indictment against a woman after authorities said that she caused the death of an individual by self-induced abortion. and we begin this very busy monday morning with the very latest on the war in ukraine. happening right now, the u.n. security council is meeting to discuss the latest on this invasion. this morning, ukrainians in the east and southeast donbas region are bracing for a major offensive from russian forces. new satellite images from u.s. intelligence contractor makesar appear to show an eight-mile russian convoy with hundreds of vehicles headed towards that region. meanwhile, the civilian death toll continues to climb. 57 people, including five children, are now confirmed dead after that attack on a railway station in the east, where civilians were waiting to evacuate. this as ukrainian president zelenskyy told south korean parliament just this morning that tens of thousands of others were killed in mariupol, after weeks of attacks from russian forces. and zelenskyy voiced his frustrations with nato and the u.n. once again over weekend. >> i don't have anymore lives to give. i don't have anymore emotions. i'm no longer interested in their diplomacy that leads to the destruction of my country. >> joining us now, live from kyiv, nbc news foreign correspondent, molly hunter. also with us is retired u.s. army lieutenant general ben hodges. previously served as the commander general for the u.s. army in europe. now the persian chair in strategic studies. molly, what are you seeing on the ground in kyiv this morning. >> reporter: jose, good morning. great to be with you. so the shift of focus is absolutely on the east. and those satellite photos we have seen over the weekend of that eight-mile convoy of russian vehicles, hundreds of military vehicles. that is between kramatorsk, so that column is between kramatorsk and kharkiv, which is that big city in the east. we are watching that very, very closely. here in kyiv, on the outskirts of kyiv in the northwest, in those suburbs that we have focused heavily on, it's an entirely different picture. so we were in irpin today, jose. that's where that bridge was that connected the suburb to the capital of kyiv, where thousands and thousands of people we saw trying to escape cross kind of a rickety wooden bridge over rushing water. we went back there today, because they have erected a new makeshift temporary bridge next to the one that was destroyed and people are getting to cross for the first time, jose, from kyiv back to their home village of irpin, to see what is left of their houses. and we spoke with one young man named sergey. take a listen. >> my house, unfortunately, destroyed already. so i -- i saw him -- i saw it, my friend showed me. >> reporter: what do you say after not seeing people for a month? >> oh, i have -- i was very happy to see them, because -- they're alive. they're alive. because some of hi friends already died. >> reporter: so, jose, to set the scene, there was about a mile and a half long line of cars waiting to get on to this bridge. they actually weren't letting cars. people were just getting out, like sergey, and walking. and it was a little bit of a reunion. a lot of residents were seeing ooemp for the first time since february when they left. sergey left on february 26th and has not been home since. a lot of these people are going back and they have no idea what they're going to find, jose. >> and molly, it's just amazing to hear sergey say, you know, some of my friends, they died. it's such a visceral reality. molly, over the weekend, prime minister of the uk visited kind of kyiv and also the prime minister of austria visited kyiv. >> major message to see prime minister boris johnson walking around the city center with president zelenskyy. two messages, right? the first is that this is a city that many predicted just weeks ago that russia would have already rolled into and taken control of. this video that they shot, this message, it is squarely in ukrainian hands. the other thing i find very interesting is watching zelenskyy and johnson together is that this is what zelenskyy has been doing very, very well, keeping the west's attention on ukraine. keeping ukraine at the top of the world agenda, so he can stroll the streets with prime minister boris johnson, you know, prime minister boris johnson pledged $130 million of additional military aid. and then he can go back and ask the u.s., ask other western allies to really ramp up their military aid. because, look, here's prime minister boris johnson. it's safe enough for him to be here, and this is what he's committed. he's certainly doing his job as a wartime leader. >> no doubt. and lieutenant general of moscow just reportedly appointed a new war leader to take over operations in ukraine. a general with a history of targeting civilians. what does this apparently say about russia's strategy? >> well, of course, general dvornikov does come with a reputation from his time in syria, jose. the thing that it says most of all is that the russians, they're brutal, they're medieval, but they're not stupid. and fixing their mission command structure is one of the biggest things they had to address if they're going to have any success in this war. you know, they started off with multiple commanders attacking from multiple directions. now, they've got one theater commander, which is, by the way, exactly