phil lipof joining us now from eastern poland. you told us about the polish government aiding ukrainian refugees and you are seeing the polish people stepping up to help, as well. >> whit, there are roughly 2 million ukrainians living here in poland. it's already a welcoming country to ukrainian. the border is open and polish government doing what it can. we were at a border crossing and met a man from warsaw. he has an apartment and a home there. he drove three hours to the border crossing to offer shelter to those who might need it. on one side of the border we're seeing unspeakable violence and cruelty, on the other side we are beginning to see the best the human spirit has to offer. whit? >> and they need all of the help they can get, phil. thank you. be sure to tune into this week tomorrow morning. george stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with white house press secretary jen sack toe discu psaki to discuss the latest on the invasion in ukraine. hackers deploying malware and warning executives to be vigilant and shore up their de

abc's phil lipof joins us with this harrowing story. phil, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning. and as you described, this is the exact reason that former new york city mayor michael bloomberg has always had his own security detail. there was no specific threat leading up to this. a terrifying kidnapping nonetheless. police say the suspect doesn't know the bloomberg family. was trying to take bloomberg's daughter and took an employee instead. this morning, new dramatic police video, a daring rescue ending the kidnapping of a woman who worked for michael bloomberg. police say she was taken at gunpoint from his colorado ranch wednesday. this video showing the cheyenne police department's joint s.w.a.t. team arriving to the scene at the stagecoach motel just across state lines. >> law enforcement did everything right in this case. they were able to apparently track her ipad, which eventually led them to cheyenne, wyoming. >> reporter: investigators say the suspect, joseph beecher, was carrying an ar-15 and a handgun when he was ar

here's abc's phil lipof in new york. >> reporter: this morning, a major setback in the rollout of covid-19 vaccines for children under the age of 5. pfizer delaying its request for fda approval of its two-dose vaccine for the age group. >> it makes sense for us to wait until we have the data from the evaluation of a third dose before taking action. >> reporter: the fda's committee of independent advisers says it will now be about two months before any word on approval leaving some parents concerned. >> once all of our family members are vaccinated, i think we're somewhat comfortable, but obviously it provides another level of protection if our daughter was also vaccinated as well. >> i understand that parents are anxious. the best thing that parents can do out there is what they have been doing, have your kids mask up when appropriate. >> reporter: the fda is however authorizing a new monoclonal afternoon antibody treatment from eli lilly that shows promises resulting fighting omicron. it will be given to covid patients early on in their infection and the new study from the cdc suggesti

we are thrilled to welcome phil lipof to the desk. we brought you inside.o more crazy hat. >> no more crazy hat. i get girl scout cookies this morning. >> bonus. >>> we're also celebrating black history month. chef gregory collier and his wife sabrina are putting a modern spin on a classic southern cuisine. >> it's a busy saturday morning. we're following a lot of news. >>> president biden's latest comments signaling a shift in u.s. thinking. the president now saying he is convinced russia has decided to invade its neighbor and that attack could happen in the coming days. >> a u.s. official says between 40% to 50% of russia's troops are in attack positions near the border with ukraine. it follows intensified shelling in eastern ukraine where they are accusing russian-backed separatists of hitting a kindergarten there. this morning we have team coverage starting with abc's ian pannell in the capital city. ian, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, guys. we've been talking about critical days, weeks, even months in this crisis but i have to say this

phil lipof has been following one family on their journey from desperation to hope. phil reports tonight from poland. >> reporter: tonight in poland, just across ukraine's border, deep despair is being matched by immeasurable compassion. and there is no shortage of people here in need. oksana has leukemia. through tears she tells us how she traveled for two days to get her children illia and varvara to safety. her husband and brother, still fighting the russians. who is this? >> bagira. >> reporter: varvara holding tight to what she couldn't leave behind. she is very pretty, especially with this. she is going to stay with an aunt. but this family with nowhere to go. quickly approached by a group of young women offering food and a place to stay. an hour north into poland, and we came to this. a building owned by the forest service. we are just across the river from belarus. we understand private citizens have taken this and are allowed to use this for a makeshift shelter. beds line the walls. this will now be home, indefinitely. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> repo

