we're expecting the president to come and speak to the country in about a minute. we'll of course bring you that live as soon as it begins. meanwhile on the front lines, russians forces have seized the besieged port city of mariupol in what would be a critical victory for russian forces. putin called the operation in mariupol a success. he said there's no need to storm a steel plant that is reportedly sheltering ukrainian troops as well as hundreds of civilians. the city's mayor said officials do not have the ability to evacuate civilians fleeing the violence at this time. all this as the russian military said it tested a new intercontinental missile on wednesday, which could be capable of reaching the united states. the pentagon says russia gave the u.s. advanced notice as

required by the nuclear arms treaty between russia and moscow. let's go back to our picture at the white house where we're expecting any minute now the president to show up. also joining us is nbc news correspondent carol lee live from washington. ralph sanchez is with us in lviv. also with us, ravi agrawal, editor in chief of foreign policy. let's go to the president. >> -- to keep you waiting. i had the honor of spending time with the ukrainian prime minister is in town today. he is meeting with some of my cabinet members, secretary of treasury and others. we had a good discussion. i talked about what i'm about to tell you about today as well as -- he was thanking the american people for their support, understands it's significant. we talked about keeping everyone together in terms of europe,

european union, and others in the effort to stop putin's brutality. but before i head out to the west coast, i want to quickly update the american people on the latest steps we're taking to support the people of ukraine and to hold putin accountable for his brutal and bloody war. they left behind horrifying evidence. you reported it. by the way, i don't say this often, but i think we should give enormous credit to the folks of your agencies that are on the ground in ukraine in these spots. i've spoken to several of them. we owe them. but uncovering these evidences of their atrocities and war crimes against the ukrainian people, it's so clear to the whole world now. now they've launched and refocused their campaign to seize new territory in eastern ukraine. we're in a critical window now

of time that they're going to set the stage for the next phase of this war. and the united states and our allies and arizona are moving as fast as possible to continue to provide ukraine the forces they need, the weapons they need -- excuse me -- the equipment they need, the forces they need to defend their nation. last week i signed an $800 million package of security assistance to ukraine that included new capabilities like artillery systems and armored personnel carriers. equipment that is responsive to ukraine's needs and tailored to support the intensified fighting in the donbas region, which is a different war than in other places because both top graphically it's different. it's flat, it's not in the mountains, and it requires different kinds of weapons to be more effective. today i'm announcing another $800 million to further augment ukraine's ability to fight in the east in the donbas region. this package includes heavy artillery weapons, dozens of how

witsers, and 144,000 rounds of ammunition to go with those. it also includes more tactical drones. in the past two months we moved weapons and equipment to ukraine at record speed. we've sent thousands of anti-armor and anti-missile helicopters, drones, grenade launchers, machine guns, launchers, radar systems, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition are to be sent. the united states alone has provided ten anti-armor systems for every one russian tank that's in ukraine, a 10-to-1 ratio. we'll continue to share significant timely intelligence with ukraine to help defend them against russian aggression. on top of this, these district contributions from the united states are facilitating the flow of systems to ukraine from other allies and partners around the world, like the s 300 long range anti-aircraft systems that slovakia recently transferred to

ukraine. we are getting them in there. we won't always be able to to advertise everything our partners are doing, but sometimes we will speak softly and carry a large javelin because we're sending a lot of those in as well. but we're not -- we're not sitting on the funding that congress has provided for ukraine. we're sending it directly to the front lines of freedom, to the fearless and skilled ukrainian fighters who are standing in the breach. you got to admit, you must be amazed at the courage of this country, the resolve that they're showing, not just their military, but their average citizen, men, young men and women. it's a significant reason

ukraine is able to stop russia thus far. every american taxpayer and every member of our armed forces can be proud of the fact that our country's generosity and the skill and service of our military helped arm and repel russia's aggression in ukraine. to beat back putin's savagery as it tried to seize ukraine's capital. the battle of kyiv was a historic victory for the ukrainians. it was a victory for freedom, won by the ukrainian people with unprecedented assistance by the united states and our allies and our partners. now we have to accelerate that assistance package to help prepare ukraine for russia's offensive that's going to be more limited in terms of geography but not in terms of brutality. combined with our recent drawdowns, it will ensure a steady flow of weapons and equipment into ukraine over the next few weeks. however, with this latest disbursement, i've always exhausted, the drawdown

