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Massive Anti-Aircraft Fire Erupts Above Ukraine's Capital Of Kyiv; Rescue Operations Underway After Missiles Hit Mykolaiv Military Base; Supreme Court Hearings For Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Start Tomorrow. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 20, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:50]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Woodfield. Thank you so much for joining me for this special CNN coverage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling CNN in an exclusive interview today that he is ready to negotiate with Vladimir Putin to end Russia's bloody invasion. But Zelenskyy offering a sobering warning about what could happen if those negotiations don't succeed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating the possibility of talking to Putin, but if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a Third World War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we're getting our first look at rescue and recovery efforts underway in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. Russian missile strikes targeted the Ukrainian Army barracks, reportedly killing dozens of soldiers on Friday. The barracks obliterated. And there are new reports about a deadly attack on a nursing home in eastern Ukraine. This photo posted before the assault. A Ukrainian official says a Russian tank opened fire on the building nine days ago, killing 56 civilians then abducting 15 others.

And new satellite pictures revealing the devastation at a Mariupol theater bombed by the Russians, more than a thousand people had fled to the theater for shelter.

And from the images, you can see about two-thirds of the building is clearly destroyed and still visible, the Russian word for "children" painted in large letters in front of the entrance to act as a deterrent of striking that building.

Well, many are still feared to be trapped under the rubble four days now after that attack.

And another civilian target was bombed in Mariupol this morning, an art school where 400 people were seeking shelter. Officials don't yet have information on casualties. An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol describe the situation on social media saying it is difficult and there is nowhere to get the data from.

CNN senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen is live for us in Kyiv. So Fred, what can you tell us about recovery efforts?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are certainly very difficult there in Mariupol and as you pointed out, Fredricka, this strike on this art school took place in the early hours of today. And of course, the authorities say that they believe some 400 people have taken shelter in that building.

But it is important Fredricka, for our viewers, for us to point out that the reason why the authorities really can't give us any exact figures on how many casualties there might be, how many people might still be trapped under the rubble, is because the authorities themselves are under constant fire from Russian artillery, from Russian rockets, as well in Mariupol.

Of course, it is a city under siege. The city has been surrounded for a very long time. And one of the things the authorities on the ground there told us is they say there is basically no Emergency Services anymore that could actually dig for people there. There are local officials who come and actually dig with their own hands, and of course, local people, as well. And so therefore, it's very difficult to get any sort of exact information.

Now, of course, as you pointed out, Fredricka, this comes just days after that theater was bombed. And there we do know that the bomb shelter under that theater apparently it held, so a lot of people may have survived, but again, the authorities there also saying they can't say how many people actually did survive, but they know about 130 have been brought out of that theater, but it is impossible to say how many people might still be trapped in there simply because it is so difficult for the crews to operate there. And of course, they are under fire as they do it as well -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. And then, tell me about this new video that you have from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

PLEITGEN: Yes, so this happened, I would say about an hour, maybe an hour and a half ago that all of a sudden the anti-aircraft guns here in the capital city started firing a lot. There were a lot of salvos that were sort of going up into the sky.

And from what we saw, it's impossible to tell what exactly they were shooting at. We can see some of that on our screen right now. You see some of those outgoing cannons going out, also apparently to surface- to-air missiles we saw that as well and there was a dot that was sort of moving across the night sky. We're not sure whether or not that may have been a Russian aircraft that those anti-aircraft guns were firing at.

[15:05:12]

PLEITGEN: But that could very well be the case. One of the things that we have to point out, Fredricka, is that those cannons that you see shooting there, those anti-aircraft cannons, they don't reach very high. They only go about I'd say about 1,500 meters high then they have an explosive shell that blows up in the air. They certainly seem to be coming well short of that dot that that was moving across the sky.

But of course, it does show situation here in Kyiv remains very serious even as the U.S. and its allies say the Russians really not having made very much progress over the past couple of days -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen, be safe. Thank you so much.

The human impact of this work continues to mount, the U.N. says so far 10 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes including more than three million children.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joining me live now. Salma, what's been the impact in in cities like Lviv where you are?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Fredricka, this is the fastest growing refugee crisis the world has seen since World War Two and where I am in Lviv, this has been the hub for refugees. Hundreds of thousands of them have flocked through this city trying to find safe haven, trying to figure out where they go next, many of them moving on to the rest of Western Europe, but lots of them are still staying here.

Just yesterday, we were at Lviv University. The gym in that university had been converted into a temporary shelter for the displaced. They were all lined up one by the other by the other, and what was so overwhelming to see, Fredricka, was just the amount of children that were there.

