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Kyiv's Mayor Says At Least One Person Killed After More Explosions Rocked Ukraine's Capital City; Interview with Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) about Humanitarian Crisis from Russia's War on Ukraine; Justice Clarence Thomas Hospitalized with Flu-Like Symptoms; Volunteer Nurses Make an Effort to Save Vulnerable Orphan Children in Ukraine; Interview with Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA); Sirens Blare in War-Torn Ukraine; U.S. Identifies Four U.S. Marines Killed in NATO Training Crash. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 20, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:51]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Top of the hour now, our breaking news. Kyiv's mayor says at least one person has been killed after more explosions rocked Ukraine's capital city.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: And I'm Don Lemon in Lviv, Ukraine. Let's get right to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen. He is in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv.

Fred, hello to you. You heard the explosions. What are you learning?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don. Yes, we certainly heard the explosion, we felt the explosion as well. This happened about, I'd say about 1 1/2 hours ago when all of a sudden there was a pretty loud impact that could be heard. And you're absolutely right, the Kyiv mayor now saying at least one person was killed.

All this took place, say about, a little over six miles from where we are right now, and the area that was hit apparently was a business district and residential district as well. It's unclear, doesn't appear there's much in the way of military targets over there. Also not clear what exactly was dropped whether or not this was some larger rocket or some larger bomb.

One of the things, though, that we have seen over the past couple of days is the Russians firing some pretty heavy ordinance with rockets at Kyiv and in some cases Ukrainian air defenses taking out rockets but the warheads still remaining intact and then dropping on areas in the city. Again absolutely unclear whether or not that's what happened now but certainly from some of the images, the early images that we've been seeing it certainly looked like a massive impact and I can tell you it sounded and felt like a massive impact as well.

This comes on a night, Don, where we have to say, this city is very much under aerial attack by the Russian military we heard surface-to- air weapons going off. We saw them going off as well, both cannons as well as surface-to-air missiles trying to fire at whatever they were seeing in the air. We also saw sort of illuminated dot move across the city in the air which may or may not have been a Russian aircraft, certainly it appeared to be what these cannons were firing at.

And we've had air sirens on various occasions tonight as well. So a lot going on here in the Ukrainian capital. Already one person dead and certainly a massive explosion that took place here not too long ago and it certainly appears as though this night could be one that will remain very busy here in the Ukrainian capital and certainly for those defending the aerial space above it as well, Don.

LEMON: Frederik Pleitgen, on our breaking news, he'll continue to update.

Moments ago the mayor of Kyiv said one person has been killed after explosions hit residential and business areas in the capital. Paramedics, rescuers and police are on the scene for us.

Frederik Pleitgen is on the story for us.

In the meantime, here in the Lviv, there's a very surreal feeling to be in a city that is under the threat of attack. And I just want to show you what it is like, Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So I just want to walk you through what Lviv looks like. Typically a bustling city. You can see there's still traffic. We're a couple of blocks from the city center. Just in case, you've seen buildings with sandbags for protection. I just want to walk through here. There's still some folks out, see people here walking their dogs.

So just remember, sometimes the air raid sirens go off and people take cover. That's one reason you see the sandbags and such, but I want to walk over to the park here. There is a curfew that starts in a couple of hours, 10:00, where everyone has to be inside. It appears to be a bit darker than normal, it's definitely very quiet here. Curfew fairly close, within a couple of minutes. If you look that way you see a city bus there.

An electric bus still going on their way. Someone walking here, but if you walk through here, what I find is very interesting in this park. There are signs here, typical park that you might see in any city. Life may appear to be somewhat normal at any given time but then there are also really stark reminders as we continue to walk here and this really sets the scene for exactly where we are and the conditions that we're facing.

Not far from the bustling city, at any point, you may find a bunker just in case there is shelling and bombing and folks have to take cover.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:05:13]

LEMON (on camera): And some of those bomb shelters there are just digging out, just a couple days ago after this all started. Again, it's all essential personnel, emergency workers, and there are armed officers out on the street making sure that the people abide by the curfew.

In the meantime, I want to have a conversation now because tonight U.S. lawmakers are in Eastern Europe to get a firsthand look at the humanitarian crisis created by Putin's war on Ukraine, so let's bring in a few folks here, the leader of the bipartisan delegation, Congressman Stephen Lynch joins us, along with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree.

