go, dodgers, giants, padres. >> good morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern/7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. happening right now in ukraine, heavy fighting is under way in mariupol as more civilians escape the relentless violence. back in washington, we're learning new details about a critical meeting between president biden and lawmakers urging the white house to protect millions of immigrant families who call the united states home. senator bob menendez will join us with more. also new this morning, a massive fence now installed outside the supreme court as emotions run high at abortion protests across the country. a once unthinkable milestone in this pandemic. 1 million americans have now died as a result of covid-19. what one family is asking the white house to do to remember those lost.

this morning a "new york times" report reveals u.s. intelligence provided to ukrainian forces is helping them kill russian generals, according to senior american officials. ukrainian officials say they have killed roughly 12 generals on the front lines. "the times" report adding officials say the u.s. is not providing intelligence on the most senior russian leaders. a spokeswoman for the national security council provided a statement to nbc news in part, quote, the united states provided battlefield intelligence to help ukrainians defend their country. we do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill russian generals. moscow has also responded, saying it is, quote, well aware of the sharing of information and said nato and ukraine are not able to prevent russia from achieving its goals. meanwhile on the ground in ukraine, a final battle for mariupol is currently inside that steel plant with some civilians still stuck inside. tonight first lady jill biden begins her trip to eastern

europe to meet with u.s. troops and ukrainian refugees. erin mclaughlin in kyiv, and simon shuster, a reporter at "time" magazine who recently spoke with president zelenskyy. erin, what are things like in ukraine today? >> reporter: hey, jose. all eyes on the besieged port city of mariupol, where according to ukrainian fighters,there are bloody battles unfolding inside of that steel plant that's been surrounded for weeks now by russian forces. yet, ukrainian fighters say they're fighting on. the last time we spoke, jose, the mayor of mariupol was describing a really desperate situation. he said he lost all contact with ukrainian fighters inside the plant that russian forces had breached the plant itself. that happened again today, although contact has been

restored. the commanders -- the ukrainian commanders inside the plant have been filing video diaries saying they're successfully pushing back at the russian forces. we've heard in the last hour from an adviser to president zelenskyy saying they managed to repel the forces out of the plant. so, they're still successfully fighting despite the odds, despite the extreme conditions there. this intense bombardment. huge bombs have been dropped on this plant. despite the fact there are hundreds of civilians inside. earlier in the week there was a successful evacuation of civilians, over 100 women and children made it out with the help of the united nations and the red cross. they described some of the desperate conditions inside. >> translator: we counted the minutes between each bombing, five minutes, ten minutes, this survivor says, we expected to daini minute. >> reporter: >> reporter: now, president zelenskyy says they successfully

evacuated more than 300 civilians from the mariupol area yesterday and that he wants all ukrainians, fighters as well as civilians, to be evacuated from not just mariupol, the broader area of mariupol, the plant itself. it's unclear how that will happen given this intense fighting, jose. >> it has to be so difficult to get people out of there, even though, erin, there are some reports the russians have essentially left parts of mariupol? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. there is some reporting the majority of forces that russia had stationed in mariupol have left to participate in the fight in the donbas, although a couple thousand remain focused on this steel plant. that's really part of the reason why ukrainians really uphold these people, these ukrainian fighters in the plant as heroes as they manage to hold out this

long. they managed to distract a large amount of russian forces away from other vulnerable areas such as the donbas region, such as donetsk, luhansk, pulling them away and allowing union forces to prepare for the battle in the east, the battle of donbas. that's a big part of why they're now seen as heroes and is a big part of why president zelenskyy is vowing to get the ukrainian fighters out alive that remain in that plant. >> erin mclaughlin, thank you very much. clint, let's take a look at the big board and see how the battle is under way at this hour. >> yeah, so, jose, that plant right here, in mariupol, its essentially absorbing a lot of the russian, what we say, combat power that would essentially be pushed to donetsk. donetsk is the southern access. it's very clear that the russians would like to advance here out of the south. separately in the north, that's where we're seeing the major russian advances at current.

belgorod is a major supply port. izim is where they would like to push south and they're not having much success. general and officers being killed on the battlefield, russian officers potentially attacked there over the weekend with indirect fire. that's artillery strikes. this is definitely slowing them down. they're not making major advances. in this area here, kharkiv, what we're seeing is ukrainian counterattacks. they're actually making progress, attacking towards the east and this is essentially a threat to this line of communication and supply for the russians. when you dive a little deeper, you start to see this is where the battle will unfold in the coming days and weeks. from kharkiv down to izyum, you're seeing very short axis where they're trying to push their armor forces together. when you zoom out one more time and look at this area here, you'll see they're trying to go for this location, sloviansk.

