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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Zelenskyy Says Borodianka Atrocities Worse Than Bucha; Once Vibrant Northern City Of Chernihiv Left In Ruins; Russian Bombardment In Southern City Of Mykolaiv Damages Hospitals, Market And Other Buildings; Ukrainian Civilians Fleeing The War In The East By Train; Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmed As First Black Woman Supreme Court Justice. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 07, 2022 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: He is currently tied for 10th place, just the beginning. Tees up for his second round tomorrow afternoon. He has made it clear he has every intention of winning.

Thanks so much for joining us. AC 360 starts right now.

[20:00:14]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Good evening.

Tonight, the historic confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, soon to be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Anita Hill part of another significant and dramatic moment in court history joins us later to discuss that.

First, we start with Ukraine and two statements about the war tonight, each striking in its own way. The first from Vladimir Putin's top spokesman who now describes Russian losses there are quote, "significant," which in itself may be significant considering the enormous gulf between the 1,300 war dead that Russia has admitted to and the 10,000 to 15,000 that NATO estimated several weeks ago. So there is that.

And also perhaps striking from Ukraine's President Zelenskyy. In his nightly address, he warned that for all the horror we now know was visited on the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, what remains to be discovered in the town of Borodianka is likely, he says, to be worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): After Bucha, this is already obvious, and the work on dismantling the debris in Borodianka has begun. It's much worse there, even more victims of the Russian occupiers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well late today, Ukraine's Prosecutor General weighed in with grim specifics on what has already been uncovered in the rubble, 26 bodies, she said under two large houses. She emphasized that fact, 26 killed in just two houses in what we already know to be block after block of leveled homes and apartment buildings.

As for Bucha, CNN has learned that Germany's Foreign Intelligence Service has told lawmakers it has intercepted Russian radio transmissions in which soldiers talk about shooting civilians. In the paper, "Der Spiegel" or magazine "Der Spiegel," which first reported the story said that some of the radio chatter refer to specific killings in Bucha.

At the United Nations today, members sent a message to Moscow, the General Assembly voting to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council for committing in the words of the resolution, "gross and systematic violations of human rights." On Capitol Hill this afternoon, House members passed two bills, the first one suspending normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, the second barring Russian energy imports, they cleared the Senate unanimously this morning.

As for the fighting on the ground, it is growing more intense in the East with Ukraine's Foreign Minister today saying the fight for the Donbas will resemble the Second World War.

CNN chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward is in Chernihiv heat for us tonight, CNN chief international anchor, Christiane Amanpour is in Kyiv; in Mykolaiv, CNN's Ben Wedeman and reporting on the exodus from Mariupol, CNN's Ivan Watson.

I want to start with Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv.

As you know, Christiane, as more is uncovered about the besieged city of Mariupol, a CNN investigation has uncovered some residents were taken by Russian and separatists troops to so-called filtration centers. What do we know about that? Or what have you learned about that?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Anderson, you know, for many weeks now, there have been these allegations, certainly from the Ukrainian side, that actually maybe tens of thousands, up to 40,000 Mariupol residents had been forcibly taken from there to Russia.

When I asked Dmitry Peskov that, he denied it flat out. But now, as you say, the CNN investigation has discovered that some had been taken to a so-called filtration camp, or a system of those kinds of camps in the Donbas region, which is as you know, is controlled, at least partly by the Russian forces.

So CNN apparently talked to some ten of these residents who say that they were in basements, that they were approached by Russian forces, and their separatist allies, those separatist forces, and basically told, you know, come out, come with us, or else you're going to die here.

Now, we understand that some five of those say they were taken to these filtration camps, and then taken to Russia. And we understand three of those managed to get out and come back to Ukraine. So this is a very complex idea and a very complex operation. Some of

those people who said that they had been taken out said frankly, we didn't even know where we were or where we were going, but we just wanted to get out of this hell of Mariupol.

So that seems to be, you know, the story of that and I guess these investigations will continue as to how many people were actually taken out and what was the real purpose of doing that?

COOPER: Yes, these filtration centers.