I'm so happy to have both of you on. Thank you very much for joining.

Congressman, I'm going to start with you. You chair the House National Security Subcommittee. Why bring this group of lawmakers to Eastern Europe?

REP. STEPHEN LYNCH (D-MA): Well, the central reason, Don, is we have six lawmakers, three Democrats and three Republicans. The central reason is to show support, bipartisan support of Congress for the people of Ukraine. And also to reaffirm our commitment to NATO, you know, we've had great cooperation from the Polish people. As you know, we've had over two million refugees go into Poland and every single one of them has been placed in a private home.

The Polish people have welcomed them into their homes so we wanted to say thank you for that cooperation and that generosity. And just to strengthen the partnership that we're going to need to get through this.

LEMON: Congressman, Putin has reportedly finally agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for peace talks. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is warning of World War III if peace talks fail. But you say now is not the time. Do you still hold to that?

LYNCH: Well, as we continue to have these attacks, so I don't have a lot of trust in Vladimir Putin. Remember, this was the same country that denied that they would ever, and they still deny in some circles that there's an invasion going on. So for meaningful dialogue, meaningful diplomacy to work, you need to have some demonstration that they're going to live by their word and we don't see that yet.

What we see is attacks on the civilian population. So that's extremely troubling. I think there will be, hopefully, an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and diplomacy, but not while Putin is killing innocent civilians.

LEMON: Representative Pingree, what's your take on this? What have you seen so far? REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Well, this has been a great opportunity

to be able to, you know, see what our constituents want us to know more about there, you know, everyone is so troubled, we hear a tremendous amount from people in our district, you know, why aren't we getting more, is the aid getting through. So this has been an opportunity to hear directly from the military about how fast the weapons are moving in, from humanitarian agencies about where they can get food, where they can't, how the supply lines are working.

And then we've had a chance to talk to individuals. We were at the train station today and, you know, we see the mothers with their kids, with, you know, big bags full of their stuff, you know, a few toys, warm weather clothes. And, you know, these aren't giant, you know, Samsonite rolling luggage. They're carrying big bags and just barely what -- you know, just barely what they could get out with.

So, of course, that's very moving, but our constituents want us to know, like, what are you doing, can you do more, why can't we stop this now, and I think being able to be here firsthand is a way to really connect on that, get the information from the inside, talk to the humanitarian agency. We've talked to, you know, a Ukrainian parliamentarian. It's really important given all the decisions that have to be made to be here and to see it.

LEMON: You know, Representative Lynch said that he's not optimistic about peace talks. How do you feel about that, Congresswoman?

PINGREE: Well, of course, we're all so impressed by the strength of the Ukrainian people, you know, grandmothers standing up to tanks, you know, an incredibly diligent military that's fighting very hard. This is a decision of President Zelenskyy. I mean this is a decision for the Ukrainian people. And we can't decide for them. You know, what are they willing to negotiate on, when is going to be OK, but I whole- heartedly agree, Putin is a war criminal.

What's going on is really unthinkable. And, you know, we see it on TV, we see innocent children, hospitals being bombed, you know, things that just, you know, aren't done, you know, aren't done in civilized society.

[19:10:05]

So I agree we have to see them pull back. We should be doing that now, allowing for humanitarian (INAUDIBLE), allowing for aid to get in, but in the end, whether or not they have a peace talk, whether or not they go to negotiations, you know, they have a very able government and that is their decision. We're here to support them as, you know, the United States is supplying, you know, tremendous amount of aid. We just appropriated more money and we will continue to be there to support them and certainly, you know, help in any way we can.

LEMON: Representative Stephen Lynch and Chellie Pingree, thank you so much for joining us from Poland, by the way. Appreciate that.

LYNCH: Thank you, Don.

PINGREE: Thank you so much.

LEMON: Pamela Brown, back to you.

BROWN: All right, Don, we'll take it from here in Washington. Be back to you in Ukraine shortly.