they want to bring them together, encircle and take over this western area of donbas and flank a lot of the ukrainian forces. that being said, the ukrainian military is performing very, very well in this defensive formation. they are stopping each of these advances. the russians advancing very slowly. every day the russians are delayed, essentially can't move forward, the ukrainian military is able to bring the weapons and man power back in to help with these defenses. >> last week you were talking about that this stage of the war is going to be a war of artillery. is the ukrainian -- are the ukrainian forces sufficiently equipped for this war of artillery? >> yeah, so what's interesting, jose, a lot of these weapons are moving back in to ukraine. in terms of artillery, several

different things going on. one is the javelins. you saw president biden this week go to actually the locations where these javelin missiles are at. they are essential in going against armor attack formations. when there are armor convoys attacking the u.s. -- excuse me, attacking the ukraine forces, these u.s. weapons are just devastating. you'll see in many videos when you go out on social media, the ukrainian military and even resistance fighters carrying those. the reason they're so effective is what is known as top-down attack. those missiles are fired. they are fire and forget and then they attack from the top down. that's off where the armor is the weakest, whether a fuel truck like this that was seen in eastern ukraine or a tank. the weakest is on the top, that's why the javelins are so essential and a major factor in the ukrainian success. >> simon, you spent two weeks with president volodymyr zelenskyy. what stood out to you from your time with him? >> you know, a lot.

one thing that really came through in our conversation was how focused he is on the battle for mariupol, the broader battle for the east. you know, when i spoke to him, he said that that battle is likely to be the tipping point in this war. he said, one side or the other will likely see its armies destroyed in that battle for eastern ukraine. and he said, if ukraine holds out, then it has a real chance of winning this war. another thing that stood out really in our conversation was, he's been in touch directly with some of the officers who are holed up there in that steel plant in mariupol. they're texting each other. they're calling each other. he said with one of them he feels like he's become friends by now. late at night he's getting their texts. he wants to know what they need, what weapon systems they need, how they're doing, how they're holding up. so, it's this constant stream of communication that they've been able to maintain. and the main message that he's

getting from those fighters is that they need more heavy artillery. you know, the javelin missiles are important, but if you're going to break the siege of mariupol, you need serious cannons and more serious firepower, which is starting to arrive in ukraine, but not enough to break that siege. >> i'm just wondering if, indeed, mariupol does fall to russian hands, russian control in its entirety, what do you think this would mean for -- and what weight would it have on zelenskyy? >> i think he wouldn't consider the war lost at that point. i think for the russian side, you know, we're seeing some reports already that russia is planning to hold some kind of parade, maybe as early as may 9th in mariupol to declare it has seized this city that russia has itself destroyed. and that could be a potential, you know, off-ramp or a chance

for vladimir putin in moscow to say, look, we've accomplished something here. this wasn't all for nothing. we've taken this city. we now control the city. you know, first they're going to have to take that steel plant, which is clearly not an easy target, because those fighters are holding out. it's a very difficult facility to seize. but for ukraine, of course, it would be devastating and extremely painful to lose that city. it was a city of 500,000 people before this invasion. so, ukraine will never -- president zelenskyy will never accept the loss of that territory. but i think it wouldn't mean the loss of the war by any means for ukraine. and as far as zelenskyy is concerned, they're going to continue fighting until they have reached a point in the fighting in the east when negotiations are necessary, essentially. >> simon, i was just thinking -- paraphrasing, the spanish philosopher said man is man plus his circumstances.

you first met zelenskyy three years ago at a comedy show when he was running for president. looking at him now, the circumstances that he has been dealt with, the cards that he has been dealt with, how he has assumed the circumstances around his existence really pretty striking, isn't it? >> yeah. i'll be honest with you, i did not see it coming from him. i've known him now for three years. this time that we met in april was the fourth time that we've spent time together and sat for an extensive interview. so, i met him sort of at several of the key junctures in his political career, including his campaign. and he's changed dramatically. i mean, you know, from a very happy-go-lucky and somewhat politically naive figure during his campaign, who told me, don't worry about, you know, all the geopolitics, we'll figure it out, we'll bring in the best experts and get it done, to

someone who was then mixed up famously in the first impeachment of president donald trump as kind of a key figure and victim in what donald trump did in ukraine during his tenure. so, that led to a lot of cynicism and a lot of disillusionment on zelenskyy's part in terms of ukraine's allies and how devoted they are, the united states and europeans to supporting ukraine. now he's again undergone a complete transformation, i think. he's become a lot tougher. he's become a lot more hardened, just as a leader. in many ways a lot more confident, too. you know, he doesn't sort of hesitate or look to his advisers when he's considering the answer to a question. he answers very directly. and he's much more sharp in the way he speaks and addresses these issues. so, i think a kind of confidence of a wartime leader has really emerged in him that i didn't see coming.

