minutes or so as russia commemorates the soviet victory against nazi germany in world war ii. these are live images coming to us from red square in moscow. mr. putin wrapped up his remarks about 45 minutes ago or so during victory day ceremonies, and during his speech putin defended russia's invasion of ukraine as necessary, claiming the west was creating threats next to russia's borders and preparing to invade. he also said that russian soldiers fighting ukraine are inspired by soviet troops who fought during world war ii. have a listen. >> translator: in kyiv they were talking about the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons. the nato bloc started developing territories adjacent to us and, therefore, in a planned way were creating an absolutely unacceptable threat immediately next to our borders. everything pointed to a collision with the nazis, with the nazis and -- that was inevitable. and that was supported by the west. >> well, the annual victory day holiday is also memorial to those killed, in all 27 million people, more than any other nation. under putin's leadership, victory day has taken on a new edge, serving, as we have been showing you in the last hour or so, the showcase of russia's military powers. saw those tanks rolling in a few hours ago. it is playing out against the backdrop of a new war in europe started by russia itself. and just hours before putin took the stage in red square, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy released his own remarks, and he says russia failed to learn the lessons of world war ii, accusing them of repeating the crimes of hitler's regime, instead vowing that ukraine will not give up the fight. but victory, he said for russia in ukraine, seems as elusive as ever, and increasingly fair to say hard to define. and based on video released on sunday, a russian deputy prime minister has visited mariupol. that's the country's highest ranking official to set foot there since the war started. of course, the southern ukrainian port city as we have been showing huh-you for weeks been decimated by bombardment. it is almost entirely under russian control with the exception of this, the sprawling azovstal steel plant where ukrainian soldiers are hold up refusing to surrender and vowing to fight to the death. that is south in mariupol. to the east this was the scene in the luhansk region saturday. local leaders say 60 people are feared dead after russian forces bombed the school where they were taking shelter. only around 30 people survived the attack. and fighting in the luhansk region has been raging for months, and it has ramped up in recent weeks as russia's refocused invasion on eastern ukraine. michael as you know with the atlantic council is with me the last hour or two hours, i've lost time. s thank you, scott, for joining us. i want to get to president zelenskyy's message. we've heard president putin's message. what is president zelenskyy saying? >> so much has been made of this may 9 victory celebrated on may 8 in the rest of europe. but because of the time difference on that date in 1945, the russians celebrated a day later. the russians have been framing this entire huwar as a battle against the nazification of ukraine. that's the way they're framing it. ukrainians feel that is a ridiculous premise. the thing that stood out to me about the video president zelenskyy released, he said the enemy dreamed we would refuse to celebrate may 9 and the victory over nazism so de-nazification gets a chance here. zelenskyy tried to frame things, look, this is not just a battle on the ground, not just a battle in war, but it is also a battle of two different world views. listen. >> translator: this is not a war of two armies. this is a war of two world views. the war waged by bar bearians who shell the museum and believe the missiles can destroy our philosophy. it annoys them. it is unfamiliar to them. it scares them. its essence of free people who have their own path. today we are waging war on this path and we will not give anyone a single piece of our land. >> also very defiant message from president zelenskyy. and, michael, just for viewers who are joining us who perhaps missed what president putin had to say, give us a sense of what you took away from it. >> sure. more rhetoric calling ukrainians nazis, russia as the victim and nato starting the war, part of the russian narrative. as you and i were talking, what is next? almost as if the speech ended abruptly. they are going to have a tough time figuring out. my guess, if i can put it that way, they're going to put more reliance on the heavy, very, very deadly artillery and then back that up, seize moreland if they can, and put in more men to occupy. >> and on the nazism front you were both talking about this, and he talked about the beginnings, duty to keep the memory of those who defeated nazis in the fight for the security of our nation now. let's listen back to exactly what he said. >> translator: those who defeated the nazis showed us an example of heroism for all eternity. this was a generation of victors and we shall always look up to them. glory to our great armed forces for russia, for victory. >> he also said something that stood out to me and i noted it down, he talked about moral degradation. he continued to call it, michael, special military operation, but he talked about the moral degradation. what is the message for his home audience at home on that? >> that's very ironic and interesting because where do russian leaders, those in putin's very inner circle like