I kept asking parents like, how do you explain this to your child? You heard seven-year-olds saying things like school is canceled because war is here, which just always shakes you, but I was also speaking to this young 18-year-old woman, she had fled home with nothing but the backpack on her. You could tell she was just a normal teenager, she had "Stranger Things" sticker on the back of her backpack, and she told me "I've had to grow up really fast. I might have to go look for a job. I have to help my family. I have to figure out what's next."

And what's really concerning for these families is they don't have a plan here, Fredricka. Many of them, despite the reports we're hearing from eastern Ukraine, just want to stick it out. They believe that they can go home, they don't want to leave their country.

This is something that will affect generations to come as they try to find a future here and no one knows, none of these families know if they'll ever be able to go home -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh. And then Salma, what do you know about these reports that in Mariupol, where the City Council is saying Ukrainians have been forced to go to Russia against their will and they are being held there?

ABDELAZIZ: These are very disturbing reports coming from the Mariupol City Council that say this is a continuation of Russian tactics against the civilians of that city, a continuation of terrorizing the people of Mariupol.

We understand that over the course of the last week, again, this is according to Mariupol City Council officials. They say over the course of the last week, hundreds of people have been rounded up, hundreds of residents, some of them being taken from shelters where they were hiding from bombardment. They were taken from these shelters brought to camps where their documents were checked, their phones were checked. They were then redirected to other cities and villages across Russia.

Some of them, their fate is unknown. The mayor of Mariupol City says, this is a war crime. These are abductions against the people of Mariupol, and it is part of that huge campaign you just heard from my colleague, Fred Pleitgen there about the bombardment, the bombings of these shelters in Mariupol, as well. That's why President Zelenskyy says there are war crimes being committed in Mariupol. He believes that this is a campaign to force the people of Mariupol to their knees, essentially, to bomb them into submission.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That is alarming. I mean, these examples of war crimes seems to be mounting and continues.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.

So, even as Russian forces continue their brutal invasion, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says he is ready to talk about peace.

Here is what he told CNN's Fareed Zakaria, in an exclusive interview earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": President Biden has called Vladimir Putin a war criminal. And yet, you have called for negotiations with him. Will it be hard? Will it be a painful for you to have to sit down with Putin were he to agree and negotiate with him?

ZELENSKYY (through translator): I'm ready for negotiations with him. I was ready over the last two years, and I think that without negotiations, we cannot end this war. I think that all the people who think that this dialogue is very shallow and that is not going to resolve anything, they just don't understand that this is very valuable.

[15:10:16]

ZELENSKYY (through translator): If there is just one percent chance for us to stop this war, I think that we need to take this chance, we need to do that. I can tell you about the result of this negotiation. So in any case, we are losing people on a daily basis, innocent people on the ground.

The Russian forces have come to exterminate us, to kill us, and we have demonstrated the dignity of our people and our army that we are able to deal a powerful blow, we are able to strike back.

But unfortunately, our dignity is not going to preserve the lives. So I think that we have to use any format, any chance in order to have a possibility of negotiating, the possibility of talking to Putin.

But if these attempts fail, that would mean that this is a Third World War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, U.S. officials confirm to CNN that Russia launched hypersonic missiles against Ukraine. Russia rather sending a message to the west about their military capabilities. We'll discuss with a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Rescue operations are underway at a Ukrainian military barracks in the city of Mykolaiv. It was targeted by Russian missile strikes on Friday.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is at the scene of the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Potentially one of the largest losses of Ukrainian military life in this war so far that we know of and what we do know is still relatively slight.

I'm hearing from Ukrainian officials that certainly 20, possibly 30 or 40 soldiers' lives may have been lost in this startlingly devastating explosion at two separate military buildings quite close to the city center of Mykolaiv where I'm standing. One of those buildings torn frankly in two by the blast; another, reduced to rubble. We met some of the soldiers who were injured in that devastating series of blasts in hospital, bewildered. One man lying there, reciting the names of his friends asking how they were. Another man whose legs had been heavily damaged, reduced to tears.

This was a military target, certainly, but that doesn't reduce the human tragedy of those killed or injured there. We understand the injuries may be close to 40, as well. And this is as I say, a military target, but a sign again of what we're seeing now as a pattern of Russia's behavior across the country using heavy weapons, often-guided missiles at this stage in the conflict to exact a heavy price against targets.