Yesterday, we showed you one of the images that will come to define Vladimir Putin's brutal and senseless invasion of Ukraine. A bruised and bandaged mother breastfeeding her month-old baby. Olga and her husband Dmitro were at home when shelling blue out their windows showering them with glass. Olga's heroism likely saved the child's life. And today she talked about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLGA, UKRAINIAN MOTHER (through translator): I was wounded in the head and blood started flowing. And it all flowed on the baby and I couldn't understand. I thought it was her blood. Dmitro was taking the baby away. I'm screaming that she is covered all in glass, all in blood. He tells me, Olga, it's your blood, it's not hers.

And in the morning I woke up to feed the baby again. I gave her a bath, and I just sat down to feed her, and I like to sit down with knees up like this, and I cover her with the blanket so she's warm, too, and that's what kept the baby alive. I just got her covered in time and then Dmitro jumped up and covered us, too.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Gives you chills, doesn't it? Well, the family is now recovering in a Kyiv hospital.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, and when we come back on this Sunday, street by street, my next guest studies Russian military tactics for a living and he tells me how the battle for Mariupol likely will play out.

Also ahead tonight, united they stand. President Biden heads for Europe to rally world leaders to punish Vladimir Putin. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:32]

BROWN: We're following breaking news Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the hospital tonight. We're just learning about this. Let's get right to CNN's Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic.

Joan, what are you learning?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: This just came through like three minutes ago, Pamela. Justice Thomas, who's 73 years old, was admitted to Sibley Hospital here in Washington, D.C. on Friday evening with flu-like symptoms. He was treated with antibiotics. They say that his condition is now abating but he's going to be in the hospital for another couple of days. They've put it out, made it sound as if he can still participate in cases in some way, that justices are back tomorrow, the same day that we're going to have the hearings for Judge Jackson.

But it's doesn't -- it's hard to know how serious it is. He's already going to be in the hospital for, you know, several days. We know that it doesn't sound like it's COVID-related because they've described it as flu-like symptoms, that he's being treated with antibiotics for. And I do want to tell you that we don't know if he's ever had COVID but we do know that he has gotten all the COVID shots and the boosters because the court has said that.

Just not sure how serious. It doesn't -- it says that his symptoms are abating but as I said, he's 73 years old to be in the hospital for a couple of days so we really wish that this is something that is -- that he's on the recovery now and that we'll learn more sooner rather than later, but this is the only word that came out so far. It was from the court's spokeswoman Patricia McCabe and hopefully we'll know a little bit more tomorrow.

But, you know, Justice Thomas is quite a force on this Supreme Court. Here he is after 30 decades. He was put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush. He was always seen as sort of on the fringe for his far-right conservatism but now the court has gotten so conservatism that he's in the vanguard. This is really Justice Thomas's time. Some people have, you know, sort of kiddingly referred to it as Thomas's court, Chief Justice Thomas.

I would never go that far myself, but I'm just telling you that he's in a much -- he's playing a much larger role on this Supreme Court, and he is the most, the most senior justice besides the chief, just by virtue of his tenure there, so this is, you know, I'm sure it's going to rattle some people.

I do not know about any other health problems he's had through the years. He has not missed court. He's tended to be there. We'd always been watching like Justice Ginsberg, obviously.

BROWN: Right. I was going to bring that up, right.

BISKUPIC: And Justice Sotomayor who happens to be a diabetic, has always taken very strong precautions during COVID. Justice Ginsberg, before she passed away, did hear oral arguments from a hospital up at Johns Hopkins. I don't know if that will be the case for Justice Thomas this week. The court will be sitting on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and they have piped in justices in the past and maybe there's a chance we'll hear his very booming baritone asking questions this week or maybe not. Maybe he'll just have to rest up a while and then come back at 100 percent strength later in the month.

BROWN: We'll have to watch and see.

BISKUPIC: Yes.

BROWN: But the statement is encouraging in that it says he should be released in a day or two and that they did find the infection so therefore they're giving him the antibiotics to treat it.

BISKUPIC: That's right.

BROWN: So -- but still an important development. A lot of Supreme Court news going on on this Sunday night.

Joan Biskupic, thank you.

BISKUPIC: Thank you.

BROWN: Sending it back to you now, Don, who is in Lviv for us tonight -- Don.

[19:20:05]

LEMON: You're right about that. And the timing, I mean, can you imagine the timing here on the eve of confirmation hearings? We'll keep you updated on that.