to send their kids for education? to the west. where do western oligarchs and politicians like to buy property? in the west. places like the united kingdom. that's why i've been talking for the longest time about we have to put more bite into these sanctions, stop issuing visas for education to his inner circle and stop the sales of those luxury properties to russian oligarchs and inner circle of putin. >> and, scott, we didn't -- at least i didn't hear the word war or, you know, declaration of war. for weeks we've been talking about perhaps he may signal, he may officially call it a war. he's still calling it a special military operation. he did focus on the donbas, and that's important given what you and i and the teams in the field have been seeing for now 70-plus days. >> i honestly have no idea what we should take from this speech because as michael mentions, the west has been predicting that perhaps president putin would seize on the symbolism on this day to declare war or to declare an escalation or to sort of rally the troops to push even harder, or perhaps even oddly declare victory in some way. i don't know. i just read back the transcript and i didn't hear any of this. and so i'm not really sure what to make of it. you mentioned the fighting in the donbas in donetsk in particular where the heaviest fighting we're seeing where the russians are trying to push through the ukrainian front lines. we know that when the russians are having a difficult time on the ground, they tend to just bomb and shell everything in their path. and that's what we're seeing there. >> i want to take a pause now because, of course, this is victory day. the tomb of the unknown. this victory day is obviously the defeat of nazi germany during the second world war. let's just take a listen, please. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> live images from moscow there where president putin there just laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown. today is victory day in russia. it's when russia marks defeat of nazi germany during the second world war. and, of course, it comes under the shadow of really a new war in europe, an event that this year has added significance. michael is with me. scott mclean is with me now as we look at live pictures coming in. michael, no doubt the irony not lost on the ukrainians as, of course, president putin in his speech continues the special operation, military operation in ukraine. >> and dealing a heavy, heavy toll on ukraine, and especially ukrainians, especially the civilian infrastructure. it's hard to come by the number of civilian deaths, but we do know that the number of children and that number is very high. the other thing, by the way, and i expected mr. putin perhaps to do a p.r. play out of this. don't forget hundreds of thousands of ukrainians forcibly deported into russia. 500,000 according to the ukrainians, as much as a million according to the russians. often being taken to the far east to remote areas. i thought he might have said these people willingly volunteered to go. but i'm very, very worried about their fate as well. to the ukrainian kind of psyche, including my parents where they were born from here, is, of course, memories of gulog and people being tortured at church, other institutions being liquidated. this stealing of grain brings back memories of the famine of '32, '33. so a lot of the rhetoric, but a lot of the russian actions are just absolutely horrifying to the ukrainians here. >> of course, you and i and the rest of the world, scott, too, we've all been covering the atrocities here on the ground, not just in mariupol, which has been truly decimated, but outside of kyiv where the tombs, just countless, countless people dead, one deputy minister said to me in mariupol alone, they expect 20,000 people to have died. just in the city of mariupol. so this important, of course, we put all this in context as russia marks victory day in the country. we're going to take a short break. we'll come back in a few minutes. do stay right here with cnn. ♪ at booking.com, finding perfect isn't rocket science. kitchen? 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what would this mean for ukraine, do you think? >> well, ukraine it means putin is set on continuing the war which he started eight years ago related to unprecedented levels on the 24th of february, 2022, and for ukraine it means we have to stand stronger than ever right now to push back on russia's aggression. but it's also a message not just to ukraine, but to the entire world. we as an international community of free states need to stand in solidarity right now, to push back -- on aggression as a fact in principle. and we need to mobilize all efforts to end this huaraz quickly as possible, and to end it with ukraine's victory, but also with democracy's victory. and it's in all of our interests to secure this victory as quickly as possible. putin's game is to wage long wars and to make people tired of his long wars. and europe and the world and ukraine cannot afford that. >> what will that mean, then, in terms of, you know, looking here from what you're saying and what we heard from putin possibly at a protracted conflict, what would the challenges for the ukrainian people and president zelenskyy as he tries to counterattack the aggression that we see in eastern -- east of the country? >> essentially a protracted conflict means that there needs to be a lot of resources, constantly eaten up by the counter aggressive action from russia. protracted conflict also