This one military, but so often across the country, and here in Mykolaiv, it's been civilian targets that have been pounded by rockets and we have seen in some of the residential complexes here, the damage that has done, but that is, despite the fact that Russia appears certainly here around Mykolaiv to be losing ground against Ukrainian forces.

And we've seen that along the main road from here. Mykolaiv down to Kherson which was the first city Russia captured and remains really the only city Russia has held, but still against that, Ukrainian forces are pushing back down the road away from here in Mykolaiv.

And so there are two elements to this war, a persistent pattern on the ground that Russia is not gaining terrain. In fact, finding itself in a stalemate or even around here, losing part of the terrain, it thought it had gained, but at the same time, they are exacting a vengeful cost through heavy weapons, sometimes against military targets, so much at the time against civilian targets and here in Mykolaiv, causing utter devastation so close to the heart of the city.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk more about what could be next for Ukraine. Joining me right now is retired Army General and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark. Good to see you.

So this attack on the military base in Mykolaiv is, is this Russian forces expanding the range of their attacks? Are they trying to send a particular message?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it's both. They would -- they are not able to move forward on the ground the way they want. They're using high technology weaponry to strike military targets when they can be identified and in this case, they identified one and hit it and it was with a frightful cost.

Now the question is, what could have been done to prevent it? Ukrainian soldiers shouldn't be sleeping in their barracks. That's the first thing. They should be dispersed. But secondly, did we have any information about it? And are we sharing the appropriate degree of Intelligence with our Ukrainian counterparts? We don't know about that publicly, but it is a question that has to be asked.

And then there's the question of what does all this mean, as President Zelenskyy said, all of this resistance, and so forth, is not saving lives. And so the pressure is growing on President Zelenskyy to make some kind of concession. The problem, Fredricka, is that any negotiation that comes out of this is going to reflect the facts on the ground.

And until there is a stronger showing by the Ukrainian forces, and these Russian forces are pushed back and out, what you're going to get is a weakened, probably disarmed probably neutralized Ukraine, which is essentially what Putin wants, and it will serve as a springboard for further Russian aggression.

So we have the NATO ministers and NATO heads of state rather meeting on Thursday in Brussels. Surely, they are going to review this. Can they give more assistance to Ukraine? What is it they're hoping for? Do they think they can just draw a red line around NATO and say to Putin, you can do what you want outside of this, and we'll try our best, but it's not important enough to take a risk, or will they take greater risk to try to give President Zelenskyy the assistance he is asking for, like some kind of airplane or some greater air cover? We just don't know and it's all in doubt right now.

[15:20:28]

WHITFIELD: Yes, and perhaps in that meeting later in the week, of course, President Biden will be in attendance there, will be reconsiderations about that whole notion of the no-fly zone. We know that the U.S. and other allied nations have said no to it because it would escalate. But at this point, isn't it Russia, which is escalating matters in Ukraine unprovoked anyway?

CLARK: Certainly, but the no-fly zone, it is a straw man. I mean, what people are really asking for is give them some air support and they are not asking for a legal no-fly zone. You have to go into the airspace, if you're going to do this, and it is to make Russia do the confrontation with us.

We don't have to go into the airspace and seek out every Russian air defense site. If they attack us, then we attack them. It is Ukrainian airspace. These are Ukrainian borders. This is Ukrainian sovereign territory.

And so if we are arguing as we have that we must maintain the rules- based international order, that rule is international law and we have to recognize it and give allegiance to it. So far, what is happening is --

WHITFIELD: But hasn't that been the argument -- hasn't that been the argument, though, that this no-fly zone, imposing it would provoke Russia to strike and that is what NATO allies are reticent about it. They are afraid that they'd have to then be engaged.

CLARK: Sure. And that's why I say, Fredricka, it's a straw man argument. It's constructed so that you can't do it. If you want to provide them air support, let them have more MiGs. If you want to provide NATO aircraft to escort humanitarian convoy, do it. It is Ukraine's airspace.

WHITFIELD: Well, you heard Russia's response to that, too, is that that, you know, any nation doing that, handing over MiGs would then be a provocation.

CLARK: Well, you know, it's not Russia's airspace. It's Ukraine's airspace, Fredricka. And if we believe in international law, then are we going to take any risk to defend it or not?

And so the way these operations have to be done is you have to put the onus for the escalation on Russia.

WHITFIELD: Sure.

CLARK: If you can't do this, we can't deal with Taiwan or the Baltics. We have to think our way through this.