Ben, earlier this week, Mykolaiv where you are endured heavy shelling. The city has not fallen to Russia. It has put up a strong defense during this entire time, but it has taken a lot of hits. When did you -- what did you find when you were in town today?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Anderson just before you came to us, we heard distant thuds. It appears to be some sort of shelling or bombardment on the outskirts of the city and this is something that has been going on every day.

[20:05:04]

The Russians are not using heavy artillery, they are using cluster munitions. These are projectiles that open in midair and rain down as many as 70 small bombs on a concentrated area.

What we saw today was the aftermath of a strike on a market where within a radius of 100 yards, we found 23 impact points. In that particular incident, nine people were killed, more than 40 people were injured.

So there doesn't seem to be any military purpose to these strikes. Really, it's all about killing, maiming, demoralizing, and terrorizing a population, a population of a city that succeeded in stopping the Russian advance along the Black Sea coast.

The Russians have made it clear they want to take this city, the port city of Odessa, which is about a two-hour drive from here. They are not far from the city and what we've seen recently are preparations for a possible advance.

We've seen trenches -- new trenches being dug on the outskirts of the city. We've seen explosives being rigged on bridges in the event the Russians try to move forward. So even though for the time being the danger of a Russian onslaught has been pushed back, no one here is suffering under the delusion that this war in this part of the country is over -- Anderson.

COOPER: I want to check in and see if we have Clarissa in Chernihiv. Clarissa, you're in Chernihiv, a city north of Kyiv where Russian troops have withdrawn. What did you find there today?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I want to start off by explaining why it is pitch black behind us and that is because even though Russian forces have pulled back from this area, people here are still petrified. Nobody believes that they won't be coming back, and so there is still a mandatory blackout in effect across the city.

You know, this used to be a buzzing city, 300,000 people, but because it's just 45 miles away from the border with Belarus, it was also one of the first targets of Russian forces. They came in very quickly. They surrounded it completely, laid siege to it. People here were not able to get food, medicine, there was no water or power, anything of that nature.

The situation at the hospital was absolutely dire because in addition to all the people who were suffering as a result of this constant and relentless bombardment, and let me tell you, Anderson, the devastation around here is just incredibly striking.

But on top of that, the hospitals simply were not able to function. People were not able to go and get regular healthcare checkups, people with diabetes, people with cases of pneumonia were dying for the very simple reason that it was too dangerous to go out and too dangerous to seek out medical care.

Now, of course, things have changed a little bit. It has been less than a week since those Russian forces retreated. You are starting to see a trickle of aid getting into the city center. It is however Anderson a different story in many of these suburbs and small villages surrounding. These are areas that were literally wiped out by the force of this Russian bombardment.

Many of these areas surrounding the city were also occupied by Russian forces, and we are hearing constant horror stories of cases of people being executed, cases of women claiming that they were raped by Russian forces.

So even though this is something of a victory that Russia was forced to retreat, and that the City of Chernihiv never fell, despite the incredible amount of bombardment and that complete encirclement, there is still a very real sense here that the situation could change at any moment, and also I would add, a very deep and profound sense of grief -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Those images. Christiane, tonight, President Zelenskyy thanked Turkey and Lithuania for resuming operations at their Embassies in Kyiv, asked other countries to do the same. What's it like -- the U.S. we should point out at long ago before the invasion, moved their operations actually staying in Poland, and then going to operate during the day in Lviv.

Russian forces -- now that Russian forces have withdrawn from Kyiv, what is it like out on the streets? I mean, is there -- are shops open? Can people get food more easily?

AMANPOUR: Yes, of course, to the extent. I mean, this city obviously is doing much better than some of the others that are being described because of the fact that A., they never got here to the center, the Russians, and they have been pushed back and so there is a sense that this city really did overcome and it's important because of course, it's the capital and it represents the state. And that is why there are some restaurants open. There are some shops open. There's traffic.

[20:10:16]

But the President wants the city to show that it is the capital, and therefore to have the international partners come back and set up shop again here.

And as you say, early on, I mean, your weeks before the invasion, many of the embassies did move, either right out of the country or to Lviv. And now, he is asking them to come back and he had a meeting with diplomatic or he addressed the Diplomatic Corps and thanked them and just said: Listen, come back. Show the flag is here and that we aren't going anywhere and that they tried to delegitimize our state, they tried to potentially overthrow this government, and we're still standing.