means that the media attention span and international community attention span will die out eventually. we have seen this back in 2014, 2015, and as a result of that putin has no chance of -- forward his agenda without having some kind of peace in the minsk agreements, just another war. and i think that for the free world leaders, it is important to remember that peace in europe and in the world can only be secured once russia's aggression is stopped completely and once russia is essentially dismembered as an authoritarian country where there is one leader who is keeping a terrorist regime over his own people and also the neighboring countries of europe. and i think this is a goal to work towards and essentially no resources may be spared toward that. i mean, ukraine has been calling for weapons, has been calling on for economic sanctions and for economic support of ukraine. and all of these things need to be happening, ongoingly, but also pretty much quickly because time is of the essence here, and time is going to be working against all of us if we don't act quickly and efficiently, and if we don't act now. >> ukrainian member of parliament. appreciate your perspective. thank you very much. >> thank you. president putin's defiant message comes hours after some of the world's wealthiest countries slapped sanctions on russia. japan put an embargo on crude imports. uk is targeting trades on exports and u.s. is going after kremlin-controlled media companies. claire sebastian is keeping an eye on all of this. she joins me now from london. claire, critically as you heard from my guest, she's basically saying if we look at a protracted conflict, we need the world's attention to remain on ukraine and the support, economic sanctions and financial support, to keep oncoming. >> reporter: i think there is a realization in the halls of power in the united states and in the european union increasingly this is going to be expensive. it's going to be something they're going to be paying for for years. it's going to be a redrawing of sort of economic maps, the order of the way things worked before. we see that with energy. europe has not actually agreed or pushed through its package of sanctions yet that includes phased in oil embargo. there is a realization they are going to have to phase out russian fossil fuels and stop funneling money to the kremlin. we see a show of unity, sanctions u.s. announced over the weekend mirror what we've seen from the european union in the package targeting media, consulting services, things like that. the u.s. took one interesting step further and sanctioned executives from gazprom bank which handles gazprom. it wasn't a full block. gazprom bank is critically important. to continue those transactions while they phase out russian gas, but it is a sign they are willing to go further. they still believe they have some leverage over russia. very unclear on the other side, though, isa, whether there is any deterrent effect from the sanctions. >> yeah, that was kind of my obvious question really, claire. we've seen the sanctions pile in. is that having an impact at all on russia, on the russian economy? >> reporter: on the russian economy it is to an extent. the central bank has projected a 10% fall in the economy this year. so that is highly significant. we know, for example, that the authorities are very worried about potential mass unemployment because of the impact that could have on society and critically on views of the putin administration. so they are trying to guard against that. that is why sanctions on trade matter and certainly on energy. because if russia has to contract those industries and layoff people, that could be very damaging to populations, but they have, on the other hand, stabilized the financial system, isa. the ruble today 68 to the dollar, that is stronger than it has been since before the pandemic. >> and like you pointed out, this is in many ways the russian central bank propping it up. so that says a lot. claire sebastian for us in london. thanks so much, claire. we have much on russia's victory day celebration ahead. so do stay here with cnn. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budge remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed bget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. i'm isa soares coming to you live from lviv, ukraine. just minutes a go the russian president as you can see there laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. this as well as a military parade, a part of the pomp as well as ceremony we see on victory day which is being celebrated, not just in moscow, but also across russia. he commemorates the 77th anniversary of the soviet union's triumph over nazi germany. president putin used the occasion to defend russia's invasion of ukraine parallel to the second world war and blaming the west for not listening to the kremlin's complaints. he accused ukraine of trying to acquire nukes. have a listen. >> translator: in kyiv they were talking about the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons. the nato bloc started developing, actively developing territories adjacent to us. and, therefore, in the planned way were creating an absolutely unacceptable threat immediately next to our borders. everything pointed to a collision with the nazism -- with the nazis and that was inevitable. and that was supported by the west. we could see how military infrastructure was being developed, how hundreds of foreign advisers were at work, regular supplies of the most modern weapons from