WHITFIELD: I got-cha, and I am not arguing with you. I am simply -- you know, pressing you on the questions because that is the argument. These are the arguments that NATO allies, including the U.S. have made, and I'm just kind of offering those notions so that you can respond because that is what they're going to be discussing further this week.

Let me also ask you this. We've got new satellite images of a dam, north of Kyiv that is flooding, and may hinder the Russian advance even further. Where does the Russian attack on Kyiv stand as you see it, particularly with these images?

CLARK: Well, in the area where that flooding is take place, there is no Russian advance there. They're bogged down. But it is not closing in on Kyiv.

The weather there is still unfavorable, the ground is soft. They are road bound, and the Ukrainians are fighting brilliantly to push the Russians back from around Kyiv, so that at least is working so far.

If they can keep them out of the artillery range with these very heavy multiple rocket launchers that have the fuel or explosives, that's a really great thing. But elsewhere in the country, the Russians are still advancing, especially east of the Dnieper River, and so this is a multi-front war for Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: General Wesley Clark, always good to see you. Thank you so much for your point of view.

CLARK: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court nomination, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. It is set to begin tomorrow. How the televised hearings could spotlight the right word "trajectory" of America's Highest Court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:28:57]

WHITFIELD: Confirmation hearings are set to begin tomorrow for President Biden's U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Biden has tapped Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Jackson currently serves on the Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. and would be the first Black woman to sit on the nation's Highest Court if confirmed.

Joan Biskupic is a U.S. Supreme Court biographer and a CNN legal analyst. Joan, so good to see you, as always. So you have a new piece on cnn.com today, and you right, "Jackson's hearings will showcase her status as the first Black woman nominated to the High Court. Yet, the televised sessions will also bring into national focus the trajectory of America's Highest Court now controlled by a conservative supermajority."

Tell us how you think that will impact the hearings.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: So good to see you, Fredricka.

This is such a dramatic moment. You know, first of all, the history making nomination we have here and then also this transformative moment for the Supreme Court. The justices have already cut back on voting rights and racial remedies and they are poised to obliterate abortion rights and gun control possibilities in the cities.

[15:30:09]

BISKUPIC: So with this six-Justice conservative majority, it's really a different court now, obviously solidified by Donald Trump's three appointees. So as much as Republican senators will be critical of Judge Jackson and try to pin her down, perhaps portray her as quote, "soft on crime," they are not going to go all out in an assault to try to block her because this is a one for one switch.

She would be succeeding Stephen Breyer, as you mentioned, who is one of the three remaining liberals on the court. And then for Democrats' part, Fredricka, as much as they are so disappointed in the Court as it stands, they do not want to raise any topic that could possibly derail the first Democratic nominee in 12 years.

WHITFIELD: She has been in this position before, you know, confirmation hearings before, the process of being questioned on the bench. But this, of course, might be a little different. How do we expect she may have prepared for this moment given that it's starting tomorrow?

BISKUPIC: Well, you're exactly right. She has been through this three different times when she was nominated to the U.S. Sentencing Commission and to a Trial Court position by former President Barack Obama, and then just last year, when she was named to the prominent U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by President Biden. So she has been through it. She has got plenty of talking points ready for the kinds of things that we believe her Republican critics will raise, especially, you know, Fredricka, we've talked about how historic she is as the first African-American woman to be nominated, but she is also the first nominee since the 60s with Thurgood Marshall, who has significant experience representing criminal defendants.

And that has given some Republicans an opening in their mind to say, you know, are you soft on crime? Have you defended people who are, you know, bad for the community? And the way she handled it last time was to say, everyone deserves strong representation, and that that experience helped her in the wider world of understanding our criminal justice system.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned soft on crime, that's going to be one criticism. A few G.O.P. senators have already, you know, raised concerns about Judge Jackson's judicial record. But this is what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell actually had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I'm going to listen to the hearings, and by the way, she will be treated much better than Democrats have typically treated Republican nominees like Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. It'll be a respectful deep dive into her record, which I think is entirely appropriate for a lifetime appointment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, he sounds like he wants to remain neutral. Is there a way in which to gauge other Republican senators?

BISKUPIC: Well, you know, he is in the camp of those who, as you say are -- well, first of all, he is not on the committee, so he would not be doing any of the serious questioning beginning this week.

WHITFIELD: Right away.

BISKUPIC: But exactly right. And you've got -- but you have senators like Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, who have already laid down marker saying they want to come on much stronger.

So I think Frederica, that clip you just played shows that Republicans are of two minds here. Some will come on strong, and some will just wait and see.

