiv, we can operate not as normal but something close to it. >> well, ultimately that would be the choice of people, right? they have to make their own decisions and choices, and they should only come back if they feel safe and if they feel they can access the basics and water and food and education, and if they feel that is possible then this is their decision. and it's important that it's volunteery, that people can make their own decisions, and we want

to give them cash and support so they can make their own decision. of course, a lot of people want to go back and they are close and want to go home and that's natural. >> and the best way to help is to give a financial donation to unicef? >> well, to unicef and other organizations that are active. we are working hard, our colleagues, 24/7, and, yes, we are working hard and getting there but it's a very complex environment. >> thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. still ahead, the biden administration has said it will welcome 100,000 ukrainian refugees but some are choosing to cross into this country illegally. why is that? plus, the signs of a

recession? the ominous indicator some economists are worried about despite a good jobs report. and brain tumors and cancers with only one link.

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march showed strong job growth, shrinking unemployment and rising wages. the u.s. added 431,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.6%, a pandemic low. wages are up. all of this is good news and maybe even great news for the economy, so why are some folks still worried. joining me is host of "full discloser" podcast. jobs report, good. wages are up, good.

why is there still some trepidation out there? i am confused. >> the bond market, it's a bit esoteric, but it flashed signals it's semi reliable. it could mean that investors and traders are worried about the economy falling in the medium to long term, but it has not always been 100% reliable. on balance people are worried about an overheating housing market and worried about inflation and prices at the pump. there's so many mixed signals we are getting. >> are you talking, dare i say it, about an inverted yield curve? >> i did not give you any other

metaphor. if you look at the tweets you could be running victory facts around the fact that this is 11 months of job creation, these 400,000 a month and that's the best clip we have seen since going back to the end of the great depression. the problem is so much is with inflation at a 40-year high, and the powell fed standing there with gas prices at $4.25 on average, and do you want to be on the side of too hot? too cold? a lot of confusion right now. >> robin, i want to talk about wages and inflation, because -- in looking at the numbers, i see them on the screen in front of me, wage growth, 5.6%, and that's good, and then inflation

at 7.9%, and it feels like you are not getting a raise but a pay cut with all the costs going up. >> if you are not studying the inflation numbers, i don't think people on the street do, and they feel like what they were making a year ago, what housing costs are, if your landlord is hiking on you, what the supermarket basket cost, and if you have clout to go to your boss saying i need more than 7%, i need 10%, and if your boss is up a creek and can't afford to lose you and can't afford the repeat of the great resignation, and is that going to get passed down to customers and are they going to go back and demand raises and you see the vicious spiral the fed has to snuff out with several rate hikes. >> let me ask you about the

housing market. there are a lot of people out there who are foregoing housing inspections because they are trying to lock something in right now because the housing market is so wild and there are so few houses out there. given the concern about maybe a housing bubble, should people start to hold off? what is your take? what would you be doing? >> it's borderline fetish at this point. i can understand coming out of this if interest rates go to a multi-decade low, and if you want to put your money in housing, let's get more sheet rock and add that extra room and put an office in here, and the amount of speculation and the amount of people buying properties and banking on 19 and 20% gains a year, and that has to end in some sort of heartbreak. if people are faced with negative equities on their mortgages, they would say buyer's remorse and i have to

get out of it. hopefully it's nothing like the systemic disaster we had in 2008, 2009, where it brought down the entire economy, and it's more bubble mindedness. >> thank you so much always for putting it into layman's terms for me. i appreciate it. coming closer to legalization. what the senate will do now that the house has passed legislation to decriminalize marijuana. landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. you'd think the sax player would be getting ready for his solo... but no. he's currently checkin' his investments. you gotta have a plan outside the band, man.

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big news from my father-in-law. the united states house of representatives just voted to legalize marijuana across the country. the moore act would remove pot from the list of controlled substances and would be applied retro actively to any and all individuals that face criminal penalties for manufacturing, distributing or possessing marijuana, ie, my father-in-law. it was passed, and now the goal

is to release it this month, though not necessarily by, oh, gosh, 4/20. i did not write that. not to make this about me, and i know a lot of people have experiences around the country, but my father-in-law was convicted of distributing quite a bit of pot in the 80s, and he spent time in jail. tell me what this would mean for people that have convictions for distribution or possession, and it has ruined a lot of lives. >> it sure has, katy. it's a big deal. the federal government is catching up with a lot of states. 38 states plus the district of columbia have legalized marijuana. 18 states in the district of columbia allow it for medical use. in addition to decriminalizing it, one of the big things this