nato. danger was increasing every day. russia repelled this aggression in a preventive way. this was the only correct decision, and it was a timely decision. >> the only correct decision, the only timely decision. professor at georgetown university and cnn's former bureau chief, she joins me now from washington. jill, great to have you with us. as a correspondent, i know you lived for many years in moscow. you have seen many of these victory day parades. you have heard many of president putin's speeches over the years. what stood out to you today? >> i think it was more subdued than i expected, and i really think of it more, excuse me, as kind of a pep talk to the russian people. i mean, to me this is a speech really for the russian people. it's saying something that president putin has said all along since the beginning of this conflict. it's not our fault. it was the west. it was nato. they were plotting to actually attack russia. and so there was nothing that we could do. we had to respond. and then also, you know, he made that direct link between world war ii, the victory of the soviet people, and then what's happening today. as we know, there were soldiers, russian soldiers on red square today who were fighting in donbas. so he's making that direct link. and also significantly he's talking about the price that the russian people now have to pay for this. he didn't give any numbers, but he did say that russian soldiers are dying. he admitted that. and, in fact, said, i've had a presidential decree to help them and the families, especially the children. so that was an acknowledgment that there is a price to be paid. and, isa, i cannot avoid talking about the things that he worked into the speech. i mean, he actually worked in cancel culture, which is kind of an american concept. but he said, you know, russia is the country that protects traditional values, and these are the values that they tried to cancel. these are things that i think, if i look at a list of things that vladimir putin puts together for the etiology he presents to the russian people, it was right down the list, the west started it, we are innocent, we are the people who are protecting actually the west and western values, traditional values. it was really -- i don't want to make light of it, but it is really extraordinary what he packed into this in terms of his own view, his own resentment of the west and the way that he argued the united states tried, and he used this word, to humiliate the world. >> it is fascinating to hear what you took away from it, jill, because you've heard these speeches from putin. he sounded defiant. i, too, was expecting more. he didn't mention, he didn't say war. he didn't call it a war. he still continued calling it a special military operation. but like you said, i wrote down that almost he's attempting to justify his invasion of ukraine to his own people. and i think that message, like you said, it's critically important as we know that the losses that have occurred here in ukraine. what do you think that would translate to, though? are we mobilization of forces? how would that be received back home, do you think, jill? >> well, you know, he didn't do that. and, of course, there was a lot of speculation that he would. so what do we draw from that? well, at this point he doesn't feel that he can do it. and if you look at some of the polling, although polling is very difficult right now in russia, people can't express their opinions, but it appears that there wouldn't be a lot of support for a massive mobilization. so, perhaps at this point he feels the public would not accept it, but we don't know. this to me was kind of a, let's call it a place holder for where we are right now. but this is not the final statement by president putin, i think. it was really, you know, we are, we've succeeded. there was something he said, you know, it was an inevitable conflict. russia repelled the threat. so at this point russia has, in his eyes, has protected itself, and now the battle continues. but there are a lot of loose ends in terms of where this goes. >> yeah. i mean, he did talk -- didn't talk about kyiv. he didn't talk about ukraine as a whole. he mentioned donbas in particular. as you noted there. and we have seen, which is coming in, we are seeing small pro russian events in kherson. i think we have footage of this happening today, small crowds waving. i think we've seen small crowds waving red flags and carrying flowers. ukrainian activists in kherson, jill, being told -- have clamimd russia brought in people from crimea to bolster the numbers. from president zelenskyy as we've seen in kherson, this russification here. how worried should president zelenskyy be given what we heard from president putin today that this could go on for sometime? >> i would think that is a conclusion that we have to draw, it would go on for a long time. there is no real definition here. in the beginning people were saying, well, maybe he could declare a victory, or maybe it's all-out conflict with nato. and neither really happened, although he moved in the nato direction, i think. it was very much we don't want war, but we were forced into, but which is very typical of president putin. on the images, this is really -- you have to say this is the weaponization of history. so images and emotion are very, very important. and i was struck when i looked at the video of president zelenskyy walking down that street, that obviously is in kyiv, but could be moscow. you know, the buildings are the same, the feeling is the