here's abc's phil lipof from new york. >> reporter: tonight, as covid restrictions loosen across thecountry, parents of america's youngest children grappling with the news that vaccines for children 6 months to under 5 have been put on hold. pfizer, waiting for more trial data, delaying its request for fda authorization of its vaccine for that age group for a few more months. >> i think the more vaccines, for me, the better. but. >> reporter: but to wait a few months -- >> if it's for safety, i think it's a really good thing. >> reporter: pediatricians, including those at golden gate pediatrics outside san francisco, now telling parents to be patient. >> they understand but, you know, i think there's a bit of a letdown. but overall, it's better to get it right. >> and if anything, this should add some trust to the general public about how thoroughly the fda looks at all data with respect to safety and efficacy. >> reporter: last week, more than 600,000 children tested positive for covid. but that's down from its peak of more than 1.1 million just three weeks ago. depending on where y

phil lipof has the latest for us tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the sound of frustration. across the u.s. border in canada, protests spreading. thousands of long haul truckers angry about a federal mandate requiring them to be vaccinated to cross into the united states. >> we are not in china, we are not in cuba. this is a free country. >> reporter: and here in the u.s., new daily cases are down by about 61% since the peak. covid patients receiving care at hospitals, down 45%. >> there is a metric we are trying to get to where we can finally lift those restrictions and call the pandemic endemic and learn to live with it. >> reporter: dr. alok patel understands covid fatigue, says the signs are encouraging, and the light at the end of the tunnel is closer than we might think. late spring, early spring, early summer -- what are you thinking? >> based on all the data we have right now and what the trends look like, i would not be surprised if we were lifting restrictions by spring. >> reporter: still, while cases continue to drop, new covid deaths, a lagging indicator, are cl

here's abc's phil lipof. >> reporter: tonight, across the country the omicron surge is waning, with cases and hospitalizations both down dramatically. and as free rapid home tests become more available, the cdc is now focusing on wastewater to help track and get ahead of the next outbreak. >> wastewater surveillance can serve as an early warning system for the emergence of covid-19 in a community. >> reporter: more than 400 sites are currently collecting waste samples in the u.s., with 200 more coming online in the next few weeks. boston, one of many cities using this type of surveillance to fight covid. >> when you get the wastewater samples, it is before people have started to develop symptoms, so it's the earliest sign that there is going to be a surge. >> reporter: nationwide, daily new infections plunging nearly 60% since the peak. the number of americans battling covid in the hospital down 40%, but covid deaths, a lagging indicator, are still rising. nearly 2,400 americans are now dying every day, and that's up by almost 95%. and the nation crossing that grim milestone, more than 90

abc's phil lipof has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, nfl commissioner roger goodell responding to that bombshell lawsuit filed by former miami goodell releasing a memo to all people owners. he acknowledged efforts to promote diversity among head coaches have been unacceptable, pledging to re-evaluate all policies, guidelines, and initiatives relating to diversity. >> there's not enough people of color in the higher coaching level positions. >> reporter: flores' lawsuit claims among other things, the nfl is rife with racism, particularly when it comes to hiring and retention of black head coaches, coordinators, and general managers. right now, out of 32 teams, there is only one black head coach, mike tomlin of the pittsburgh steelers. there were two others, flores with miami and david culley with houston, both fired after the 2021 season. there are several head coaching positions open this off season. so far all head coaches hired have been white. nfl superstars gearing up for the pro bowl speaking up overnight saying they stand with flores. colts linebacker, darius leonard sayi