authority i have that congress authorized for ukraine in a bipartisan spending bill last month. in order to sustain ukraine for the durations of this fight, next week i'll be sending to congress a supplemental budget request to keep weapons and ammunition flowing without interruption to the brave ukrainian fighters who continue to deliver economic assistance to the ukrainian people. my hope and expectation is congress would move and act quickly. i want to thank the congress, democrats and republicans, for their support for the people of ukraine. our unity at home, our unit with allies and partners and the ukrainian people is sending unmistakable message to putin. he will never succeed in dominating and occupying all of ukraine. that will not happen. in addition to bolstering ukraine's resistance on the battlefield, we're also demonstrating our support for the people of ukraine. today the united states is announcing that we intend to

provide an additional $500 million in direct economic assistance to the ukrainian government. this brings our total economic support for ukraine to $1 billion in the past two months. this is money the government can help use to stabilize their economy, to support communities that have been devastated by the russian onslaught, and pay the brave workers that continue to provide essential services to the people of ukraine. you know, these past weeks have seen a terrible human cost of putin's ambition for conquest and control. approximately two-thirds -- two-thirds of all ukrainian children have been displaced from their home. more than 5 million ukrainians have fled their country. it's an absolute outrage. the idea this is happening approaching the second quarter of the 20th century is just -- last month when i was in europe, i announced the united states would welcome 100,000 ukrainians so that we shared in the responsibility of supporting

ukrainians fleeing putin's war machine. we've already welcomed tens of thousands of ukrainians to the united states, and today i'm announcing a program unite for ukraine, a new program to enable ukrainians seeking refuge to come directly from europe to the united states. this new humanitarian program will complement the existing pathways available to ukrainians, including immigrant visas and refugee processing. it will provide an expedient channel for secure, legal migration from europe to the united states for ukrainians who have a u.s. sponsor such as a family or an ngo. this program will be fast. it'll be streamlined and it will ensure the united states honors its commitment to go through the people of ukraine and not through southern border. we will further isolated russia on the world stage. yesterday the treasury department rolled out additional

measures to crack down on the entities and individuals attempting to evade our unprecedented sanctions, not just ours, but throughout the west. today i'm announcing that the united states will ban russian affiliated ships from our ports as they did in europe. that means no ship, no ship that sails under the russian flag or that is owned or operated by a russian interest will be allowed to dock in a united states port or access our shores, none, none. this is another critical step we're taking with our partners and european union, canada continuing to deny russia the benefits of the international economic system they so enjoyed in the past. we don't know how long this war will last, but as we approach the two-month mark, here's what we do know. putin has failed to achieve his grand ambitions on the battlefield after weeks of shelling kyiv. kyiv still stands. president zelenskyy and his

democratically elected government still remain in power, and ukrainian armed forces, joined by brave ukrainian civilians, have thwarted russia's conquest of their country. they have been bolstered from day one by an unstinting supply of weapons, ammunition, armor, intelligence from the nations of the free world led by us, the united states. as russia continues to grind out military advances and their military advances and the brutalities against ukraine, putin is banking on us losing interest. that's been my view. you heard me say that from the beginning. he was counting on nato, european union, our allies in asia cracking, moving away. he's betting on western unity will crack. he'll still betting on that. once again, we're going to prove him wrong. we will not lesson our resolve. we'll stand with the people of ukraine. we will never fail in our

determination with defend freedom and opposite tyranny, it's as simple as that. i want to thank the american people for their support of the ukrainian people. this is our responsibility, seems to me, and we've been able to hold the whole world together in this effort. so thank you very much. thank you. i'm going to take just one or two questions. >> what does putin claiming control over mariupol mean? how significant is that? >> well, first of all, it's questionable whether he does control mariupol. one thing for sure we know about mariupol, he should allow humanitarian carters to let people from the steel mill buried under rubble to get out. that's what any -- any -- any head of state would do in that circumstance. there's no evidence yet that mariupol has completely fallen. >> mr. president, on title 42,