COOPER: I want to take a look at a piece that Clarissa, we just got in from you in the field. So let's air that right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice over): For weeks Chernihiv was completely cut off from the rest of the country. Once a vibrant city of 300,000 people, now parts of it a wasteland.

Just 45 miles from the Belarusian border, it was quickly surrounded by Russian forces. There was no power, no water, and little food.

Seventy-one-year-old Ivan Yovanovitch (ph) survived the relentless bombardment. But his struggles are far from over.

(IVAN YOVANOVITCH speaking in foreign language.)

WARD (on camera): He is saying that he is hungry. He needs something to eat. He's asked us if we have any groceries.

(voice over): Less than one week after Russian forces left this area, Chernihiv is reeling, and the true scale of its loss is only starting to emerge.

Outside the morgue, makeshift coffins stand ready for the dead. Authorities say at least 350 civilians were killed in the bombardment and they expect to find more.

Overwhelmed, morgue director Sergei Andraiv (ph) is now using a refrigerator truck to store the bodies of those who have yet to be identified. Their relatives likely fled the fighting or were killed in it. He tells us hundreds more died because they simply couldn't reach the hospital.

(SERGEI ANDRAIV speaking in foreign language.)

WARD (voice over): "There was a constant flow of dead people like this in our morgue. The main reason was heart attacks, pneumonia, diabetes," he says. "And I believe all of this was because they didn't get medical treatment on time." Cut off from the main cemetery by constant shelling, the city was

forced to clear a wood to make room for the dead, buried in large trenches, their names signposted for relatives to find.

(on camera): It is so heartbreaking to see as people here looking desperately trying to find their loved ones among this mass of new graves.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: "Did you find him?" This woman asks. She is looking for her husband, Vladimir Shulga (ph).

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD: "I can't find him," her daughter tells us, "I need to keep searching."

Those who are lucky enough to find their family members can at least say goodbye. The farewell brings little solace.

At one grave, relatives mourn the death of Vladimir Adjuchenko (ph), a Ukrainian soldier who was ambushed by Russian forces as he tried to recover the bodies of his fallen comrades. His father, Leonid says it was 17 days before the Russians left that he could finally reach the place where his son was killed.

(LEONID ADJUCHENKO speaking in foreign language.)

WARD (voice over): "I dug the ground with my own hands. I uncovered his face," he says, "And I recognized him."

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WARD (voice over): "We waited for him and then we lost him," Vladimir's wife says. They took him and we lost him.

Russia's war has taken so many from Chernihiv, and while its forces may have retreated, the grief will long remain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I mean, that woman searching for her husband's body, does she know that he has died and she just doesn't know where his body is?

[20:15:02]

WARD: Yes. So, what she told us, Anderson, is that they were all at home a few weeks ago and because there is no running water here, her husband went out to try to source some water for the family. He then was killed by an artillery shell. They spent weeks trying to find out where he was, but there has been no communications, no way to call the hospital or the morgue, and certainly no way to visit it with this kind of relentless bombardment.

Finally, they were told that he must be in this new cemetery that we just showed you that has been established simply to give some place for the dead to be buried in those large trenches, and they said they had visited twice now and tried to comb through every single placard, but they simply haven't been able to find him yet.

And their story, Anderson is not an isolated one. So many people looking for their loved ones and so many bodies still, unclaimed, unidentified, unclear what's happened to their relatives, where they are now or if they're even still alive -- Anderson.

COOPER: And that old man who was hungry, I mean, is there food getting in? Is there any kind of relief organizations working there?

Obviously, I'm sure if you had food, you gave him something. But I mean, for others out there, are there supplies coming in?

WARD: Yes, so we, of course, shared some of the food that we brought here with us, because there really isn't any food in this city. So if you're coming here to report and spend the night as we are, you have to bring your own supplies with you.

We gave him some, but that's only something for one night, maybe. We did see aid workers in the town. We saw a line of people waiting to get water. Again, that's a major component of daily life that most of us take for granted, which here in Chernihiv is causing considerable difficulties for ordinary people.