Pamela, thank you very much.

Up next, man, from insult to injury, really. We're going to hear from Ukrainian heroes here in Lviv trying to save some of the youngest victims of Putin's war. We're talking about orphans. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This next story, you know, talks about the ripple effect of war. It really defines that and what's going on here.

[19:25:03]

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz now joins me here in Lviv.

Salma, you've been working to track down children who had to be evacuated from an orphanage, I mean it is unbelievable what they're dealing with. Tell us what you came across and what's going on.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this was an orphanage in a very hard-hit area of Sumy. This is one of the places where there's the fiercest fighting. This orphanage had 71 children that basically their caretakers took them into a basement for two weeks.

LEMON: Wow.

ABDELAZIZ: These children who had medical conditions, some of them had disabilities, cerebral palsy, health issues, and they had to be treated in basements with these caretakers for two weeks until a humanitarian corridor opened up but you can imagine that journey was not easy to get them to Kyiv. I want you to take a listen to what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just four baby in the car going from Sumy to Kyiv during six hours. Without a doctor, just a driver. Just a driver. Children don't die.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: So they took these 71 kids. They divide them up over just four ambulances. You had multiple children in each ambulance. There was only two doctors so there was ambulances where there was multiple children and no doctors, and they're driving out of a warzone for six hours to kind of the safety of Kyiv.

We hear that some of them now are going to make it here to us in Lviv. We're going to try to track them when they arrive tomorrow, but it's just another sign of very young, innocent children caught in the crosshairs, caught in the crossfire, and these humanitarian corridors, Don, they're supposed to work, right. Supposed to be in agreement. Oftentimes, Ukrainian forces say they're being shelled by Russian artillery.

LEMON: We're talking children of what ages? From very --

ABDELAZIZ: From one month.

LEMON: My gosh.

ABDELAZIZ: These nurses showed me a child that was just one month old. One was on a feeding tube. One needed a heart operation. So these are kids that are extremely vulnerable and again, these nurses are telling me they're orphans, right, so they said we are their moms and dads now, until we find a solution.

LEMON: Salma, thank you very much. We look forward to more of your reporting on this. We really appreciate it, Salma Abdelaziz.

Now I want to bring in now Congresswoman Jackie Speier. The congresswoman is a Democrat who sits on the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees.

Thank you very much. I have to get you to respond to the story that Salma just brought to us. I mean it really shows you, you know, the horrors of war and just the inhumanity in, you know, what Russia is doing and Vladimir Putin is doing to the people of Ukraine.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): You know, as I was listening to the story, Don, my eyes started to tear up. I mean I cannot believe that these fragile infants and children are not being protected in this war area. I mean these humanitarian corridors must be respected and I don't know what else we can do to make sure this happens but there are -- you know, 44 million people that live in Ukraine. And already, 10 million of them have been displaced, half of them children.

Some of them have left the country but I mean there's still so many Ukrainians in the country that need to find safety and these corridors can't be trusted.

LEMON: Let's talk about the president's visit to Europe. He's going to travel to Europe in a few days to meet with world leaders and discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Congresswoman. Jen Psaki says the president will not visit Ukraine during the trip. Would you have been shocked if he planned a stop here?

SPEIER: You know, they would never actually announce that or telegraph that. It wouldn't surprise me if he does, but it's not going to be announced. So I think this meeting is critical, though, because it's probably going to result in more sanctions, more efforts to provide aid to Ukraine by the NATO countries, including the United States, and conceivably if there's unison, they will now reject Russian oil which would really be a very significant step.

LEMON: Yes, it was, you know, I was just talking in the break with Salma, we're here, we're saying there's no way that they would announce a trip like this. This isn't some Christmas or holiday visit to, you know, a base in Iraq or a base where we have American soldiers who are on the ground who have been fighting a war that has been going on. So I think you're right on about that.

Zelenskyy says that he is ready for peace talks with Putin. If Putin proposes a deal, that includes Ukraine renouncing its ambitions to join NATO in exchange for peace, is that a valid negotiating point? I heard someone on earlier saying why is it the victim of terror, the victim of violence of war, why does the victim have to make a concession? What do you think of that? Is that a valid negotiating point?