sir, are you considering delaying it? >> no. what i'm considering is hearing -- first of all, there's going to be an appeal by the justice department because as a matter of principle, we want to be able to be in a position where if in fact it is strongly concluded by scientists that we need title 42, that we be able to do that. but there has been no decision on extending title 42. thank you. >> mr. president, how long can the u.s. maintain the level and pace of this military support for ukraine? >> we have the capacity to do this for a long time. the question is, are we going to continue to maintain the support of the international community and keep the pressure on putin to prevent him from overrunning the country, number one.

and number two, make sure we continue to maintain the economic sanctions which over time -- and we're beginning to see it -- are devastating their ability to move forward. the most important is to maintain unity. so far, so good. >> president biden with a lengthy explanation of sanctions and decisions he's taken to support the people and the government of ukraine in this war that russia has carried out, saying that there is no evidence, according to him, that mariupol has fallen to the russians and a lot more. let's talk about this. joining us now our nbc news correspondent carol lee from washington, raf sanchez from ra leave also with us, avi agrawal, and retired general steph

twetty. your reaction to the president's statement today? $800 million signed last week, $800 million additional military support to ukraine this week, and then another $500 million to the ukrainian government. how significant is this? >> jose, we're over $3 billion now of military aid to ukraine. this is significant because you go back to what the president said, the ukrainians now have to be on the offensive, which means they need the equipment to be able to use in the offense, stuff like artillery that you heard him talk about, the drones and so forth. they're going to have to strike the russians hard and deep. the russians have massive artillery. they have massive tanks. this is going to be a land battle of attrition and we need to be able to give the ukrainians what they need to compete in this fight. this is a good start.

i would have loved to hear more about attack helicopters. of course that takes a long time to train up on if you're going to give them americans. so i'm not an advocate of giving them american helicopters. but the mig 17s or mi 17s and attack helicopters they've used, those would have been great to hear about, as well as additional tanks instead of armored personnel carriers, which are great. they're going to need tank capability as well. and then i'm an advocate of giving them the mig 29s you heard so much about. that way we can have somewhat of a level playing field here as they go into this battle that's going to be brutal. >> general, so far, as we understand it, pretty much giving them a handful of mig

17s, but there are a lot of attack helicopters that are part of the old soviet system, mi 24s, there are a lot of helicopters that could make a more substantial difference in that war right now that the ukrainians don't have access to. raf, you're in lviv. how do you think this aid is going to help what is so desperately needed in ukraine both militarily and also on the civilian side? >> well, jose, let me start by saying that as the president of the united states was speaking, as he was recalling the ukrainians' victory in the battle of kyiv, the air raid sirens started going off here in lviv. they stopped a moment ago. we don't know yet whether this was another attack on this western city or if it was a false alarm. but either way, it's a reminder that the russian president is able to threaten every corner of this country. now, i think one of the most

important things president biden said from ukrainian perspective is this new $800 million package is not a generic military package. it is closely tailored to what ukraine needs for this new fight in the east. he said it is responsive to what the ukrainian military needs for a battle that they say is going to look more like the second world war, large formations of tanks and artillery going up against each other. one number that jumped out at me, jose. the president said the u.s. will be providing 144,000 rounds of badly needed artillery ammunition. that's about four times as much as was provided in the last military aid package. that will last the ukrainian military at this current intense rate of fighting three weeks or more, which, you know, isn't a lot, but is enough to keep them going for the moment. president zelenskyy said overnight that he was cautiously optimistic that the united states and its allies not only

understood what kind of weapons the ukrainian military needs, but also understood the fierce urgency with which they needed them. now we have a sense of why he made those comments that the united states is very clear about the kind of fighting that the ukrainians are doing in the east, very clear about what they'll need. jose, i'll also say the president became a little emotional as he was talking about the human cost of this war. he repeated that statistic that you and i have talked about, two-thirds of ukraine's children have been displaced over these two months of fighting. the president called it an absolute outrage and it is a reminder that as we talk about the military hardware needed in the east, it is the civilians of this country who are paying the price for what the president called putin's conquest. jose? >> raf, thank you so much. important what you point out, those three weeks, which is so significant. carol, the president also saying that he will be going to congress next week for a supplemental on the ukrainian