how we would do it. one commander responsible for the entire operational theater. so, that's -- that's what his position means. it also means, though, that they've got a guy who is not squeamish about killing civilians. so he'll continue that. >> and general, seeing that eight-mile-long russian con voi convoy heading to donbas, what should we be looking at as russia focuses their forces on the east. >> what we should be looking at is polish migs that would have been handed to ukraine lighting that convoy on fire. but because we haven't done that, because we haven't, with a sense of urgency, provided the long-range fires necessary for ukraine to be able to hit these convoys, look at that -- i mean, there's a picture there, broad daylight, convoy moving down a road. that thing should be on fire from front to end. but we, the collective west, have not done enough to give ukraine the capabilities for long-range fires, whether it's delivered from jets, from drones, or from ground-based systems, to be able to stop that. right now is a critical time of this campaign. we've got two or three weeks where you can hammer the russians while they are trying to reinstitute, rebuild units, send them into the fight. targets like this are all over the place. and we're missing the opportunity, i'm afraid. >> general ben hodges and molly hunter, thank you very much for being with us this morning. joining us now, a member of the ukrainian parliament. thank you for being with us. what more are you hearing from ukrainians in the east about this offensive, russian forces heading towards the east? >> well, putin has said that he would move into phase ii and that his phase ii would actually include concentration of forces down in the east of ukraine. and what we are seeing now is the geography that is all over the international news changed, so we're hearing names that were plenty in international news in 2014, 2015, all of these geographical names are coming back as the russians are shooting artillery fire, as they are sending missiles to civilians, objects, and targets there. and essentially, the state of war has shifted to there. what it means for the ukrainians. for the ukrainian people. it means that millions of ukrainians are still suffering at the hands of russian terrorist army and at the hands of pure barbarians. it's just that these ukrainians are now located in the east of the country. >> and lesia, we were just hearing from general hodges who was saying that this is the time when the ukrainians should have migs, some more offensive weaponry that could go after these convoys, et cetera. do you think it's simply been not enough? >> well, absolutely. you know, these days, i find it easier to find common ground with generals and military staff from various countries, because they are the ones who talk any sense. they are saying, where are the weapons on the ground in ukraine? where are the migs? where are the fighter jets that ukraine has been promised, but never received? because if these weapons were here and were available to the ukrainian army, we wouldn't be talking about civilian casualties every day. we wouldn't be talking about children dying and the number of killed children constantly on the rise. we would be talking about the reparations that russia would be paying to ukraine and to the west for all the damage caused during this escalated aggression. instead, we are still counting the bodies of dead ukrainians. and that's not right. that's not something that should be allowed to happen in the middle of the 21st century, in the middle of europe. >> you tweeted this morning, quote, i do what i do, so that my son and daughters won't have to hold guns and carry the weight of a bulletproof vest. what'd you mean by that? >> well, you know, i'm -- i'm back in kyiv, actually driving through the country today to carry on the fight. to carry on, you know, talking to the international media, to the international community, begging, demanding that more money be sent to ukraine, that more sanctions be applied to russia, pumping up the humanitarian efforts, volunteering every possible way that i can. i'm actually being separated from my children for over a month now, just because it's something that i have to do, so that my children have the option of living in a peaceful, prosperous, and independent, free ukraine. at the moment, that option is very much questionable, because we don't know what russia's actions will be, and we hope that the west will continue giving us all kinds of support for ukraine to be able to withstand this aggression from russia. and i intend to fight until the very end so my children have the option of living in a free and independent ukraine. so they don't know what war is, so they don't have to hold a gun like i do, and they don't have to go to work wearing a bulletproof vest like i do. >> lesia, thank you for being with us today. appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up, a district attorney is set to seek dismissal of the indictment against a texas woman charged with murder after an alleged self-induced abortion. the details on that controversial arrest, next. and later, can former president trump face criminal charges over january 6th? a new report from "the new york times" says "yes." we'll talk to one of the reporters who broke that story. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it... usually. ♪♪ in it... mostly. even what gets near your body. please please please take that outside. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 products. rigorously tested. walgreens pharmacist recommended... and particularly kind to your wallet. ♪♪ at fidelity, you can make a free plan for what matters, even if you don't have it all figured out. it's more like...a feeling. turning that feeling into a roadmap...for free? that's the planning effect from fidelity. 15 past the hour. today, a district attorney in texas is expected to dismiss a murder charge against a woman for an alleged abortion. the woman was arrest, held on half a million dollar bond through saturday, after authorities alleged that she caused the death of an individual by self-induced abortion. on sunday, the local d.a.'s office said that it was not a criminal matter. the arrest follows the passage of a new law in texas banning most abortions across the state, allowing private citizens to sue anyone who aids in obtaining an abortion. joining me now is nbc news correspondent, catie beck. catie, good morning. what more can you tell us bout this case? >> there's still a lot to be unearthed here. we really don't know the specific details of the situation, but what we do know is that in the state of texas, a pregnant woman is exempt from being charged with a homicide in the case of an abortion. that has always been the case. and further down the line, it's actually in most states the case that she's exempt from any criminal penalty whatsoever. so the real question here is, what statute was this woman charged under? how did this indictment and investigation come to be? we know that there was some alleged abortion that took place in january, according to the d.a.'s press release, that was reported from the hospital to the sheriff's department. and then there was some type of criminal investigation and an indictment. this woman ended up in jail on thursday, as you said, released on saturday. and the d.a. putting out a statement sunday, saying that this is not a criminal matter and that this had been an erroneous charge that the woman had been released and that his intention is today to have those charges dropped. now, of course, this microscope is zoomed in on texas, because they have just recently passed one of the strictest abortion laws in the country. this past september. basically trying to prohibit all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. but even in that case, there is no criminal penalty. the only penalty that is in that law is civil, for the providers or anyone that assisted in the completion of that abortion, beyond that six-week or heartbeat detection point. so, right now, i think there's a lot of questions as to how this investigation came to be. how this charge came to be on the books, because even in texas, the statute is very clear that pregnant women are exempt from homicide charges, and even lesser homicide charges, when it comes to an abortion. so hopefully, this morning, as the district attorney has indicated, there will be some effort to dismiss chose charges, and we'll get more information about what the next steps are for local law enforcement there in terms of process and how this woman ended up in jail. jose? >> catie beck, thank you so very much. joining me now, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney in alabama. and an nbc news legal analyst. joyce, with the d.a. expected to drop this case later today, it appears as though there were some mistakes, but what do you make of the fact that authorities made this initial arrest? befo aura, twenty-four of my online accounts were hacked! he uses the same password for everything. i didn't want to deal with it. but aura digital security just dealt with it. what were we worried about again? shopping on public wifi is sketchy. but with aura digital security, my devices are protected in like 3 minutes. it's time to protect your life online with aura's all-in-one digital security. try for free today at aura.com what was that password anyway? ew. it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board. excellent. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. have a great flight. thanks. we'll see ya. ah, they're getting so smart. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in years. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. (laughs) flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. large out-of-state corporations have set their sights fle on california.ion. they've written a ballot proposal to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless, but read the fine print. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. what's bargain bliss? you know that feeling you get when you find the name brands you love, but for way, way less? that's bargain bliss. find bliss on every aisle at your neighborhood grocery outlet. it's grocery outlet's 20 percent off wine sale going on now till april 12. we have hundreds of wine, sure to please any wine enthusiast. so act now, 'cause these deals won't last long. stop in and save today. -♪ grocery outlet bargain market ♪ ♪ life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment ♪ but heinz knows there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. i could've waited to tell my doctor my heart was racing just making spaghetti... but i didn't wait. i could've delayed telling my doctor i was short of breath just reading a book... but i didn't wait. they told their doctors. and found out they had... atrial fibrillation. a condition which makes it about five times more likely to have a stroke. if you have one or more of these symptoms irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue or lightheadedness, contact your doctor. this is no time to wait. [sound of helicopter blades] contact your doctor. ugh... they found me. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. never be afraid of your strength, because your body is capable of amazing things. own your strength, and see how far it takes you. tonal. be your strongest. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. and it's easier than ever to get your projects done right. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness check out angi.com today. angi... and done. do your eyes bother you? my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry and sandpaper. strypaper? luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue! panera chefs have crafted a masterpiece... and no preservatives. succulent, seared chicken... a secret aioli... clean ingredients... in a buttery brioche roll. made fresh, to leave you... speechless. panera's new chef's chicken sandwiches. $1 delivery fee on our app. 27 past the hour. welcome back. so just quickly, because i'm not really up to speed on all the tech issues, but some technical gremlin shut things down and so we had to go to a commercial break. we're all back up. we can see and hear each other. i thank you for your patience. let's talk about that issue we were speaking about just before the tech gremlins got involved. today, a district attorney in texas is expected to dismiss a murder charge against a woman for an alleged abortion. joining me now, joyce vance, former u.s. attorney in alabama, and an msnbc news legal analyst. joyce, it is really good to see you. with the d.a. expected to drop the case later today, there were clearly some mistakes made, but what do you think of the fact that authorities made this initial arrest? >> it's shocking, jose. the reality is that no one should be prosecuted criminally for exercising their constitutional rights. and women in texas still have a constitutional right to an abortion under roe v. wade. that's still good law in this country, no matter what sort of craziness the texas legislature wants to cook up and the supreme court wants to permit, we all know about texas's sb-8. but that provides a civil remedy against women who help woman to obtain abortions. even that doesn't go so far as to attack the woman who obtains the procedure. this is really unexpected and it's hard to put an innocent reading on to this prosecution. this is the sort of step that's designed to chill the exercise of women's rights by putting them in fear that if they do so, they can be subjected to prosecution, to exposure, to shame, and ridicule. >> the local d.a. said it was a hospital that reported this woman to authorities that prompted the investigation. what do you make of that? either way, it should not, regardless of what is and is not the law, this is not a criminal matter, right? >> that's exactly right. and i'll leave to our doctors and our medical experts to discuss whether they think it's appropriate for a hospital to make that sort of a referral. the prosecutors in this district attorney's office are responsible for knowing texas law and for reading the law before they bring an indictment. texas law is explicit. it says that a woman can't be charged in this situation. >> joyce vance, thank you very much for being with us. the house select committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol has enough evidence to refer former president trump for criminal charges, according to the committee's vice chair, liz cheney. and "the new york times" reports that the leaders of that committee are divided over whether they should send a criminal referral of donald trump to the department of justice. joining us now is one of the co-authors of that reporting, michael schmidt, "new york times" national correspondent and an msnbc national security contributor. great seeing you. what's behind this debate in the committee? >> so, the -- one of the biggest questions to emerge in the past several months about the january 6th investigation was, you know, were they going to come up with enough evidence to be able to make a referral to the justice department. essentially saying to the justice department, there is more than enough evidence here for you to investigate whether there was a crime. what we reported on sunday is that the committee is convinced that they have exceeded that threshold. they have more than enough to send that referral. but, at the same time, there are some folks that are part of the committee that feel that there is no need to actually send that referral anymore. because the goal of the referral was to put as much pressure on attorney general merrick garland as possible. and in the past month or so, that pressure has really built, because of a ruling in a federal case, where a judge said it was more likely than not that trump had broken the law. and the disclosures that have come out about what was going on, on january 6th, in the lead up to that, and the, the -- the sort of way that democrats have galvanized around the idea of trying