[19:30:00]

SPEIER: Well, I think if President Zelenskyy can negotiate that deal, and peace can be at hand, and the Ukrainian people can continue to find ways to rebuild their country, that would be a great deal.

Now, I understand that it is the victim negotiating, but, you know, this country has already been invaded, and the rest of the world while we are providing aid hasn't done much more than that. So he is not in the strongest position, although it is remarkable that he has been able to hold the Russian military and protect Kyiv, which was supposed to be the linchpin for Putin.

And I think the resolve of the Ukrainian people is truly something that we should all look upon and see if we have that same resolve in our country.

LEMON: Well, let's talk about what has been done, because this week, the White House released a detailed list of weapons that it was providing as part of an $800 million package of arms to Ukraine. When does that equipment begin to arrive? What difference do you hope that it will make in this invasion?

SPEIER: Well, certainly the measures that we have actually authorized -- you know, the package itself is close to $13 billion, but this initial amount is including 800 stingers anti-aircraft, 9,000 anti- tank weapons, and some 20 million rounds of ammunition and also a hundred drones.

So that is a significant arsenal, and I believe that that is in the process now of being -- LEMON: Congresswoman, we will be watching as this continues, and we hope to have you back on. Thank you very much. We appreciate you appearing.

SPEIER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Thanks, Don. Just in to CNN, we have learned the names of the U.S. Marines killed Friday in the NATO training accident in Norway. Arlette Saenz has the details from the White House, after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:08]

LEMON: All right, welcome back now live to Lviv. You can hear the air raid sirens started going off about two minutes ago, as we were in the commercial break.

Now, I'll let you hear and listen for a little bit.

(AIR RAID SIREN AND WARNING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE.)

LEMON: It is accompanied by a man speaking Ukrainian and we're told this happens usually around 3:00 AM. It's 1:30 in the morning, so it's a little bit earlier. Many people when this happens, they go off to bomb shelters, one of which I showed you earlier in the program.

So this has been going on for about two or three minutes, and usually, they said it is followed up by an all-clear siren, but this has been going on for quite some time now. And this is what happens when you live under the threat of bombardment and missiles going off.

Lviv has been a fairly safe place, as safe as you could be in a war zone, and there has been some concern because there were rockets that made it all the way, 43 miles to the Polish border from Russia. So there is some concern about how close they were to Poland, which is a NATO country.

So again, these sirens have been going off. Again, many people take shelter and the facility that we were in, people also start to take shelter as well. But I mentioned to you earlier about how the city is usually bustling. It is a vibrant city. But right now, it is all dark. It is all quiet. Nothing works here.

The air raid sirens and the announcement has stopped.

Again, they say it's usually followed by an all clear siren. So we'll see if that indeed does happen. But it's one in the morning. Can you imagine living under these conditions? You're in your home with your children or you're home alone or what have you, and then you can be awakened at any moment at any time by air raid sirens and the possibility of what is to come when you get the air raid sirens. That is a warning of the possibility that something is coming or something is indeed coming here. So we'll continue to soldier on here and continue on with our program.

Pamela Brown is in Washington and I'm here in Lviv and we want to focus right now on the extreme southern part of this country. So I want to bring it now CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, he is Mykolaiv, a port city near the Black Sea.

Nick, that's where Russian bombs destroyed a Ukrainian military barracks just a couple of days ago. I want you to update us on that, please, and you are quite used to these air raid sirens going off. Update our viewers please, sir.

[19:40:06]

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Sure. The barracks you're referring to was hit dawn on Friday morning and it took a while for the information really to trickle out, but the images that emerged of the damage done are utterly shocking still. One of the barracks split in two.

I spoke to a soldier who told me in the trauma unit afterwards that he was on the third floor asleep, and then suddenly found himself on the second floor when the building collapsed. He sort of woke up in his t- shirt and underwear with his legs crushed, lost consciousness, and was in tears, frankly, as he described the scene, the loss of friends around him.

And another nearby barracks building reduced to rubble utterly destroyed by these intensive missile strikes. It seems the death toll have not been made public, Ukraine really does that for operational reasons, but maybe as large as 30, possibly more.