bill does is expunges peoples' record that have been convicted of marijuana-related crimes. in the history of -- it doesn't how many long ago the pot convictions took place, ten, 20, 30 years ago, and so this is an attempt, democrats say, to level the playing field and really get rid of the criminalization that, like you said, has ruined so many peoples' lives. the vote outcome, just three republicans voted -- supported -- well, voted for it joining all but two democrats. this is a partisan issue, apparently. it goes to the senate next, katy. >> the majority of americans want it to be decriminalized. when it goes to the senate, leann, what is the likelihood that it will get a majority? are all democrats onboard in the senate for this even? >> it's too early to tell at this point. it's going to be overwhelmingly

popular for democrats and it needs the support of 10 republicans, but they don't have legislative text yet. yes, they want to have something released by 4/20, but i don't know if that's the case. they have not finished writing the bill yet. it will be a bit more expansive than the house bill and we are not sure exactly but the prospects are better this year than they have been in the history of the country to finally decriminalize where it's no longer a controlled substance. >> the stigma is not changing but attitudes are changing, and there's a guy going up against kennedy and he smoked a blunt in his campaign ad, trying to make the point it's not a big deal and it should not be a stigma and lives should not be ruined for it. just making the point that people have gone to jail and,

again, had their lives ruined. i want to ask you about the january 6th committee and they met with jared kushner yesterday. do you we know what he might have said? >> we don't know exactly what he said but we were told by our sources, he was quite chatty and he did not invoke privilege and he did most of the talking and his attorney did not interrupt a lot, and the committee wanted to know about the president's mood, i guess, leading up to january 6th, what his mind-set was. jared kushner was not even in the country on january 6th. he voluntarily showed up and he apparently talked a lot. what he said we have not yet found out, but the committee was very pleased with what he gave them. >> leigh ann caldwell, thank you very much. the house also passed legislation that would cap the

monthly cost of insulin at $35 for the millions of diabetic americans who rely on the drug. that is also a really big deal. only a dozen republicans joined democrats in the vote. it now heads to the senate. if it's signed into law, it would take effect next year. workers at an amazon warehousea huge one on new york staten island voted by a wide margin to form the tech giant's first union in the united states. it's considered one of the biggest victories for a generation for organized labor, and one of the people involved said while jeff bezos was in space he was gathering votes. and then the four men at trial for accused of planning to kidnap michigan governor whitmer. the four men have denied the charges. and then an update we

brought you a couple weeks ago, on how an american with family in russia was able to get his grandmother out. there she is. and ukrainian fleeing the war are ending up in i.c.e. detention facilities.

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what could the father of the bride possibly be doing on his phone? checking in with his merrill advisor to see if he's on track to do this again... and again. did i mention she made the guest list? digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do? the biden administration committed to taking in 100,000 ukrainian refugees still though hundreds are choosing to cross illegally into the u.s. from mexico. joining me is julia ainsley. i know there were backups in trying to figure out whether we would take any immigrants or any migrants from ukraine during this whole ordeal. tell me about the decision to cross illegally and what happens? >> these are ukrainians who i had the pleasure of meeting with

earlier this week that came here because they had family here, and so when they were fleeing ukraine they didn't have family in poland, they had family here. they believed that would help them come to the united states, especially because of the messaging they heard from the biden administration on taking in 100,000 refugees. as we know getting in as a refugee means waiting in line and these people said they did not have the time so they chose to cross the southern border. they were very surprised by what happened next. let's hear their story. it's the emotional moment two ukrainian women had been waiting weeks for. reunions with their loved ones outside an i.c.e. detention center in louisiana. seeing her fiancé for the first time since fleeing ukraine and crossing the southern border. >> nobody was expecting them to be in a jail for 18 days. >> now their first meal together in the u.s.