to pressure the justice department and members of the committee have been incredibly explicit about calling on the justice department to take action, particularly in some cases that have already been referred to authorities. >> and so, michael, what crimes does the committee believe it has enough evidence to refer charges for trump on? >> so there are two crimes. one is obstructing congress. essentially, obstructing a -- you know, what was the day -- i don't know, the day-to-day, but the work of congress. and obviously, there was some obstruction of it, just putting legal terms aside, in the sense that the delay of the certification happened. there were several hours in which it was delayed. several defendants, several people who stormed the building have been charged with this crime, of obstructs a congressional proceeding. the second one, itself laid out their arguments about this in a court filing about a month or so ago, maybe a little bit more than that, in which they said that they thought that there was enough evidence that trump and john eastman, this lawyer that was advising him at the time had indeed, broken the law. >> you reported that the house committee has already interviewed more than 800 witnesses so far. who are they looking at next to speak with? >> that's a good question. the question has probably about 100 more interviews left to be done. and while we don't have the list of who those individuals are, probably the more important thing to the committee is those individuals who have refused to cooperate. mark meadows, steve bannon, a former justice department official who came in and took the fifth amendment and refused to answer questions. there are these individuals out there that the committee has identified and ride to talk to and were unsuccessful at getting. and these are people around trump that were really critical. like peter navarro, a former white house official who was helping trump with his efforts to overturn the election. so, the committee has used its powers to try and refer some of these individuals to the justice department. bannon has been indicted. the committee has openly complained about the fact that meadows has not been charged, despite the fact that he was referred. but it's really those people in the inner circle of trump who were around him and advising him that the committee would really, really like to talk to before it finishes its report, because it's trying to come up with the most authoritative account of what happened to, like, in the lead up to, during, and on the day of january 6th. >> michael smith, thank you so much for being with us. returning now to our coverage of the war in ukraine, here's of what some of the country's foreign minister had to say yesterday on "meet the press" about the immediate need for more weapons from the united states. >> i appreciate and we appreciate everything that you are doing, but the timeline is crucial. everything matters, and things must be supplied on a daily basis to strengthen our defense capabilities. >> with us now to talk more about this, congressman adrian espaillat. i just spoke with a member of the ukrainian parliament who said that she wished that nato would give ukraine not just leftovers, but the weapons it needs and asks for. what more do you think the u.s. and nato should be doing to make sure that ukraine has what it needs? >> well, certainly, we should be giving more, but i think, jose that in the short period of time that we have been engaged in this, we have been able to move tremendous amounts of equipment and weapons over to the ukraine. and i think sending the right weapons is critical, because, for example, if you send weapons that they need to be trained at, there is a learning curve there that will delay the use of those weapons. much has been said about the migs, some of the experts seem to think that they're not the best fighter jets to be sent out there, because they're good for the on the air combat, and not necessarily for other military activity. so, sending the right equipment is the right way to go. and certainly, i think that we have, in fact, been very successful in moving a tremendous -- probably one of the most successful operations in the history of the world, sending in such a short period of time, so much help. well, much more needs to be done, i think. the european union, which is right in the continent, should be doing more. and they need all the help that they can get. >> yeah. i mean, the fact that the migs may not be the best jets, but they are better than no jets would be what some of the ukrainians would tell you. i mean, they're trained in those airplanes. and yet, it doesn't seem like there is a concerted effort to really bring in the weapons. they may not be the perfect weapons, but they're weapons. >> the success of the ukrainian forces in pushing back the russians, and i think we can all agree that they have been tremendously successful. although, they paid a price for it. but the success of them, their efforts, their military efforts has been as a direct result of the weapons that we have been able to deliver. much more needs to be sent, i agree. the migs are better than no planes at all, no fighter jets at all. and i don't see what the big holdup is in making sure that they get those kinds of weapons. certainly, we are already providing weapons to them. and so is europe. so i