But the problem, Anderson, is that because the scale of this crisis is so vast, and it permeates beyond the city center and to all these surrounding sort of satellite towns and villages, I think it's fair to say that municipalities are just completely overwhelmed.

COOPER: Yes, Clarissa Ward, Christiane Amanpour and Ben Wedeman, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

We will talk more about what Ben saw today in Mykolaiv, it is a city already on bombardment, braces for more, and those who can try to make it to safety elsewhere.

Later in my conversation with Olena Gnes about what her life is like for her now and her family in Kyiv since Russian forces have retreated, but new horrors have emerged from the areas that they left behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:21:43]

COOPER: We've been talking with CNN's Ben Wedeman who is in Nikolai of tonight the city's you know has already endured nearly constant Russian bombardment especially of residential areas, something Ben saw up close today. Here is his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice over): This has become Mykolaiv's daily routine, picking up the pieces, sweeping away the wreckage from Russian missile attacks, random shelling throughout the city with what appear to be cluster munitions.

Glass shards and shrapnel tore into Marina (ph) as she lies in a hospital, her thoughts are with her teenage daughter also injured now at a children's hospital.

(MARINA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "My daughter and I were caught between two bombs," she recalls. "It's a miracle we're still alive. It was terrifying."

The hospital where Marina is recovering was hit in the morning. Dirt covers the blood from one of the injured.

Closed circuit television video from the city's cancer hospital captures the moment it was struck.

Earlier this week, a missile barrage killed nine people and wounded more than 40 at this market.

WEDEMAN (on camera): We were able to count 23 impact points in a radius of just 100 meters, and each one of these incoming rounds sprays shrapnel in every direction.

(DANILO speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): Danilo was working in this store and rushed outside when he heard the blasts.

(DANILO speaking in foreign language.

WEDEMAN (voice over): "Over there, a woman was screaming, 'Help me.' Her leg was shattered," he says. Behind the store, two people were killed. Dried blood and flowers mark the spot where people died.

Last week, a bomb struck the Regional Governor's office killing 36 people. Every day in Mykolaiv, this relentless bombardment shatters any semblance of normal life.

Mid-afternoon, people line up to escape the danger. This bus bound for Poland. Victoria (ph) cradles her one-year-old daughter, Ivanna, her husband stays behind.

(VICTORIA speaking in foreign language.)

WEDEMAN (voice over): "Soon we'll be back home," says Victoria, "Everything will be all right." How soon that will be? Nobody knows.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: And Ben Wedeman is back with us. I mean, it's remarkable, you know, that scene where you're just walking down the street and how many impact sites you could see in just that one area, and it is like that in many places, yes?

WEDEMAN: Yes, and this is -- these are munitions that, as I said, they carry about 70 what are known as bombbets or small explosives that spray over a large area, and this is happening on a regular basis every day, and wherever you go, it is not just one impact, it is a variety of impacts. And really, it's all about hurting people.

There is no -- for instance, we as we've seen in some of the suburbs of Kyiv, Anderson, massive bombs being used. At the moment, there is nothing of the sort for the most part except for the Regional Governor's Office. It's all of these cluster munitions and it's important to point out, using cluster munitions against the civilian population is considered a war crime.

[20:25:10]

But as we've seen over the last 43 or some days of this war, the Russians don't seem to have any hesitation to use weapons, to use tactics that are in clear violation of the rules of war, and I think one of the reasons why we are starting to see people starting to leave the city again is that the feeling that the Russians are simply out to kill as many people as possible with no obvious military objective -- Anderson.

COOPER: Bomb the places where people live and then bomb the places where people are being treated in the hospitals, the wounded.

Ben Wedeman, please be careful.

Coming up, we are going to check in with a resident of Kyiv who is a frequent guest on this broadcast to discuss how she and her family are holding up, get her perspective on the war in Ukraine. Olena Gnes joins us ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: As the horrors of the Russian occupation mount, and despite the dangers that remain, civilians inside Kyiv may now have a moment to breathe, or at least in the case of someone I spoke to before airtime, celebrate a birthday.

Olena Gnes and her family had been on our broadcasts a number of times. She and her three children had been sheltering in a basement in Ukraine's capital through the worst of bombardments while her husband has volunteered to help defend the city.