max lives here. alaina came to apply for asylum and was taken into custody by border control. >> we didn't know where they were and they couldn't hear from us and that was the hardest time. >> during her time in this facility, about 100 russian/ukrainian women came through. many are still inside. her sister-in-law says she was traumatized after escaping war and then being treated like a prisoner. >> were you hungry? >> yes. >> do they feel welcomed into the united states? >> not really. >> president biden committed to bringing over 100,000 ukrainian refugees, and many are choosing to cross illegally in hopes of getting to the u.s. faster. >> there's not an option for seeking immediate safety here in the united states at a time when we have seen so many other

countries step up. >> alaina and victoria now wait to have their asylum claim heard by a judge. >> i.c.e. says that really it doesn't matter somebody's nationality, if they are ukraine or not. each decision is made by a case by case basis. katy, for a lot of these people, they were lucky they could even cross as we know many central and south americans are subject to title 42. they are surging 600 or more law enforcement officers to the border and plan to ramp up the vaccination program so they will be encouraging immigrants who cross to get vaccinated for covid-19. >> just a quick question. another point of clarity. those who are applying for asylum still out of the country, the refugees crossing over that have family members here, how

quick is the process? >> right now they have not laid out the details. biden said 100,000 and did not say over what period of time and if they will come through humanitarian parole that doesn't allow for permanent status, or if they will be brought in the way refugees currently do and it often times can be two years. still waiting for details. >> good to have you back. i know you were out for maternity leave for your second kid, and we are back to see you back on set and back reporting. >> good to be back. thank you, katy. an american citizen with family in russia, and he flew to moscow just before the war began to help bring them back to the united states for safety, and he was able to get emergency consideration for emergency visas for his grandmother, sister and brother-in-law but many others are stuck in the growing queue. last time we spoke you were in

moscow and you were talking about the reaction to the state tv employee who stormed the set with a sign that said no war, you are being lied to. we were worried about your safety after that and you said you were trying to get your grandmother out. tell me what happened. >> the situation evolved pretty quickly, within a week we went from hopeless and feeling like there's no way to get her here. i already had travel plans to go to europe because it was too dangerous for me to stay there, and then we had a break where after talking to about a dozen or more consulates or embassies around europe we got somebody to consider her case personally at the consulate in armenia. one thing led to another and we

were able to get them to hear the case for her, my sister and brother-in-law within a week. and then we got the visa to bring her here, and then we had to get the cdc to agree to let her come because the vaccine in russia is not accepted here, and we just arrived two days ago in the states in san francisco. i saw you share some of the photos. my grandmother has not been this awake, alert and happy in such a long time. >> yeah, you can see it in her face and you can see how relieved you are on your face. i am curious, we had heard reports when people were trying to leave russia they were being stopped by immigration, and they were looking through peoples' phones and trying to find out if they were antagonistic of the

russian regime and there was worry they would not be allowed to leave. what did you experience as you were crossing over the border? >> yeah, so it's interesting. we took all the precautions to be very careful. we flew out of a airport privately owned opposed to the state-owned ones, and deleted all the apps from the phones, and we were not searched to the degree as others had been, and my grandmother was in her medical wheelchair, and we had somebody at the airport helping us. you can see there was a lot of sympathy for her, and to be honest i don't think i have ever been treated so nicely at a russian airport or russian customs. to be honest, the disappointed thing about the trip was how we were treated when we arrived at the states, and we were extensively questioned at border

control, and the border agent ended up locking my grandmother's passport in a case and made us go through a agriculture inspection because they thought she had food in her suitcase, and we had to go under additional scrutiny just to get into the country, and it was a weird feeling like, are you serious? we just escaped from russia and this is how we are being treated when i arrived back home with my grandmother. it was scary. getting out of russia and getting the documents and the travel permission was hard, but the actual crossing of the border ended up being much easier than we expected. >> we are happy you are back and your grandmother is well and your sister is with you, and

your brother-in-law stayed behind to be one of the remaining -- what he calls -- free thinkers in russia. >> can i share one question thought? >> sure. >> i just want to say how important it was that the person that helped us at the embassy, what a life saver and what an opportunity officers around the world have right now to save lives. it reminds me of the japanese shaw linder, he saved thousands of lives by stamping their visas. the only reason we had this happen was somebody took a personal interest in the case and just said let's do this, right? there was no mechanism or bureaucracy we could go through, and it took one person saying i want to help this person and this family and they pushed it through and made it happen and

there was no other way to make it happen. so many people around the world have the chance to do this, be like angels in the stories of families everywhere. i think it's important to point out just how critical it is that somebody took a personal interest in this. >> freedom with a stamp. thank you so much for joining us, and wish everybody our best. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. a new jersey man says more than 60 people that attended the same high school are diagnosed with rare brain tumors. now he is trying to prove that it was no coincidence. vision. wait, what? it sounded like you just said an eye drop that may help you see up close. i did. it's an innovative way to... so, wait. i don't always have to wear reading glasses? yeah! vuity™ helps you see up close. so, i can see up close with just my eyes? uh-huh. with one drop in each eye, once daily.

