militants from the islamic state group. with cop26 with co p26 getting with cop26 getting under way on sunday, the pope has called on leaders to make radical decisions and to offer hope to the world. the message recorded by the bbc, pope francis as those attending should act now to attack global warming. he also metjoe biden, who is in room for a meeting of g20 leaders. jon sopel is travelling with president biden and since this report. and sent this report. the ruler of the world s pre eminent superpower en route to meet the world s most powerful religious leader. but forjoe biden, only america s second roman catholic president, this is an audience with his spiritual guide and clearly someone he admires enormously. you are the most significant warriorfor peace i have ever met. and with your permission, i d like to be able to give you a coin. i know my son would want me to give you this to you. the president gave him a coin as a gift, and thenjoked about his irish heritage
the uk has seen the highest recorded level of coronavirus infection since the pandemic began. eager tojust 1.3 mean people may have had the virus last week alone. and we visit the afghan city ofjalalabad, ground zero in a deadly battle for supremacy between taliban forces and militants from the islamic state group. hello, and welcome if you re watching on pbs in the us or around the world. three days before the crucial cop26 climate summit, the pope has called on the global leaders to make radical decisions and offer hope to the world. in a message recorded by the bbc, pope francis called on all those at the summit to act now to tackle global warming. later, he met the us presidentjoe biden, who s in rome for a summit of 620 leaders. our north america editorjon sopel is travelling with president biden and he sent this report. the ruler of the world s pre eminent superpower en route to meet the world s most powerful religious leader. but forjoe biden, only america s second rom
officials in ukraine say russia has launched its anticipated offensive in the eastern donbas region. the ukrainian military says the new phase began when russian forces tried to break through its defenses along the entire front line, from kharkiv to the north, to donetsk in the south. but some military officials, both in ukraine, and in the west, say the ground is still being set. a ukrainian military official tells the new york times that the offensive will quote activate in the coming days. last week, the u.s. said russia wasn t quite ready to launch the new offensive, because of ongoing logistical problems. here s what the pentagon is saying now. these appear to be chronic difficulties that the rishen military has had, in russian military has had, in terms of logistics and unit cohesion and operational maneuver, and air to ground, all problems they still suffer from and it remains to be seen whether they have quote fixed these problems and are ready to execute in a m
mask mandate. and at our southern border, nbc news got an inside look at how border towns are preparing for an end of the pandemic era immigration policy, set to expire next month. t month. and happening right now in ukraine, heavy fighting in eastern ukraine. russia has now unleashed what is expected to be a bloody new phase of the war. and an intense battle is also underway in the besieged city of mariupol. ukrainians there are refusing to surrender after another russian deadline has now passed. at this moment, the commander of the volunteer azov battalion says hundreds of people of all ages, including women and children, are sheltering inside a steel factory inside of mariupol. they released this video, which nbc news cannot independently verify. they say the video shows children and families inside the factory. and they are accusing russian forces of firing on the factory willingly, knowing civilians are inside. this as russian missiles have hit across cities in ukrai
wow. good morning. welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, april 12th. we begin with russian president vladimir putin turning to what looks similar to a stalin-esque purge within his government. although kremlin officials publicly claimed the war is going according to plan, behind the scenes about 150 agents from moscow s secret intelligence service, the fsb, have been, quote, purged since the war began. that s according to the times of london. some have been removed from their jobs, others arrested as putin looks to assign blame for russia s failures in ukraine. among those arrested, the head of the department directly responsible for overseeing affairs with ukraine. something all of those reportedly punished have in common is that they were all employed or formerly employed by a division once led by putin, the fifth service as it is called, was set up in the late 1990s to carry out operations in the countries formerly controlled by the soviet union. the goal of tha