weapons issue. what's the thinking from the white house about military aid going forward? and is there continuing unity in the congress to support this level of assistance for ukraine? >> the thinking, jose, is that as the president said, the military needs to have a steady flow into ukraine. we've seen so far in congress there's bipartisan support for more military aid and funding for ukraine. the president said that the amount he's going to request is still being sorted out, but that he will be making this request next week. one of the things that he highlighted in his remarks was that in his words they were at a critical window in this conflict where the u.s. and its allies need to get ukraine as many weapons as they possibly can to try to fend off this new phase. so you have this $800 million on top of $800 million last week.

but the president saying in order to sustain ukraine in this war that he's going to need more money from congress. there are a couple other announcements, jose, that the president made in his remarks that $500 million in economic assistance, that comes after the white house announced the president met with the prime minister of ukraine this morning and that the prime minister would be meeting with the treasury secretary. the president announced a new process for ukrainians who want to come to the u.s., that that's being rolled out, and a ban on russian-affiliated ships in u.s. ports. so the whole of his remarks, there was a number of things in there. obviously the military aid is the biggest ticket item in his comments and the thing that is going to get the most attention and will be most well received in ukraine. but the president also at the end of his remarks thanked the american people. this is a lot of money that's flowing to ukraine at a time where there's economic hardships here at home and the president tried to make the case that, look, this is our responsibility as a country to do this, and

because of you, the american people, the u.s. is able to do this for ukraine. so a lot there. we still need to see the details of what exactly is in this military aid package, but the president saying that this is just the beginning of much more that needs to come. >> i'm also glad that he was able to answer a question about title 42. we'll talk about that later in this hour. ravi, the president insisted a couple of times at the unity that exists within, for example, western europe, nato, and the president insisted under american leadership. ravi, how united is the western world on this issue? >> that's a great question because that's the third tent pole of biden's speech. the first was that u.s. aid is dynamic, so it changes according to the situation. now it's focused on the east,

different topography. the third is western unity. western unity, of course, has been a big part of biden's attempts to try and prove to putin -- and he said it again right now -- that putin is banking on the west losing interest. we're going to prove him wrong. those were his exact words. the thing, though, however, and this is interesting because he said western unity. he didn't point to global unity. that's where the cracks really exist because much of the rest of the world, if you look at the population of the world, india and its neighbors, which is about a quarter of the world's population, add in china you're close to half of the world's population. these are all countries that not only have refused to condemn russia so far, but they are actually increasing their purchases of russians oil and gas. india, for example, has purchased more russian crude in the last month than it has in

all of 2021. and i think this is where a lot of the administration's diplomacy over the next few weeks will be very important because you can't moralize to these countries. they're going to see we'll get a good deal when we see one, but red lines will likely have to be drawn if putin escalates, if chemical weapons or nuclear weapons are on the table. i think that's where the question of not just western unity but global unity will become so much more important. >> ravi, raf sanchez, carol lee, thank you for being with us. i want to bring in a mariupol city council member. thank you so much for being with us. what are you hearing from those who are still in mariupol about what is going on right now? >> situation is getting more catastrophic every day.

and i would say something good in the view. about hundreds of thousands of people are still in mariupol, civilian people, and they don't have electricity, they don't have water, they don't have food supplies and medicine. most of the hospitals in mariupol are destroyed. most of the schools are destroyed. my city totally destroyed. and the only humanitarian aid these people can get is only pieces of, how to say, drops in the ocean, which russians give them for their loyalty. but the situation is worse every day. so without help of all the world, without help of all the countries, these people are in great danger. when putin says that mariupol

is -- they get mariupol, it's not true. our military is still fighting and putin don't want to, how to say, capture it, it's totally lie. they continue trying to capture and continue to fight. >> president biden just a few minutes ago -- we heard him say that he has seen no evidence that mariupol has fallen to the russians. i'm just wondering, maxim, you're talking about the 100,000 plus civilians that are there, and you describe a city that has been devastated, no hospitals, no water, no electricity, no way to get food and medicine in. yet those people are stuck there.