don't think that we're going to be further compromising that respect. and we should be able to give them more. >> and congressman, something that you did almost immediately after that war began, you introduced a resolution calling on the russian government and vladimir putin to be held accountable for war crimes in ukraine. what does congress and the biden administration need to do to make sure that that is carried out? >> we see how, again, the russians engage in targeting a train station this past week. they've targeted a maternity ward, hospitals. and blatantly, they've targeted civilian sites. we see how apartment buildings are getting bombarded on a gals. and this has unleashed, of course, a humanitarian crisis of 4 million refugees. one child every second becomes a refugee. so that's the magnitude of it. of the war crime. and we've seen how certain generals, just like we saw in world war ii, are really butchers, and at the helm, of course, is vladimir putin. so the biden administration and the world community must ensure that the international court of hague begins a process. they have already begun a process where they have asked russia to stop immediately. any further aggression. but i think we must collect very meticulously all the data and all the evidence of these war crimes, so that then we have a matrix to move forward with the prosecution, the future prosecution of this war criminal called vladimir putin. >> congressman, back here at home, on the 23rd of may, the biden administration intends to stop using title 42 to block migrants and asylum seekers from entering the u.s., block them from even requesting asylum. you support that decision, but some senators, including several democrats are trying to keep it in place until the administration produces a detailed plan to deal with what could be a large influx of asylum seekers. what do you make of that effort? >> just delayed is justice denied. and the cdc, which is one of the top health entities in the federal government has already stated that this is not a health-related situation at the border. and as such, we should proceed. i may add, jose, there are significant numbers of ukrainians there as well, as well as other folks from different parts of the world that are fleeing violence and fleeing a natural disaster that deserves to have their case heard and determine whether or not they should be allowed to keep asylum here in the united states. you know, we have the ability to process them. i think that we have the ability to jump start a process where we can be effective in processing them. again, justice delayed is justice denied. >> yeah, we're seeing thousands of, you know, haitians, of venezuelans, cubans, nicaraguans who have not had the opportunity maybe of being deported on a daily basis. congressman, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, jose. next, a new covid wave sweeping through washington, d.c. more than 70 infections now tied to one dinner party. we'll check in with a doctor as cases rise in more than 20 states. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're wat diaz-balart reports. mount everest, the tallest mountain on the face of the earth. keep dreaming. [music: “you can get it if you really want” by jimmy cliff] you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it... usually. ♪♪ in it... mostly. even what gets near your body. please please please take that outside. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 products. rigorously tested. walgreens pharmacist recommended... and particularly kind to your wallet. ♪♪ covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days from when symptoms first appear. if you have symptoms of covid-19, even if they're mild don't wait, get tested quickly. if you test positive and are at high risk for severe disease, act fast ask if an oral treatment is right for you. covid-19 moves fast and now you can too. i recommend nature made vitamins, because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. 44 past the hour. nbc news data show that nearly half of the u.s. have experienced some increase in covid cases over the last two weeks. that's a major change from just last month, when all but one state was experiencing some degree of decrease. this as new york city mayor eric adams tested positive for the virus on his 100th day in office yesterday. and 72 people including administration officials and lawmakers tested positive after attending a high-profile d.c. dinner. joining us now to break this all down, dr. kavita patel, an nbc medical contributor and former white house policy director. always a thrill for me to see you. let's talk about this increase in covid cases. does it have omicron-level implications in it? >> yeah, jose. so it's a little bit too soon to see, and that's because of two things. number one, we have a lot less reporting of testing. lots of people who are testing at home, not having to go into clinics and pharmacies, which is overall a good thing. you don't want people who are sick to leave their homes, but we don't know what the real numbers are. and the second is that we know who people who have been infected with omicron in the november, december, january time frame are less likely to get reinfected, but we still don't know. and if 60% of the country have been infected within the last three to six months with omicron or delta or some combination