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a new jersey man said he has found more than 60 cases of a rare brain tumor, also cancer, that might be linked to the high school he graduated from in 1989. environmental scientist al lupiano says he's identified at least 65 cases among the alumni, teachers and staff of colonia high school in woodbridge township. that includes himself, his wife, and his sister angela, who died of it, of a brain tumor last month. while nothing has been confirmed, the only clear link between the cases according to lupiano is the high school they all went to. he, the mayor, and the school superintendent are now asking the epa and the cdc to investigate. joining me now is al lupiano. al, thanks for coming and talking to us about this. i was struck when i was reading about this story yesterday and this morning. first off, how are you? how's your wife? i know you both have tumors, correct? >> correct. i'm okay.

i have lingering issues. i'm deaf in one year and i have some other side effects. my wife is still going through treatment right now. she's got a bit of a road ahead. but it's a day-by-day battle. so we're all optimistic she'll do well with treatment. >> and your sister had a gioblastoma. correct? that's the same brain tumor cancer that john mccain died of. >> correct. it was very aggressive. unfortunately, she only lived six months from the time of diagnosis. and it i really hit hard. >> it's awful. you guys were all diagnosed on the same day. i wonder, when you were realizing that there's a weird pattern here, how did you find the other cases and how did you come up with the high school as the link? >> so by word of mouth i had known of a couple of sisters that had passed that were close to our family and they both as well had gliomas. and just talking to friends and family members everyone seemed to have known someone who had a

primary brain tumor. and my list quickly started multiplying. and before i knew it i was up to 15 individuals. and i had known we all grew up in the same neighborhood, but the township is large enough that i couldn't quite say it was due to a street or a neighborhood. it all seemed to be linked back to the high school. the only thing we had in common is everybody said and by the way, i was a graduate of the high school. so when i started going down that path and asking more and more questions, my list just continued to swell. and today we stand at over 80 individuals. >> that's incredible. and the high school itself, is there anything in the town records that you can come up with that might have caused this? do you know anything about -- i don't know what, the building materials or what's in the ground? what could it possibly be? >> we're considering a few options. there are some things that have some credibility. i don't really want to speculate. but we're looking seriously at a potential radioactive source.

it's just a matter of quantifying and seeing if that makes sense. i still think we may be on the tip of the iceberg here, and that's why i've asked for the help of experts. i collected the data, but this is not my expertise. i need someone much smarter than me to come out and look at the data and say there's a problem here or there's not a problem here. and i would love to say it's not a problem, but there's just too many coincidences are popping up. >> that's a whole lot of cases. he with reached out to the mayor and the superintendent of the school, the mayor of the town and superintendent of the school. also the new jersey department of health. they all basically said this-some version of we're looking into this and it's very concerning. are you getting that sort of response on your end? are you seeing movement to try to figure this out? >> i am. the town has been fantastic. mayor john mccormac from day one has been a participant in this project. he basically told me you're driving the bus, you tell me

what you need, i'll get it. i haven't had as much success at the state and the federal level. and i'm hoping some of this exposure gets them to kind of move along. >> al, just to bolster your credentials a bit before he with go, you graduated from rutgers with a major in environmental sciences. you had i aminor in industrial hygiene safety engineering. and you have a career cleaning up unsafe sites as a health and safety administratored with marines bill responses corp. i'm being told in my ear we absolutely have to go. so i'll leave it here. good luck and please bring us any developments as they come. >> thank you, katy. >> it is a interesting and quite disturbing series of cases. appreciate it. that's going to do it for me today. my apologies to hallie jackson for eating some of her time. but stay with us. she's coming up next. she's comit at liberty butchemel— cut. liberty biberty— cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for whatchya... line?

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the humanitarian crisis inside ukraine is getting worse. it feels like as every hour goes by. with the red cross now saying russia's blocking this convoy of 45 buses from going into mariupol to help evacuate people there. across the border in russia you've got these claims ukrainians destroyed these oil depots there. some ukrainian officials aren't confirming or denying. also word the russians don't have a central war commander on the ground in ukraine. we've got the reporter behind that scoop joining us. we're live at the whi