>> simon shuster, clint watts, thank you. appreciate your time. now to washington where democrats are trying to find a path forward on immigration reform. last night four democratic senators met with president biden, vice president harris and other senior officials to discuss ways to protect dreamers. temporary protective status holders and other hard-working immigrant families. with us now, one of the people in that meeting, new jersey senator bob menendez. also, of course, chair of the senate foreign relations committee. senator, always a pleasure to see you. give us a little inside view of what that meeting was like yesterday. >> well, good to be with you, jose. i mean, this was a meeting at the request of the four senators who wanted to speak to the president about what we can do to provide relief to immigrant families here in the united states under existing law. because we have been frustrated by our republican colleagues

unwilling to do anything about solving the overall immigration question. they want the issue more than they want a solution. and so without any republican votes whatsoever, we are left with the path way to trying to find executive powers. so, there was a discussion about how do you look upon tps, temporary protective status for certain groups that are in the country, and to look at reauthorizations of some and designations of others. how do you -- we look at the rule-making that has been pending as it relates to daca, the young people who have created an extraordinary future in this country but who don't have status. lastly, how do you use existing law as the president has used, for example, in the case of ukrainians and others, for the purposes of looking at certain categories of immigrants who are producing a public benefit to

the united states, central food work, the food supply chain, central health care workers and others similarly situated. so, it was a positive conversation. i look forward to continuing working with the administration to see if we can make some of these things happen. >> i don't mean to call you old, but you've been at this for so many years now. you part of the gang in 2013. we can talk about the dream act, we can talk about 2010. this is something you have been doing for decades now in your different roles. i'm just wondering, and i'm thinking, for example, tps for nicaraguans. i'm seeing how the administration is deporting those from haiti arriving on our shore asking for asylum, the number of cubans at the border is at an all-time high, and these are countries going through extreme hardship for its own people.

what can there be action when going back to the years you've been doing this, barring real legislative action? >> well, jose, i have been at this for some time because i think it's a national imperative, for the national interest, its economy and interest. i would rather know who is here to pursue the american dream versus who want to do it harm. most of them work hard, contribute, build families and help build out communities. so -- look, we start off on the reality that even when i was part of the gang of eight with the late john mccain and we passed in the senate comprehensive reform by a very wide margin, which had robust border enforcement as well, it was republicans in the house of representatives that never gave the legislation even a vote. and i think if they had, it

would have passed and history would be different today in terms of the immigration question. and the challenges that we have. we have an unprecedented time in history in which we have huge flows of people. you know, 5 million venezuelans have fleed their country. we talked about ukraine. well, 5 million venezuelans have fleed their country. cuba is going through a new round of exodus because of the oppression in that country. nicaragua and others. so, while we cannot, obviously, be an open door nation, i don't advocate that, we can under our laws go ahead and give people their case to make asylum. if they qualify, grant them. if they don't, they'll have a permanent order in which they don't qualify, which is different than some of the provisions being used at the border which allows a rotating door.

so, i hope that because we cannot get republican votes on immigration at all, that -- including with dreamers, which is like the motherhood and apple pie of all of the immigration issues, that we can get the president's executive action on some of these things. it won't solve everybody in terms of their status, for those already in the country, but it could provide, a significant number of people some sense of security. while it would give them as a whole, whether it's tps, whether it's public benefit entrance or whether it's dreamers, basically is just gives them a stay of deportation and a work permit. it doesn't give them access to any benefits. at least they would have the peace of mind that when they go home at night, the knock on the door is a neighbor, not an i.c.e. agent. >> i want to talk about the leaked supreme court draft opinion which makes it appear the high court could overturn roe versus wade. you responded to an article in

the midterms in a sweet taking, i call bs. my republican colleagues don't get to wage a decades-long war on the rights of half of the population and then try to steer clear of the consequences of their own actions. what did you mean by that? >> well, i'll clean it up for your program. basically, what i'm saying is that -- what i'm saying is that, look, republicans finally got what they've been advocates for, if this is the final decision of the court, then republicans have been militating for decades to end a woman's right to choose and the privacy basis under which that woman's right to choose is determined for her own personal future as it relates to her body and the choices she will have to make. that has been the law for half a century. so, now republicans, if you listen to them, you would think