same. but he is walking down and kind of fatigue, olive drab uniform by himself, walking down a street. it kind of reminds you of the victory parade in moscow going on at the same time. so what do you draw? we are still at war. ukraine is still at war, where as in moscow they are celebrating, you know, a victory in world war ii, which zelenskyy would argue is hijacking history. that this is an incorrect interpretation of history. so there were a lot of messages to me going on subliminally. for russians they're not subliminal. they're very visceral. >> yeah. >> it was interesting, again, the imagery that we saw. >> fascinating insight, jill. i could talk with you for hours. really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. thank you, jill. and we've got much more ahead on cnn. don't go anywhere. [ speaking foreign language ] ♪ a dog c could do for you. and with resesolve you never hae to worry about the mess. love the love, resolve the mese. if you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date. our top story this hour, russian president vladimir putin delivered a defiant speech from moscow in the last hour defending his country's invasion of ukraine, claiming it hadn't been provoked by the west. for more i want to bring in cnn's nic robertson who joins me from helsinki finland. i actually circled it in my notepad. the west did not want to listen to russia. they had other plans. how did you interpret what you heard today? >> reporter: yeah, those were the so-called security guarantees and proposals that russia offered the west mid december last year and waited sometime for a written response, and those security guarantees were really interpreted as demands. and putin has sort of continued to use that as a stick with which to beat nato and say that nato didn't want this, that it didn't -- wasn't going to give russia what it wanted. in fact, russia -- rather, nato was building up its forces in ukraine, hundreds of trainers, he said, sending in sophisticated weapons. it really was a rehash, reamplification of everything president putin has been saying about what he calls the special military operation and the need for it in ukraine. you know, what i was watching as well, to me this was the speech, obviously aimed very much at the russian people, but look at the parade itself. look at how intensively and carefully it's being portrayed on russian state television. a very careful set of the camera angles, you know, when the generals and the defense chiefs pull up in the big heavy vehicles, the cameras just in the right place, just to catch their expressions, just to catch the shot of the, you know, the veteran with the chestful of metals. it's all so careful. when the russian soldiers were there chanting back their response, it was so full on and carefully capturing the emotion and the timing of their chants on their faces. it's a very, very powerful message for the russian people when they need it. we completely see through what president putin is saying, but it's not for us. i think that's one of the big take aways you feel because the message is so inverted of what reality is. >> yeah. as jill dougherty said in the last hour, it's a pep talk for those at home, those in moscow. we heard, of course, from president putin. we heard from president zelenskyy. let's listen in. >> translator: on the day of victory over nazism, we are fighting for a new victory, the road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win. what is our advantage over the enemy? we are smarter by one book. this is a textbook on the history of ukraine. we would not know grief if all of our enemies could read and draw the right conclusions. on february 24th, russia launched an offensive, treading on the same rake. every occupier who comes to our land treads on it. we have been through different wars, but they all had the same final. >> a powerful message there from president zelenskyy. nic, i was speaking to an mp i think be it was in the last hour, having listened to. putin, a ukrainian mp. now that we've heard from president putin and it seems that the special military operation as he calls it will continue, so we're looking at protracted war here. what will this mean? she was worried about the support, the continued support from the west and its allies. i know the g7 met yesterday. give us a sense of what came out of that meeting. there is a show of solidarity ahead of this. >> reporter: there was. and then it was designed to come ahead of this message in particular, too, you know, put a shadow on president putin's own message. and it was a message of continuity, of support, continuing to help ukraine not just fight the war with the weapons that it needs to hold russia back, but potentially push russia back off of ukrainian territory, which we have heard from so many western leaders is the aim. this is what ukraine calls for and there is respect and support for that. but also the immediate day-to-day needs of the ukrainian government to run the country, to pay its workers, to pay its soldiers, to pay the nurses, to pay the doctors, to pay all those in transport, the international community will continue to stand behind. look, there absolutely is a recognition among ukrainians, ukrainian businessmen and others, of course, that western support can only last a finite amount of time. but it stands there today. that was the message. >> nic robertson for us in helsinki, finland. that does it for me, isa soares in ukraine. we have breaking coverage of the war in ukraine at the top of the hour. for now i want to send it back to max foster in london for some of our other top stories. max? >> thanks so much, isa. filipinos are voting on a president. the current vice president versus the son of a late dictator. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fueuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. supporters of abortion rights made a lot of noise in kansas city, missouri. one of many such demonstrations as they faced on sunday. connecticut's governor attended a rally supporting abortion rights in westport. connecticut recently passed laws protecting women from out of state seeking abortions there. now, protesters also made their feelings known outside the u.s. supreme court building in washington, d.c. seeing similar regular protests in a draft opinion that would strike down roe vs. wade that established abortion rights in the u.s. senate democrats are moving forward with legislation that would write abortion rights into law. majority leader chuck schumer has a plan to advance the women's health protection act he plans to file a motion that will call on all senate members to vote. >> this is no longer an abstract exercise. this is the real deal, and everyone's eyes are on them. so we can always hope and we must have this vote -- every senator must show where he or she stands. >> the senate is expected to vote on wednesday on the women's health protection act, but it is unlikely to pass since it needs at least 60 votes to overcome a republican filibuster. voting has begun in the philippines as voters pick the country's president for the next six years. there is a large field of candidates. the two main contenders are ferdinand marcos, jr., the son of the country's late dictator, and incumbent vice president. senior international correspondent ivan watson is tracking the election from hong kong. and a potential return of the marcos family, ivan. >> reporter: that is true. a potential pivotal moment for the future of the philippines. this is a big election, a record 67.5 million voters registered. more than 18,000 positions up for grabs, all the way from kind of local legislative council members to the top job. the president. not surprisingly, one of the key concerns is the economy for voters because the philippines, through the covid pandemic, like many countries around the world and here in asia, has taken a beating economically. take a listen to what several filipino voters had to say to us earlier today. >> translator: a candidate who is smart. that's important. it's also important to have strength. someone who is ready to help people. >> translator: our situation is not good now. the prices of goods are too high. maybe the next leader will be able to control it. >> translator: poverty, jobs, i was an overseas filipino worker. i am hoping that for us we'll be able to find job opportunities here. >> reporter: max, there are ten candidates for the post of president. they include the mayor of manila who is the former tv star, the boxing champion manny pacquiao, the two who are believed to be front runners according to the polls are the son of the late dictator ferdinand marcos, sr., the son goes by "bongbong" marcos, jr. he served as a governor, lawmaker in the past. he's been campaigning on a pledge of economic renewal, of unity. and frankly nostalgia, kind of rewriting the history of his father's legacy, who ruled under martial law for nearly a decade. his regime had a horrific human rights record. and marcos senior was ousted in a people power movement in 1986. marcos, his widow was seen going to the polls, of course, imelda marcos, famous for her shoe collection which became a symbol of construction allegations on a massive scale that the marcos dynasty was implicated in. he's running against the vice president, outgoing vice president here, lennie robredo, who is a lawyer who has been campaigning on transparency and democracy. these two politicians ran head to head in the 2016 election for vice president. she beat "bongbong" marcos, jr. there are a couple hours left before the polls are expected to close. we'll see who wins this time. >> a big turnout. ivan, thank you very much for joining us from hong kong. the nbf plaintiffs are kicking into high gear. dallas mavericks with 23 pointers against the phoenix suns. two games apiece. superstar luka doncic had a double-double while scoring 26 points. in philadelphia, the 76ers drew even in their series against the miami heat with 116-108 victory. despite going scoreless in the first quarter, superstar james harden exploded for 31 points to lead the 76ers to victory. it was a blazing sun and speed in miami on sunday. for the first time ever, formula one racing came to the sunshine state. one driver called the miami grand prix the super bowl of formula one with stars like tom brady and the former first lady in attendance. v verstappen took the checkered flag. that does it for me. "early start" is next with laura jarrett and christine romans. [ speaking foreign language ] ♪ welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is monday, folks, may the. i'm christine romans. >> i'm laura jarrett. how was your mother's day? >> it was nice. how was yours? >> very nice. we have a lot to get to this morning. we begin with vladimir putin delivering a defiant speech a short time ago in moscow's red square right before a military parade marking the soviet union's defeat of nazi germany in world war ii. putin defended russia's invasion of ukraine claiming the west was creating threats next to russia's borders and preparing