how do you explain this horrible situation? >> i have no words to explain. so you need to understand that these people now in mariupol, they have no rights. the only law in the city is russian occupiers' with automatic guns. they only tell the rules. and the people who want to get out from the city need to get to the filtration camps. in 20th century, it's horrific and horrible. >> i just don't know, maxim. what is it you're asking the world to do? it seems like there is so much need, there is so little time, there is so much blood, there is so much death.

what are you asking the world to do now? >> i think the most problem is to understand to all the world that they need to be united in this situation, like war with hitler, it's the same situation. even if someone don't understand world war iii, it already started. we need all support we can. for most of the people, there are only numbers with death. but for our -- it's our families, our friends, it's our parents. it's terrible. so people need to understand that it's not only numbers behind this. >> maxim, are the people of mariupol facing gu lag arc pel low in russia? is that what it's coming to?

>> the people -- so you understand, the people who fled to ukrainian site from occupied mariupol, they can't get there anymore. for about a week only they can go to the occupied by russia territories and to the russia side. from there, if they have money, they can get to the european union. so a lot of people can't have choice where to go, and russian shows it's like people choose russia to go out from mariupol. it's terrible. >> maxim, thank you for being with us. appreciate it. still ahead, breaking news from the biden administration. we're live with the new plan to bring ukrainians fleeing the war safely into the united states. the president talking about a legal way to get to the united states from europe, not having to go to the border. we're keeping an eye on the

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everyone will love. is this wagging? - good right? right now florida's republican-led state house is holding a special session where today they're expected to pass a bill that would strip the walt disney company of its special self-governing status, including an exemption to pay certain taxes. the state senate passed the measure yesterday. the move comes after governor ron desantis began targeting disney after it publicly opposed florida's new law, limiting instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. joining us is mara barrett. what do we expect today? how is this playing out. >> this is playing out extremely quickly.

the bill was just introduced this week and is expected to pass along party lines in the house today. governor desantis in florida could sign it into law as early as tomorrow. to give you a sense of the speed, it came directly in correlation with disney spoke out about the "don't say gay" bill. disney said the company would stop donating to florida lawmakers and politics in general. you see the direct correlation between a company speaking out about social and political issues and facing this backlash. i spoke with rephrase the question randy fine this week and he said this is what happens when disney chooses to kick the hornet's nest. >> i think companies should stay in their lane. i'm a terrible politician. was a a pretty good businessman and i didn't get into this stuff. my job was to create products and services to create shareholder value. disney will face a massive lawsuit, a massive lawsuit

because they have breached their fiduciary duty. messing around with how we educate kids has nothing to do with the business disney is in and it's unfortunate they've chosen to do that. >> reporter: if this law goes into effect, it won't take effect until next june, so disney has time to push back against it. we haven't heard back from them, but the surrounding counties around disney, osio la and orange counties remains to be seen if debt from disney would be translated into those counties that can hike up taxes. it's not the intention to punish surrounding counties and the residents because a lot of people there are actually employed by disney. that's something that's still a big question mark how this would play out. but lawmakers are saying that this right now is just the first step and they say it's long overdue. >> maura, disney meanwhile

employs tens of thousands of people there in central florida. maura barrett -- >> it has -- >> sorry, go ahead. >> i was going to say it's going to have a huge impact because disney brings so much of the economy to florida, it employs tens of thousands of people and it's going to have a ripple effect when it comes to what happens with that city that disney built, what happens to its emergency services, utilities, and infrastructure, and the process how it can build up its kingdom and the theme park going forward and whether this relationship that has existed so happily in the past will continue. >> maura barrett, thank you very much, appreciate it. breaking news from the administration this morning. president biden just said that there is no decision on extending the title 42 expulsion