abc's phil lipof is in poland with his story. >> reporter: this week ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyyharged with leading his country through its biggest crisis in decades. the leader vowing to remain and fight against russian aggressors in kyiv. [speaking foreign language] >> reporter: after turning down an offer from the white house to evacuate saying, quote, the fight is here. i need ammunition, not a ride. now with his country under attack by russia, zelenskyy is refusing to back down, galvanizing others to take up the fight to defend their country. >> there's something inspiring about having a leader whose commitment to his nation has left him in this place where his death, you know, feels like a high probability event and yet he's decided to stay in there with his people. >> reporter: americans first learned about zelenskyy after transcripts released from the 2019 call between the ukrainian president and former president donald trump about a potential quid pro quo operations eventually leading to president trump's impeachment. the world learning about the 44-year-old's journey to

abc's phil lipof as more on this. good morning again. >> reporter: good morning, gio. it is a grim milestone, the u.s. surpassing 900,000 deaths because of covid-19. it's a massive loss, and if you think about it, it's equivalent to the entire population of columbus, ohio. president biden reacting overnight in a statement urging americans to get vaccinated, saying 250 million americans have stemmed up to protect themselves, their families and their communities by getting at least one shot. and we have saved more than 1 million american lives as a result. his comments coming as the cdc gives moderna's covid-19 vaccine full approval for adults rather than just emergency use authorization, becoming the second fully approved covid-19 vaccine along with pfizer. the u.s. marked 800,000 covid-19 deaths just seven weeks ago. the death rate speeding up in recent weeks, you know, partially due to the highly contagious omicron variant, but signs point to a waning omicron surge. all but three states are reporting declining or plateauing cases. just over 120,000 covid-19 positive p

very happy to have phil lipof back at the desk with us once again this morning. breaking news. queen elizabeth testing positive for covid-19. more coming up in a moment. >>> we start things off with the intensifying crisis along the russia/ukraine border, the us president calling ton the russian president to meet. so far no response from the kremlin. >> this as separatist leaders in eastern ukraine order a full military mobilization with shelling continuing in the region, already scarred by nearly eight years of conflict between the ukrainian government and pro-russian separatists. just this morning, vice president kamala harris speaking about the situation abot the munich security conference, and today president biden meeting with his security counsel. germany. >> and the defense minister saying overnight thousands of russian forces conducting military exercises will be staying in the country now instead of returning home this weekend, raising fears of an imminent invasion. we have team coverage in the region with ian pannell in kyiv but start with james longman in belarus. go

happy to have phil lipof with us here this morning. >> i'm happy to be with you on this busy morning of news. >> very busy morning. a lot to cover as tensions escalate in ukraine. president biden's latest comments signaling a shift in u.s. thinking. the president saying he is now convinced russia has decided to invade its neighbor and that an attack could happen in the coming days. >>> a u.s. official says between 40% and 50% of russia's troops are in attack position right near the border with ukraine. it follows intensifying shelling in eastern ukraine and russian-backed separatists called for a mass evacuation of that area claiming an attack from ukraine was imminent. >> but president biden says that claim defies basic logic. the u.s. accusing russia of multiple false narratives here as a pretext to invade. this morning we have team coverage from the white house and from belarus as the russian military holds exercises near the border, but we start with abc's ian pannell inside ukraine with the very latest. ian, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, whit, that's right. thes

phil lipof is at st. patrick's cathedral. good morning, phil. >> reporter: michael, good morning.nd grief will once again fill st. patrick's cathedral as the funeral for officer wilbert mora will take place in just a few hours. the second of two nypd officers killed in the line of duty in just the last two weeks. yesterday officer mora's wake was held here and hundreds came through to pay their respects to the 27-year-old who died trying to make new york city a safer place. mora and his partner, jason rivera, were ambushed answering a domestic violence call january 21st. rivera was killed there at the scene. he was just 22. his funeral held here last week and when you hear about that sea of blue, this is exactly what it looked like. law enforcement officers from s0 deep for 20 blocks. here in new york city that's a mile long. a powerful show of support. we are expecting to see a similar outpouring today. officer mora was hospitalized for four days before he died and in one last act of heroism donated his organs so that five others may live. and in the aftermath of this shooting an