We've tried to check in with Olena from time to time to see how she and her family are doing and how her -- what her view of the war is. This time, there was a little cause for celebration.

[20:30:17]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (on-camera): Olena, first of all, happy birthday. I know you just celebrated with your husband and your kids at your apartment. How was it?

OLENA GNES, UKRAINIAN SHELTERING IN KYIV: That was cool. That was really cool. Indeed I was happy even though it is like difficult to be happy at war. But today, I was happy. I allowed myself to feel happy today. Yes.

COOPER (on-camera): I was watching the video we're playing some of the videos now. And I keep being struck. If one didn't know any differently, it would seem like a regular birthday at a regular day and a regular year and a regular time in your life. I mean, it looks so normal.

GNES: Well I tried. This was more for my children. And now YouTube, on YouTube, you see only a couple of minutes of the day of the real life, like what is behind the scenes is a lot of tough talks than a lot of tears and but we tried to be happy today. Yes. We tried.

COOPER (on-camera): I know in the last couple of times we talked to you and I know you've written about it you said that your daughter Katya (ph) is angry and sort of acting out in that way. Do you still notice that?

GNES: Oh, yes, they are still angry. And she's still worried. And tonight, it was hard again for her to fall asleep. And she was asking again, when is it going to stop and whether they will come back home soon. And when we will come home for the night because we still spend the night in the shelter. Even though in the daytime, we stay now outside and the daytime it feels, of course much safer in Kyiv than before.

COOPER (on-camera): I wondered when I saw that, that, you know, Russian forces were supposedly, you know, shifting around, we're going to be focusing on the on Donbass region, if you would decide to leave the shelter, can you talk about that that decision process in your mind of weather what would make you decide finally, to feel safe to leave the basement and to go back to your apartment full time?

GNES: Well, why we were hiding at the shelter? Basically, it's because of the air siren on about the cause of danger of attack from the air, right. So the sky is not closed over Ukraine. And we still have it every day, every night, randomly. And like, I don't think that we can relax right now. Because all these missiles they are sent from the territory of Belarus and from the Black Sea. And as far as I understand, Ukraine does not have, you know, the real means to stop it.

So they dangerous to here and they do not feel safe. And this is why at least at night, I'm here.

COOPER (on-camera): I also saw that Doreena (ph) has a new stroller, which is a big deal.

GNES: Oh yes. Well she grows, she grows, and very soon, she will be sleeping and she needs to look around and use it outside and she's getting like big girl and she's looking throughout.

COOPER (on-camera): Yes, I love -- I love watch. I love I watched this video now a number of times because it's so great when a child gets a new stroller and they feel it, they touch all the, you know, they touch it and she was doing all those things and just watching her look around. Also, I didn't realize are you teaching Katya (ph) English? Because she's she was speaking some English or trying out some sentences. She was good.

GNES: Now these days have been -- I met so many interests in English (INAUDIBLE) that she started. Yes, like I (INAUDIBLE) she learns how to play the piano. I mean, we do educate our children. We did it before the war. I tried to do it right now. But now it's not easy, but we try. We try.

COOPER (on-camera): Are you any more optimistic now about what lies ahead? I mean, Ukraine has shown showing their extraordinary. The Ukrainian army has and volunteers have shown extraordinary courage, their extraordinary ability to defeat Russians when they're actually in a fight with them on the ground. Russia seems to be, you know, refocusing on the south southeast. Does that change anything in your mind?

GNES: Oh, well, I can see that, of course when we were talking the last time, yes I was saying that they're all around they're going to Kyiv to the ground but it didn't happen. Yes, so Kyiv is OK. And this is really cool that we hit back and thank you for, you know, to the world for supporting all this and I see that more weapons are right now given to Ukraine and that helps a lot. And yes, you can call this optimistic. Yes, I was always sure that Ukraine will win. Yes, and I'm sure now.

[20:35:34]

The question is when? Now after what is done in Bucha, you know, the masks are off, and like we will really see not only us in Ukraine, when we know now you see how, how rude these fashion authorities are? And let's say our aim is to make Bucha everywhere. Yes. So if they came to Kyiv, Kyiv would be like Bucha. Whenever they go, they want to make Bucha over there. This is like the genocide. And this is like its attack on the civilized world. And I believe the world will protect itself. So it's not only about Ukraine, it's about all of us.