policy. the policy was set to end the 23rd of may. it allows the u.s. to expel more than 1 million people at the border without having to hear their asylum claims. the administration set to announce a plan to bring ukrainian refugees into the u.s. the administration pledged to bring in 100,000 ukrainians fleeing the war-torn country. nbc news' julia ainsley joins us. what's the latest? >> the plan is to take a step in the direction of fulfilling the biden administration's promise to bring over 100,000 ukrainian refugees. but we're already hearing from a lot of those agencies responsible for resettling refugees that this doesn't go far enough. basically the program will require americans to sponsor, fiscally sponsor any ukrainians coming over. that could be a family member that says i will take care of this person and keep them in my

home, or it could be a nonprofit o a church perhaps, any religious organization that could come forward and say we have raised the funds independently to provide this person a place to live. that's different than what the u.s. refugee admissions program typically looks like. that means someone comes over and it's taxpayer money that allows them to find a place to live for the first few months, allows them to meet with someone that can provide health care and provide them places to work. now, they will be able to work here and they will have the ability to stay here for two years. but a lot of people think that this just a drop in the bucket and won't get them far enough toward that 100,000 because these strict requirements. but you also have to remember the trump administration gutted the refugee program, and so right now it seems that this is what the biden administration is able to put forward. >> julia, just curious. i'm looking at the exact verbatim of what the president was asked and what he said

vis-a-vis title 42. the question was, mr. president, on title 42, are you considering lifting title 42? and he said no, what i'm considering is continuing to hear from my -- well, first of all there's going to be an appeal by the justice department because as a matter of principle we want to be able to be in a position where it's strongly concluded by the scientists that we need title 42, that we will be able to do that. but there has been no decision on extending title 42. what is your takeaway from that language? >> i mean, jose that throws the whole thing neptune air. you and i have been talking all week about these plans, may 23rd have been the goal. they announced that in march. they were working -- on april 1st they were working towards lifting that. the dhs says they are working on that. but this now says they might go back to the court and fight lifting it. they haven't made a decision, so it makes it seem maybe may 23rd

is no longer the date. we're going to hear, i imagine, a rebuttal from those people waiting to get in. this is going back on a promise, but you have to remember he's under a lot of pressure from democrats who say that now is not the time to lift it. but this really throws that whole plan and that whole promise up in the air. >> julia, unless we just go with the first word he said responding to that question, the question are you considering delaying title 42, the first word was "no." we'll see. julia ainsley, thank you so much for being with us. more than 5 million people have fled ukraine since the war began. we know the majority are women and children. joining us is save the children in bucharest. i sey, thank you so much for being with us. what is your organization doing to help children, refugees at

the city's biggest train station there. >> thanks very much for having me on. yeah, absolutely. save the children is actually working at every single border crossing point between here in ukraine and moldova. near bucharest we're working at the largest train station and we set up a large child-friendly space for families. the majority, mothers and children, arriving. and essentially this space just gives them a safe area where they can get emergency support, food, water, medical supplies, sim cards, and also especially -- it's specially designed, child centric, so mothers who've been on traumatic journeys can have the peace of mind of knowing they can sit down and their children can have a safe place to play. what that actually looks like in reality is often we have children arriving who are very withdrawn, they're quiet,

holding onto their parents. but within half an hour thanks to the help of our staff, social workers, and psychologists, they are drawing, playing with other children, playing football or playing with toys. that's really a big transformation. and the idea is we help them to start the initial recovery to process what they've been through. >> izzie, i'm so glad you mentioned safe space. most people helping have good intentions, no doubt, but not everyone. how do you keep these children safe in a world that is not -- in a world that is all not light, but that there are also shadows? >> yeah, absolutely. it's a great question. a huge part of the work we do at save the children is a focus on safeguarding. we have child protection specialists in romania and other

countries working around the clock. we're working at every border crossing, making sure no child is left unprotected. what that actually looks like in practice, for example, last week i was at a border crossing where we're seeing over 2,000 refugees coming each day at the moment. and we have a mother and baby area there. it's a closed-off area right on the border. the passport control said mothers and babies and young families have a safe space where they can come and get emergency support. they can get information about a safe journey onwards, and that's a big part of our work in romania. >> izzie, what can people do to help? how massive is this? >> yeah. well, you know, we know -- we heard last week over two-thirds of ukraine's children are now displaced into neighboring