that all of those who were advocating for this result would be jumping for joy at the decision of the court, instead they want to run away from that decision. this is an example of the dog catching the bus. they got what they wanted and now they don't want women in the nation to know that it is republicans who are stripping away a woman's right to choose. and for all of us beyond that, the fact that by undermining 50 years of precedent of a case that was decided, affirmed, reaffirmed by the supreme court, that ultimately if you can change 50 years of precedent, you can change 50 years of precedent on voting rights, civil rights and any other right you think that we have as a country that has been assured. >> senator menendez, always a pleasure to have you on with us. i very much appreciate your time. >> thank you. still ahead, new reporting

from nbc news about the roadblocks ukrainian refugees are facing as they try to come into the united states. first, fencing is now installed outside the supreme court. new fallout after the leaked draft decision that would overturn abortion rights. what some women are doing now to prepare if that happens, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports."

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25 past the hour.

security is increasing in washington nonscaleable fencing now installed around the supreme court amid the fallout of that leaked draft decision, indicating the justices could overturn roe v. wade. also in the aftermath, some focus is now shifting to abortion pills with one provider saying they're seeing a spike in interest. joining us to discuss with us is sarah mccammon. thank you for being with us. the majority of people in 2020 used that pill method. what is that method? >> right. so, the fda 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago a proved a two-pill protocol for providing abortions via medication, via medication abortion. so, that is a longstanding protocol that's been available for many years. the world health organization and other major medical groups say it's very -- a very safe way to provide abortion.

one of those pills has been heavily regulated for many years. there are lots of rules about who can dispense it and how it can be picked up. some of those rules were relaxed under the biden administration just last year. a lot of advocates would like to see those rules relaxed further because, yes, abortion pills are becoming increasingly the dominant choice. they don't require surgery, they're less invasive. since the majority of abortions happen in the first trimester anyway, when the pills are approved, they're an option many people are choosing. >> yet we're hearing some states are actually trying to ban those pills. would it be easier to get around restrictions for pills rather than the actual procedure? >> you know, it's complicated. there are both state and federal rules surrounding the use of abortion pills. yes, many states, especially republican-led states have taken notice of the increase of abortion pills and trying to

regulate them at the state level. there are a number of ways they could do that. passing rules that only doctors as opposed to nurse practitioners and physician's assistants to dispense the pill. they say it can be provided by masters level and m.d. physician. fundamentally, it's much harder to regulate the distribution of pills through the mail. there are several organizations that have been popping up around the country and internationally to provide these pills. some of them will do telehealth consults and prescribe them from international pharmacies and states have tried to regulate this, ban the use of mail to distribute pills. it's really unclear how that would enforced. >> sarah, thank you for being with us this morning. appreciate it. still ahead, we'll talk to chongman chuy garcia why some

republicans are still hesitant to lift restrictions at the border. good to see you. we'll talk in a minute. we'll talk in mia nute ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ introducing the all-new infiniti qx60. take on your wild world in style. ♪

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32 past the hour. we're getting an inside look into the challenges ukrainian refugees are facing as they try to come to the united states and navigate this new sponsorship process announced by the biden administration. joining us now is nbc news correspondent julia ainsley. good morning. what's that been like? >> well, it's been hard, jose. i spoke to one woman in princeton, new jersey, trying to bring her sister's family to come live with her in the united states. she was elated when this website first launched. it launched about a week and a half ago, april 25th, when she found out she could sponsor her sister and her sister's family to come here. right now they're in warsaw where they're living in crowded conditions because that country has really been pushed to the brink because of so many refugees they brought in. now she's trying to bring her sister over. she's going online and she's told she needs to provide not all all of her income

information but her sister's assets and show the vaccination records of the entire family going back for their entire lives, they need to prove their assets, which includes the value of their home in ukraine, appraised by an approved appraiser that could supposedly be liquidated within 12 months. those are the kind of things she's supposed to put on this application. she did it for her sister and now she has to do it all over again for her sister's husband and her is it sister's daughter. she's worried if there's one mistakes, they could all be doned. she says it's incredibly nerve-racking and other groups i've spoken to say a lot of people are finding the process very onerous. there have been 13,000 applications so far and we don't know how many have been approved, if any, and when these people might get an answer. >> julia ainsley, thank you for that new reporting. and right now, let's go to capitol hill, the senate homeland security committee is holding a hearing on ensuring

