good morning. and welcome to way too early. on this monday, august 1st. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. we begin with the situation in ukraine. in a significant breakthrough this morning, a ship carrying ukrainian grain set off from the port of odesa to for the first time since the war started back in february. ukraine s minister of infrastructure tweeted this video of the vessel which is carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn and is on its way to lebanon. the ship is expected to reach istanbul on tuesday where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed. the move is part of an internationally brokered deal between kyiv and moscow, to release millions of tons of grain to foreign markets, and ease a growing food crisis. ukrainian officials say 16 more ships are waiting to depart odesa s port as part of that deal. meanwhile, russia advances have slowed, almost to a standstill, as newly-delivered western weapons are helping ukrainian forces re-claim
kick russian out of ukraine. there is no question that president xi is watching. putin is watching to see if the west, if the united states and europe lose interest in ukraine and if we do, then i think it potentially gives him a green light. so, we are on the cusp of the post world war ii order where big nations didn t change their borders through force coming apart. and i think right now the most important thing that we could do to stop china from making a move on taiwan is to make clear to the ukrainians we re with them today and in the future to make sure they regain their own sovereignty. senator chris murphy, thank you very much for being on this morning. we will be in touch. so we are well into the fourth hour of morning joe right now. let s talk more about the bills to help veterans that republicans blocked. joining us now, retired sergeant ted corcoran. he s a disabled veteran and a veteran advocate who suffers from the effects of burn pits. he s now organizing
good morning. and welcome to way too early. on this monday, august 1st. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. we begin with the situation in ukraine. in a significant breakthrough this morning, a ship carrying ukrainian grain set off from the port of odesa to for the first time since the war started back in february. ukraine s minister of infrastructure tweeted this video of the vessel which is carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn and is on its way to lebanon. the ship is expected to reach istanbul on tuesday where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed. the move is part of an internationally brokered deal between kyiv and moscow, to release millions of tons of grain to foreign markets, and ease a growing food crisis. ukrainian officials say 16 more ships are waiting to depart odesa s port as part of that deal. meanwhile, russia advances have slowed, almost to a standstill, as newly-delivered
ukraine officials say 16 more ships are waiting to depart odesa s port as part of the deal. russian advances have slowed almost to a standstill as newly delivered western weapons are helping ukrainian forces reclaim much of the advantage they lost in recent months. the washington post reports russian troops have made no significant territorial gains since the ukrainians retreated from the east on july 2nd. according to the post, analysts suspect russian forces are close to exhausting their capacity to make further territorial gains as they re depleted army confronts newly acquired capabilities. senior u.s. official said the weapons provided by the u.s. and its allies have given the ukrainians the ability to strike almost 50 miles behind russian lines with a high degree of accuracy. and ukrainians have used them to destroy more than 100 high value