countries. here in romania that's 700,000 children. we're prepared to help as many families as we need to. in terms of how people can support, i think we've been absolutely overwhelmed and you can find all the details of how to donate on save the children's website. >> isabel, thank you so much for being with us. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. cubans are being forced to leave the island, so many of them in record numbers. they're leaving for the united states. even getting to the mexico/u.s. border. up next, what's happening today? that could address the crisis? you're watching "josé díaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ♪ only two things are forever: you're watching "josé díaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "josé díaz-balart reports" on msnbc. customizing your car insurance, so you need.

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government officials are going to be sitting down for the first high-level talks in nearly four years to discuss possibly resuming agreements on migration between the two countries. this meeting comes as more migrants are trying to come to the united states from cuba. u.s. customs and border protection says it has detained nearly 80,000 cubans at the southern border between october and march. that's more than the number of detained migrants from central america. coast guard says they found more than 1,200 cuban migrants at sea during the same period. this is a very dangerous trek that cubans are willing to leave their island on makeshift boats or rafts trying to get to freedom. joining us now is carmen cecina. what are both sides apparently doing today during these talks? >> well, the u.s. wants cuba to start accepting deportations of cubans. they blame cuba for the economic

crisis and the human rights situation going on on the island. whereas cuba, on the other hand, blames the u.s. they say it's not only the u.s. embargo but also that the u.s. stopped issuing 20,000 migrant visas per year four years ago when they were health incidents that took place in the u.s. embassy in cuba. so cuba says they don't need to accept deportations of cubans because they are largely leaving legally from cuba. nicaragua, a close ally of cuba, started requiring visas from cubans. that's when they started leaving to nicaragua and heading towards the u.s. border. >> that's interesting because cuba is one of the few countries around the world where you need permission to leave if you're cuban. in other words a national has to ask the government for permission to leave that country.

you've talked, carmen, with cubans who just made that trip as well as organizations in south florida trying to help them. >> that's right. so the organizations in miami are grappling with a soaring amount of cuban migrants arriving here in miami. i spoke to to one activist who been doing this for 30 years and she's says she's never seen anything like this. i also spoke to a young migrant who is 25 years old. he arrives about one month ago from cuba. he left because he was fearing persecution. he did not want to show his face during the interview or reveal his name because he still has family in cuba and he feels they may be targeted by officials in cuba. but let's listen to what he told me happened to his friends as they tried to plan something on the what's app group.

jose, so this migrant and his friends were not able to protest during the historic protests that took place on july 11 last year. so they weren't able to protest because they said that there was a heavy police presence and they were just not allowed to leave their house. so in the following days they tried to organize something on the what's app group but pro government supporters joined that what's app group and basically ratted out his friends. so a bunch of them got arrested,

three of them already got sentenced. one of them got five years in prison for having planned this protest and that's why he's here today. jose. >> five years in prison for thinking about organizing a protest. tells you all you have to know. >> that's right. >> thank you so much for being with us. thank you, jose. >> a big day at the supreme court today while we await big decisions coming out of that building right there in d.c. we'll talk to pete williams about what the court announced today. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew.

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its term in late june. the court ruled people who live in puerto rico can't get extended social security benefits and one more week of oral argument next week. some big cases argued next week including a praying coach in washington who lost his job after he refused to stop praying on the 50 yard line at football games. >> thank you so much. that wraps up this hour. i'll be back in just a moment with more news. i hope to see you then. now i'm down with rybelsus®. mom's a1c is down with rybelsus®. (♪ ♪) in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill.

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good morning. 11 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart reporting off another very busy hour. right now ukrainian and russian forces are battling for control of a 300 mile stretch of ukraine's industrial heartland. this morning, putin claims they have liberated the city of mariupol but president biden said it's questionable whether putin controls mariupol. ukrainian president zelenskyy says a thousand civilians and the last military defenders are still hold up in that steel plant there. he adds despite efforts