And of course I feel optimistic because otherwise, I mean, what's the sense to live in this world if we do not protect ourselves altogether from this barbaric attack?

COOPER (on-camera): Olena, thank you for sharing some of your birthday with us. And thank you for sharing your family and your thoughts with us. I wish you well, stay safe.

GNES: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: By the way, if you want to see more of Olena and wish her happy birthday, you can follow Olena and her family online. She uploads a video nearly every day on her YouTube page, which is called What Is Ukraine. And again, her name is Olena Gnes and she is 36 years old today. Just ahead, Ivan Watson boards a train with a group of civilians fleeing the war in the east. Their stories and what they have left behind, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:40:41]

COOPER: Ukrainian civilians are still trying to flee to escape the intense fighting in the eastern part of the country. (INAUDIBLE) sub train service is still available for those who are displaced.

Our Ivan Watson spoke to the crew and passengers aboard one train as is made -- as an as it made its way to the western part of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ukrainian families on the run. More than a month after Russia invaded, civilians are still fleeing from the threat of the Russian military hurrying towards a waiting train.

An air raid siren rings out as the train begins to move. This couple, just a few minutes too late.

(on-camera): The evacuation train is now leaving the station. There are about 1,100 passengers on board this train all of them are evacuees who are traveling for free. They'll be traveling for the next 24 hours. This train carrying this human cargo to safety in western Ukraine.

(voice-over): The war forced everyone here to flee their homes, including the crew of the train. Head conductor Sergei Grecianker (ph) ran the last train out of the city of Mariupol on February 25th, the day after Russia launched its invasion. There have been no trains from Mariupol since as a month long Russian siege has destroyed much of the city.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): My whole team 20 conductors everybody left with me. Many of them were made homeless lost their apartments, some of them lost relatives.

WATSON (voice-over): Grecianker (ph) says his team spent the next month living and working on the train non-stop struggling to evacuate crowds of desperate and panicked Ukrainians, especially during the first weeks of the war.

(on-camera): Sergei estimates that during the month that he and his team were working, they evacuated around 100,000 people.

(voice-over): These days the crowds have gotten smaller, but strangers are still packed together for this long trip. Everyone seems to be fleeing a different part of eastern Ukraine. Galina Bondarenko fled her village outside the city of Zaporizhia with her 19-year-old son after enduring two weeks of Russian shelling.

GALINA BONDARENKO, FLED RUSSIAN INVASION (through translation): I feel outrage, complete outrage and I feel fear when they are shooting.

WATSON (voice-over): Some evacuees brought their pets.

(on-camera): The kitten is handling the train ride a little bit better than the puppy.

(voice-over): The two families sharing this compartment met each other on the train for the very first time.

(on-camera): I've been speaking with Katya (ph) who is eight months pregnant right now. And she's traveling alone with her daughter heading west because they don't know what will happen. And I asked where are you going to give birth to your child? And she said, well, wherever it's safe right now. And that's just that's just an example of one family. She's left her husband behind. He's serving in the military right now.

(voice-over): Further down the train. I meet a group of women and children who just escaped southern Ukraine.

(on-camera): How long did you live under Russian military occupation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One month, one month from 27 February.

WATSON (on-camera): How would you describe that experience?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All this time I went outside only two times. Just because I hear a lot of cases of (inaudible) --

WATSON (on-camera): Rape?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rape, raping.

WATSON (voice-over): In addition to hearing unconfirmed stories of rape, the women tell me they've seen drunk and filthy Russian soldiers asking residents for supplies like food and toilet paper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) on the -- on our building, main building.

WATSON (on-camera): Which flags (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russia flags. Just like that.