WHITFIELD: You touched on this. This is a historic moment. This President pledged to nominate a Black woman to the bench and now following through with this.

BISKUPIC: You know, that's exactly right and when you look back at the few diverse justices we've had in history starting in 1967 with Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice, then 1981, the first woman Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, I remember, one of my biographies, Fredricka, as you know was about Justice O'Connor, and you can't believe how much her nomination by Ronald Reagan, a Republican, really energized women across the country. And I think that is what we're seeing here with Judge Jackson now.

So many women of color, who are in the law have been treating this with, you know, such enthusiasm and I think even people, you know, irrespective of their sex and their color, really see this as an important moment in a court that is 233 years old.

WHITFIELD: You know and we already heard from her when she said she understands the gravity of this position, given that she was a clerk of Justice Breyer and then now, here she is selected, she says not to fill his shoes, you know, but you know, the position and she will do the best that she can. Perhaps she in a way comes to this with an advantage because she has been to a clerk of Justice Breyer.

BISKUPIC: Oh, definitely. I have to say that in recent years when nominees have been former law clerks, it does make them part of a very elite group, which some people would criticize, but it also makes the learning curve much easier.

And plus, she has been a judge for nearly a decade, so that will help to, but she knows the routine, her fellow Justices will know her right away, and one other thing about her, you know, here we are the day before her hearings are going to start, but if she serves as long as her predecessor, Justice Breyer has served, 28 years, she'll be around for nearly three decades influencing the law of the land, and perhaps being part of some change at the Supreme Court that right now is very much locked in concrete, six to three, conservative liberal.

WHITFIELD: Right, and she is 51, right?

BISKUPIC: She is only 51. That's right.

WHITFIELD: Yes, a spring chicken.

BISKUPIC: And you know, in Supreme Court terms that is so young, and the only one younger than her right now would be Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who in January turned 50 years old.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Joan Biskupic, thank you so much. Good to see you.

BISKUPIC: Good to see you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a man of Jewish heritage responds to Putin claiming the Ukrainian government is full of quote, "Neo Nazis."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Today, another civilian target was bombed in Mariupol, Ukraine, an art school where 400 people were seeking shelter. Officials don't yet have information on casualty. Folks fleeing violence in Mariupol have found refuge in an unlikely place in the town of Dnipro, a children's arcade and that's where we find CNN's Ivan Watson. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Normally, this is an arcade, a place where children come and play laser tag. Instead, now that there's this awful war in Ukraine, people have been using this as an improvised shelter.

The owners have opened up their doors to ordinary Ukrainian civilians who for the most part, have been fleeing the port city of Mariupol, which has been under Russian siege for weeks now, and we've been talking to some of these displaced Ukrainians who have described horrific conditions where they are hiding in basements, where there is no electricity, no running water, no heat. Constant bombardment from warplanes, from artillery rockets, and even now in our reports from Russian ships in the Black Sea.

What the owners here have done is they have provided a space for families that have endured the unspeakable to come here and get several days of rest and relative quiet, which is really a blessing and we can see that children have really responded positively in this space that was quite honestly built for them in the first place.

The attacks and the horrors in Mariupol for the parents, though, it's really traumatizing. And we've been talking to people who have left behind parents and grandparents who are still under Russian bombardment, people who are now trying to figure out where to take their families left if there are other safe places in this country.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Mariupol had a population of more than 400,000 people.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And in the lead up to the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to rid the country of what he called Neo Nazis.

Well, that comment was particularly insulting to Ukraine's President Zelenskyy who is Jewish.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria earlier today, Zelenskyy talked about his family's history with fighting fascism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): My grandfather and his four brothers were living in an ordinary village, and then the Second World War started. My grandfather was graduating from the military college at that time, and all of his brothers went to war because their father said that they had to protect the country.

They had to fight fascists, so they went to war, and all the brothers died. When Russians are telling about Neo Nazis and they turn to me, I just reply that I have lost my entire family in the war, because all of them were exterminated during World War Two.

When some politicians in the Russian Federation are raising this topic of Neo Nazis and fascism is related to me, I have a question that well, my biography is open and everything -- everyone is well aware of my biography.

You can find facts about my family in open sources.

They cannot just say about their feelings that Ukraine is a betrayer or that we are Neo Nazis because Russians are acting in the same manner as Neo Nazis at the moment.

[15:45:10]

ZELENSKYY (through translator): If you take a look at the history at scientific materials, you can just look at what Nazis did. They blockaded Kyiv, they blockaded all other cities to prevent the supplies of water and food and this is exactly what Russians are doing now. This is what they are doing in Mariupol.