thereof, then there's still about 40% of us who could get infected. so to your question, we have to watch the numbers and keep in mind that between the last wave and this one, the cdc has changed the way they talk about community levels. so on one map, six months ago, we would be in the yellow and red, which is quite a few medium-to-high transmission across much of the country. with the revised cdc guidance, we're still in low-transmission in most of the country. >> so, math has never been my forte, but if 60% of the u.s. got omicron or delta in the past couple of months, that would be both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, right? >> right. correct. >> does that mean that the rest that haven't gotten it may also be vaccinated and unvaccinated? >> that's exactly right. now, people have been trying to break that down. and it does look like that in parts of the country that were increasingly unvaccinated, and we talked about those, many parts of the midwest, the south, southeast, so some parts of the northwest, that there are still people who got infections, even the they were unvaccinated, and luckily, because of hospital care and other things, they went on to live and that's good news. but to your point, that immunity does not last. and so we're having to watch, carefully, to see if people get reinfected, if they were not vaccinated. bottom line, get vaccinated, even if you've had a previous infection. of course, talk to your doctor, and get a booster. if you haven't got your first one, get it. if you're due for your second one, get that. because we do know that makes the difference for vaccinated individuals, getting that booster makes a huge difference with omicron and this ba.2 subvariant that dominant in the u.s. >> so very quickly, this second booster for those 50 and over, is that something that is going to make a huge difference and does it last? >> huge difference for a population that needs it. over the age of 60, it does make a huge difference. and it should last through this surge. beyond that, jose, we don't know. >> dr. kavita patel, always a pleasure to see you. thank you for your time. >> thank you. ukraine says it's seeing mounting evidence of russian war crimes. ukraine's foreign ministry tweeted that the country's prosecutor general has registered nearly 6,000 allegation of crimes of aggression and war crimes by russia since the fighting began 47 days ago. ukraine's president told cbs' "60 minutes" everyone involved in those acts, including putin himself, should be held accountable. >> i think every one who made a decision, who issued an order, who fulfilled an order, every one who is relevant to this, i believe they are all guilty. >> do you hold putin responsible? >> i do believe he's one of them. >> of course, now, russia continues to deny it is targeting civilians. experts say the chances of putin or other russian military or political leaders being on trial for war crimes are not very high. with us to talk about this, hagar jamali, host of "oh, my world" and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." thank you for being with us. hagar, so if it's unlikely that we won't see -- that we'll be seeing a russian war crimes trial, what options does the united states and maybe its allies have to make sure that there's some form of accountability for this? >> thanks, jose. this is an important issue. when i was at the u.s. mission to the u.n., one of the things we always said was that one day, eventually, these thugs faced their day in court. it takes a very long time. and sometimes, they're not even in court. sometimes they're tried in absentia. but a fact of the matter is that a number of war criminals have faced their day in court. often, it won't just be the individuals at the very on. it could include, as well, the generals and soldiers on the ground. the problem is, yes, for sure. sometimes it's in absentia. sometimes they don't go behind bars. but the process is important and the main thing that we can focus on now is collecting the evidence and helping those at the u.n. do the same. there aesz and there's an effort to build an indictment. we can't say what happens. anything could happen. if one day down the road you have a government that changes, a government that is against president putin, you never know if he can be turned in. >> the soviet union lasted for 76-some years. a russian general has been put in charge of the operations in ukraine, he's accused of carrying out war crimes in syria. what they did in syria, chechen areas, indiscriminately bombing and using all kinds of chemical warfare. why haven't we heard about this in the past. why haven't we heard about war crimes that the russians may have committed in syria and the chechen areas? >> russian has gotten away with murder literally and figuratively for way too long. you have heard of efforts to charge for war crimes or to collect evidence in syria when it comes to the president of syria assad, for example, and his effort to use chemical weapons against the people. it's been directed toward the syrian government for sure. you've seen it in other countries around the world, in myanmar, and across africa of course. when it comes to the russians, you're right. the fact of the matter is they have been committing crimes not just in syria but through their private military contracting group, the wagner group, they