order on the border with mexico. this comes weeks before the biden administration is set to lift a public health order, known as title 42, to block immigrants coming into the united states. joining us is chuy garcia. let's talk about the winding down of title 42. three u.s. officials and two mexican officials tell "the washington post," mexico has now agreed to take back cuban and nicaraguan migrants which, i guess, would make it easier to send them back to their homeland. what do you make of this move? >> i think these are reflection of election year jitters. just as i think it would be a huge mistake for democrats and the white house not to keep their campaign promises to do away with title 42 because it

was never about the public health. it was instituted, one of the vestiges of the donald trump administration. i hope the white house sticks to its guns and ceases to remove people without giving them an opportunity to make their cases for asylum, to treat people the way we're treating ukrainians, who are seeking asylum with dignity and respect and due process. >> now, congressman, you know this, there are some fellow democrats on capitol hill that want to delay the lifting of title 42 because it is concerned the u.s. is not prepared to deal with the 170,000 or so people that have been camped out there on the mexican side of the border. many of them for over a year without the opportunity to even request asylum. what do you say to the folks who say there isn't -- the united states just can't let everyone in? >> we're not talking about

letting everyone in. public health and immigration experts have warned for years that there would be a surge of people fleeing death and violence and threat of violence and corruption and climate change from many places that have become very difficult for people to live in. they're simply coming here, seeking to make their claims for political asylum. we should honor the tradition that we've had in america to allow people to present their cases, look at the merits or lack thereof and act accordingly. to institute policies that break from that great american tradition is un-american and we simply should not be caving to election year jitters because people are concerned. people are expecting us to keep our word. and it's essential and i'm hoping the white house will stick to its plan to do away with title 42. >> just a couple minutes ago i

spoke with new jersey senator, bob menendez, he was one of four senators to meet with the president last night to discuss issues on immigration reform. it's so different. there's the issue of the border and humanitarian crisis there, and then there's also immigration reform for the 11 million, 12 million people who are been here, who are part of this economy, vetted in so many ways. is there nothing legislatively that can be moving to deal with this specific issue? i'm talking about dreamers and tps. >> there are. we passed legislation in the 116th and the current 117th congress. where is it? lan languishing in the senate. why? because we refuse to do awe with the antiquated, with the relics of the past of the racist filibuster. there are two people holding up this progress. we could pass legislation to protect dreamers, to provide

people with temporary protective status, to allow farm workers who were real heroes and kept our economy moving and fed during the pandemic, these are bills that have passed with the bipartisan support in the house. they're in the senate. if we did away with that legislation, with that rule in the senate, we could enact immigration reform. we promised the american people that if we won majorities in the house and the senate and had the white house, that we would deliver. we still have an opportunity to deliver this year. senator durbin is trying to revive bipartisan conversations in the senate. i applaud him for that. and my hope is still held out that we could get something done before we reach our august break. >> congressman garcia, thank you so much for being with us. appreciate your time. >> thank you, jose. up next, strong words from the pope on russia's war with ukraine. you're going to want to hear what he said about that.

we're live in rome with exactly what the pope said. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports."

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russia's door. joining us now from rome, nbc news's claudia lavanga. what did the pope say in that conversation? >> reporter: he revealed several things about the war in ukraine and how he approached the war in ukraine. in particular, what was very interesting was about his interaction with the leader of the russian orthodox church. he said that right after the war, we knew that the two leaders, spiritual leaders, had a zoom call, a zoom conversation, but he revealed, the pope, that the first 20 minutes of the 40-minute conversation, that the patriarch kiril held a piece of paper and read a very long list of justification for the war in ukraine, including stuff that russian speakers in ukraine were being persecuted, so forth. basically he was repeating the rhetoric by vladimir putin and russia as a justification for

the war. and that may be one of the reasons why later on in the interview, the pope said that, you know, they are spiritual leaders, they shouldn't talk about politics, they should talk about peace. he said, he should not act like putin's altar boy. the russian orthodox church didn't take that well. yesterday they issued a statement saying that those were regrettable words, it was the wrong tone and, of course, it damages the dialogue between the russian -- the russian orthodox church and the catholic church, which, of course, was improving a lot, especially thanks to pope francis up to the start of the war in ukraine. the two were met to meet in jerusalem in the middle of june. guess what. well, that meeting has been canceled. jose? >> thank you very much. for nearly a month now, russian opposition leader has been detained in russia for speaking out against russia's