They are just going to the cities saying that everything is going to be all right and that this is Russian territory, they're just claiming it. So their methods have remained unchanged.

The fact is that they are portraying the history of their own homeland. Because what we are having now in Mariupol, in Kyiv, they had the same in Leningrad, which is now Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad.

Everyone knows how many people died during the blockade of Leningrad. These people did not have enough food and water. This is exactly what is happening in Ukraine.

So who is the Nazi?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He knows his history. Russia's invasion is also having major impacts on travel.

Airlines like Finnair that routinely fly over Russia for destinations in Asia are now being forced to find alternative routes. Russia closed off its airspace to carriers in 36 countries in response to the European Union's shutdown of airspace to Russian flights.

Many airlines now opting to fly over the North Pole to avoid Russian air space, but that is lengthening now travel times. A typical flight from Helsinki to Tokyo could take nine hours usually, well now, that flight can take more than 20 hours.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:51:19]

WHITFIELD: A chaotic and violent scene at a car show in Arkansas. Gunshots fired into a crowd, one person was killed. At least six children were among the two dozen people wounded.

CNN's Isabel Rosales here with more on all of this. This is just never ending.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Unfortunately, a reality of America nowadays, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ROSALES: We are finding out that one suspect is in custody there in Dumas, in what happened there, but this investigation is still far from over.

Authorities are still looking for a group of people, individuals that they believe fired into the crowd there at the car show altogether. One person was killed, 24 were injured. And Fred, as you mentioned, children, at least six children were involved in all of this.

The good news that we have from the hospital over in Little Rock is that those were non-life threatening injuries and most of those children have since been released from the hospital.

But I do want you to take a look at this map right now. This was just one of several shootings that happened across the southeast over the weekend involving at least eight cities.

Over in Dallas, Texas, one overnight shooting, one person was killed, multiple others were wounded. Dallas Police have released their limited details about what exactly happened there. They're saying that this is a very active investigation, and about 200 miles down to the south in Austin, Texas, another shooting there during the final weekend of South by Southwest. Nobody there was killed.

And over in Norfolk, Virginia, a Virginian pilot newspaper reporter and sadly, a former CNN news assistant, this hitting close to home here, she was killed there in Norfolk, Sierra Jenkins. That was her name. She was 25 years old. That happened Saturday morning.

And we're hearing from police there that it left one other person dead. Three others were hurt. Norfolk Police say that Jenkins was actually leaving a restaurant early in the morning when an argument started outside of that establishment and gunshots just rang out.

Our affiliate in Norfolk WTKR spoke with the victim's father and he described her as hard working as someone who just loved being a journalist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURICE JENKINS, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: For something like this to happen, like, there can't be that there's no bigger shock than that. I'm assuming it happened right here, and I just wanted to come here because something just made me feel like I just, you know, needed to just come and be where she was last at.

All kinds of life and opportunity ahead of her, but it was cut short because of senseless violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Right, senseless violence. That's often what we hear, right? It makes just no sense. And authorities there in Norfolk, Norfolk Police are still investigating that. They are asking anyone with any information to give them a call.

WHITFIELD: Okay, and our hearts go out to the Jenkins family. This is crushing.

ROSALES: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Isabel Rosales. Good to see you.

ROSALES: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield, thank you so much for being with me this afternoon. More NEWSROOM continues with Jim Acosta after this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DENISE WOODARD, FOUNDER, PARTAKE FOODS: Partake Foods makes delicious allergy friendly foods.

Did you like the beans? Great.

The inspiration behind Partake is my daughter, Vivienne. Shortly after her first birthday, we learned that she had several food allergies. When I set out to find safe snacks for Vivienne, I walked away frustrated and disappointed.

The products had ingredients I did not feel good giving her and they didn't taste very good either.

In August of 2017, I left my job in corporate America and I sold cookies out of my car to natural food stores around the New York City area.

Success did not come overnight.

Fundraising was one of the biggest challenges. We got nearly 100 no's before we got to yes.

[15:55:08]

WOODARD: I emptied my 401(k). I maxed out all of my credit cards. I sold my engagement ring to fund the business.

The turning point was raising a million dollar seed round led by Marcy Venture Partners, which Jay-Z cofounded.

Partake has grown from 350 stores at the end of 2019 to over 8,000 in 2022. My revenue has grown over 4,000 percent.

As the first Black woman to raise a million dollars for a package food company, I feel really proud, but I also feel a deep responsibility to help change that statistic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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