WATSON (on-camera): On the police station?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everywhere. They just love this they think and they think that flag can change our minds, our Ukrainian minds, but it's not work like this. I want the Russian people also come back on their land. They have a lot of land. Just a lot of land on the map. And I hope it will be enough for them just because enough, stop please. It's very painful for everyone here for everyone in this train and outside, it's, it was very peaceful life without this attacks. [20:45:18]

WATSON (on-camera): I've gotten off after a relatively short journey, this train still has more than 20 hours to go across country, it'll end up in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. But for most of the more than 1,100 evacuees on board, all forced to flee their homes by this terrible war, their final destination is likely unclear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: Anderson, as you may probably hear that there's a pretty loud air raid siren going off here right now, after 3o'clock in the morning. The movement of people that we're seeing today on this train, it's very likely that it could pick up in the days ahead. The governor of the very large eastern city of Dnipro urged women, children and the elderly to leave the city in anticipation of a Russian ground attack in the east of Ukraine. We've heard also evacuation orders coming from the governor of Luhansk this week.

In fact, that governor today announced that the Russians he accused them of bombing an overpass and cutting off a railroad line that he described as essential for at least three towns that he said that it was a quote, road of life for tens of thousands of citizens who now would not have any other way to escape and he said there were at least 500 evacuees that were stranded at a train station because he accused the Russians of targeting and trying to disable the railroad lines. So these are still very important lines of transit for future evacuations.

COOPER: Yes. Ivan Watson, appreciate it. Thank you, Ivan.

Coming up Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson makes history as the first black woman confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll talk to Anita Hill about this moment in history.

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[20:51:38]

COOPER: This afternoon the U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. I talked to Anita Hill shortly before we went on air.

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COOPER (on-camera): Professor Hill, thanks so much for joining us. I'm wondering what your reaction was to seeing Judge Jackson being confirmed as the first black woman to the Supreme Court.

ANITA HILL, LAWYER: No, it was joy, I mean pure joy. And not just joy for her, but also joy for the court and the American justice system. I think we should all be celebrating on all of those fronts.

COOPER (on-camera): In Washington post op-ed that you wrote today, you said that the Senate Judiciary Committee mistreated Judge Jackson and her hearings came with a slew of attacks from Republicans, many who tried to taint her reputation with questions about pedophilia about fryer judgment she had made. I want to play just a clip of some of that.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, JUDGE: Senator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gave him three months. My question is do you regret it or not?

JACKSON: In the hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we've spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you provide a definition for the word woman?

JACKSON: Can I provide a definition now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

JACKSON: I can't.

COOPER (on-camera): I guess, did any that surprise you?

HILL: You know, I'm not sure I was surprised. It's still a shocking, so that those kinds of questions would be asked of someone with such qualifications and who clearly had been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, not that long before, twice. And that they seem to be relentless in the pursuit of disqualifying her at this moment.

COOPER (on-camera): What do you think her impact on the court will be?

HILL: You know, I think the fact that she brings out a different perspective, you know, you know, perspective is not by us. It is just a set of, you know, knowledge and skills that people have that are unique to them. She will bring that to the court. Certainly her experience as a public defender, also, as a clerk to Justice Breyer, I think will fit her for having an impact on the court that goes beyond whether she is in the majority or minority side on either on any case.

So I think we're, I'm really anxious to have her bring her voice to legal proceeding. Because every justice if when they write an opinion, bring something different. But I'm also very excited to have a presence in the world with the other justices as they talk about the cases that are before the court. Then it's really shocking when we have this opportunity to welcome a highly qualified black woman to a position on the Supreme Court and that we couldn't conduct ourselves in a manner that was consistent with the importance of that moment, that historic moment. We couldn't conduct ourselves in a way that said, we were truly interested, and what kind of judge she would be. What she would bring to the court. And from many points of view, and on many issues.

[20:55:31] Now, I know she was hesitant to talk about specific cases. But I think she did a brilliant job and very thoughtful job of talking about her, the way she judged and how she saw the law and the importance of the law. And, you know, it just is too bad that that gotten marred by the kinds of tactics that were being employed by some of the senators, and we're just out and out, you know, suspicious attacks.

COOPER (on-camera): Professor Anita Hill, I appreciate it. Thank you.

HILL: Thank you.

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COOPER: We wanted to point out Anita Hill is the author of Believing Our 30-Year Journey To End Gender Violence.

We'll be right back.

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[21:00:20]

COOPER: The news continues. Want to hand things over to Jake Tapper who is in Lviv, Ukraine tonight. Jake.