have been committing horrific human rights abuses across africa and it's gotten very little attention. while i'm glad it's getting the attention now, we shouldn't have waited for them to commit such horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity in ukraine. the thing i am concerned about is that for the next 30 days, things are going to be very dangerous in the run up to may 9th, which is victory day in russia. it's the day that commemorates when the nazis were defeated. the next 30 days and the crimes against humanity we could see could really be horrific. >> a new poll finds wide support for president biden's policies in ukraine, sending more u.s. weapons and equipment. could that change if this conflict continues and we see what could be just blood bath after blood bath in ukraine and they're still asking for more help. >> one effect, jose, i think of these allegations of war crimes and he's really horrific pictures we're seeing of civilians, their hands bound, shot in the head, of train stations bombed by the russians. one effect is to build the case for those in america who want to send more weapons to ukraine. and it's also i think helpful for president biden meeting today virtual live with the indian prime minister. india has remained neutral in this conflict. india continues to buy energy from russia and to help russia skirt these international sanctions. i think some people help that the proven allegations of war crimes will help make the case to build a broader international coalition. this allegations of rape, the 58 people killed in that train station, what happened in bucha and so many other places, let's hope that this has some significance and that really -- how can history just continue to repeat itself? susan page, thank you both for being with us this morning. >> coming up, the president set to announce new steps taking on gun crime later today, including a crack down on ghost guns. what we expect to hear next. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. watching jose diaz-balt reports. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ wayfair has everything i need ♪♪ to make my home totally me. sometimes, i'm a homebody. can never have too many pillows! sometimes, i'm all business. a serious chair for a serious business woman! i'm always a mom- that is why you are smart and chose the durable fabric. perfect. i'm not a chef- and, don't mind if i do. but thanks to wayfair, i do love my kitchen. yes! ♪ wayfair you got just what i need. ♪ if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives me better breathing and helps prevent flare-ups. before breztri, i was stuck in the past. i still had bad days, flare-ups which kept me from doing what i love. my doctor said for my copd, it was time for breztri. breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flare-ups. like no other copd medicine, breztri was proven to reduce flare-ups by 52%. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.™ [sound of helicopter blades] ugh... they found me. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. 57 past the hour. moments from now president biden will hold a virtual meeting with the prime minister of india. president biden is expected to nominate his pick to lead the bureau of tobacco and firearms. joining us now, digital senior reporter shannon pettypiece. good morning. what do we know about the president's pick and what he's going to say today? >> this is in response to a lot of increasing pressure the white house has been getting from gun advocacy groups who want to see the president doing more given he campaigned so strongly on trying to put gun control measures in place as president. what we're talking about here with these ghost guns you mention, these are kids people can buy. they include 3d printing kits. in about 30 minutes to an hour they can have an assembled, operating firearm. the administration today is going to require the sellers and manufacturers of those kits to follow the same rules as any other gun seller. they have to have a security serial number on them and people have to pass a background check in order to be able to purchase those. you mentioned this new atf nominee. the atf hasn't had a permanent leader since 2015. the administration is hoping the former prosecutor from ohio, u.s. attorney, they're hoping he's going to be a not very controversial nominee they're putting forward. their last one had to be withdrawn. he is in favor of some of the same stringent gun control measures that some oppose, things like a universal ban and a background check. >> shannon pettypiece, thank you for being with us. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on twitter. be sure to follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. the great hallie jackson picks up with more news right now. we're coming on the air this morning watching the white house. president biden set to meet virtually with the prime minister of indian right about now. why does this matter? india is the world's biggest democracy and they've been pretty neutral in a war that president biden has framed as a fight for democracy. we're live with more from this meeting as we get it. right now in ukraine there's more and more of a focus of what's happening in the eastern part of the country. a top eu official warning that troops are getting ready to attack the donbas region. presidt z