invasion of ukraine. last month russia's parliament passed a new law that would jail anyone for spreading what it considers fake news about the war in ukraine. he has been a guest on our show and we spoke with him the day after russia's invasion. >> mr. putin may well be about to stumble into repeating that same mistake. this is yet another military adventure of this authoritarian, unelected, deranged dictator named vladimir putin. joining us now, evgenia kara-munoz. what's the latest you know about your husband's condition? >> thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak out. vladimir is being held at the pretrial detention in moscow. his only contact with his lawyer

happened through double glass, metal bars like you see in american movies. this is also my only contact with my husband through his lawyers. >> your husband, extraordinary man. he's already survived two poisonings, as seen friends and colleagues imprisoned, disappeared, killed in russia. what drove him to speak out? >> well, vladimir has never sat quiet about putin's regime. both within russia and outside. and he has always believed that a bully -- a dictator. all things begin with -- his own population and then move forward. so, vladimir has always believed that vladimir putin, if left

unchecked, would continue aggression, his aggression towards other countries. >> right before his arrest, your husband was speaking about the struggles the russian military was having, as well as the suffering of the ukrainian people. what is your sense of what people inside russia are being told and what they actually know about what's going on in ukraine. >> well, of course, most and foremost, the release of my husband but vladimir would never allow me to make this about him. he's always spoken on behalf of -- in russia and he's always spoken about -- being deprived of objective information because putin's propaganda machine has been working relentlessly for over two decades to create this

warped reality for the russian population. a big part of the population that relies on state tv as their main source of information, has not had access to one single independent tv channel for years. as other -- as far as other independent media outlets are concerned, most of them -- well, all of them, actually, have been blocked by the russian authorities since the beginning of the war. many journalists, countless number of journalists were forced to leave the country and are now continuing their work from outside trying to spread information about putin's army's atrocities in ukraine. the problem is access to this information is very limited for the russian population, even those that seek access to independent information. there are ways to circumvent the blockade by the russian authorities by, for example,

installing a service but it seems that free vpn services are not very reliable. those to pay for, you have to have apple them. unfortunately, apple pay doesn't work in russia anymore. we need to find ways to find the russian population with objective information with what is happening in ukraine. >> thank you very much for being with us. i want to underline the importance that we remember what is happening to him. coming up, remember the 1 million people that have died from the coronavirus. our next guest lost her father to covid. she's calling out for a nationwide memorial for those

who lost their lives to the pandemic. you're watching josé diaz-balart reports. the only eggs with more fresh and delicious taste. plus, superior nutrition. which is now more important than ever. because the way we care... is anything but ordinary. only eggland's best. ♪♪ you're probably thinking that these two are in some sort of lover's quarrel. no, no, no. they're both invested... in green energy. and also each other. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop. what would you like the power to do?

53 past the hour this morning. the world health organization

reports the full death toll from the covid pandemic is almost at 15 million. that staggering number comes as data shows the u.s. passed the milestone of 1 million coronavirus deaths. and one lady that lost her father asked the white house to honor those 1 million lives lost. thank you for being with us. as we mark 1 million covid deaths in the u.s., what are your thoughts? >> i have the worst feeling in my stomach. this was preventible, but also i feel robbed. i know that i do not feel alone in that sentiment. people who have lost loved ones, we have not had the chance to grieve and that's because we have not had state recognition.

a million people have lost their lives. this is not normal. under any other circumstances our leaders would have taken time to be with us in that grief and commit to making sure that this is never going to happen again. >> what would you like the white house to do? >> i think that president biden and the white house need to meet with bereaved family, hold a state tpaoupb chul and work with us to ensure that we have a permanent covid memorial day and permanent memorials in places across the country, and not only so we can properly start to grieve and heal and so that we can start to reckon with what's happening around us and the incredible devastation that this pandemic and the ripple affects it has had on our lives.

>> i love seeing the pictures with your dad and i just want to hold out my heart and say we know, and thank you, kristin, for being with us. >> i appreciate it, owe -- josé. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

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good morning. i am josé diaz-balart kicking off another busy hour. 8:00 a.m. pacific, and 11:00 a.m. eastern. more weapons from the west are arriving in ukraine. a u.s. defense official says 90% of the artillery the u.s. promised are now in ukrainian hands. ahead i will talk to democratic congresswoman barbara lee, and talk about what she believes the role should go forward as the war continues. plus, we are staying on top of the fallout of the leaked draft opinion, and president biden warns the court's final decision could put other rights on the line. many