Hospital officials I spoke to said there were 40 injured from this one attack. That would make it one of the worst that Ukraine has suffered or we've known about publicly.

But also, too, this area has been on the end of Russian intensive firepower, really, I think, perhaps a reflection of how badly Russian forces are doing on the ground around this city on the Black Sea coast. It's essentially the sort of route that Russia has to take if it wants to get to the main port of Odessa, Ukraine's third largest city. They have to come through Mykolaiv, but they have pretty abysmally failed.

We were here two weeks ago, and you would see then the skyline frankly alight a lot of the night because of bombardment by Russian forces trying to get in. They failed to do that. They've been pushed back. We've seen how far back they were pushed today down the road towards Kherson, the main city on the Black Sea coast that Russia actually does still hold.

But of course, when Russia loses on the ground, it takes its frustration out with heavy firepower. We've been seeing some of that on the skyline today and last night as well. Distant rumble, what sounds like grad rockets hitting targets around here.

But also, too, Russia's Defense Ministry claim they used a hypersonic missile to hit a warehouse, an arms depot to the north of where I am around a place called Voznesens'k that may tally with a strike occurred by Ukrainian officials there in the last 48 hours, hard to tally them both.

Also, frankly, hard to see quite what a hypersonic missile is doing here, what its technological advantages are, makes for a great press release for a Russian military doing appalling badly on the field at the moment. But one important thing we're seeing here is a change in tactics. They are flat out losing on the ground here, Don.

The Russians so far, that could reverse, if they get their supply lines together, and instead, what we're seeing is heavy firepower being used to perhaps voice frustration, perhaps take revenge, but it doesn't seem to be changing the balance strategically on the ground -- Don.

LEMON: Nick Paton Walsh in Mykolaiv, just decimated by Russian bombardment. Thank you very much, Nick. We appreciate that.

Pamela, you see what's happening with Nick Paton Walsh and also, the air raid sirens that are going off here in Lviv. It is just -- you know, astounding, this Russian assault on the people of Ukraine.

BROWN: Yes, those air raid sirens just sounds so ominous, you know, and I -- it's just stunning. People like Nick Paton Walsh who have been there for quite some time hear that throughout the day, overnight. You're hearing it now in Lviv. It's 1:45 AM there.

I'm wondering how often it is related to a direct threat? You said it normally happens there in Lviv around 3:00 AM. Do you know about whether it actually is picking up a direct threat?

LEMON: Listen, I don't know that. I've only been here for a couple of hours. This is my first, you know, first evening on the job, so to speak here, but speaking to the security folks here and our correspondents and producers who have been here since the very beginning of this bombardment, they do go off occasionally, a couple of times, especially overnight.

But what we're being told, it usually starts about 3:00 AM and if there is a direct -- if it's going to be a direct assault, I think we would probably possibly get some warning here.

I don't believe that this is just as a precaution. I think that it is strategic that you know the Russians will use the cover of darkness and overnight hours when people are sleeping perhaps, they are thinking that Ukrainian soldiers may be sleeping or what have you, to try to, you know, at least bombard or initiate an assault on a city like Lviv.

But Lviv has been fairly safe. And you know, not like Kyiv, which you know they want the capital city unlike obviously, Mykolaiv which is just decimated. So we will see. You know, some things I am just learning and getting new details on as I am here on the ground and learning what's going on, but we are definitely going to be safe.

BROWN: We all just want you to be safe, Don.

[19:45:07]

LEMON: And we are going to talk to our folks in a moment and see if we need to take shelter.

BROWN: All right, thank you so much, Don. We appreciate that.

Just in, we are learning new details about the four U.S. Marines killed Friday in a NATO training accident in Norway. Arlette Saenz has more from the White House up next week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:50]

BROWN: Breaking News: U.S. military officials just releasing the names of the four U.S. Marines who died Friday in a NATO training accident in Norway. Let's go straight to CNN's Arlette Saenz at the White House.

Arlette, tell us the latest.

[19:50:05]

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela the Marine Corps tonight is confirming the death of former Marines in a NATO training exercise just south of Bodo, Norway on Friday.

The Norwegian Prime Minister had made this announcement over the weekend, but today, this is now the first confirmation of these deaths. All four Marines were part of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 and I want to read you those names. There was Captain Matthew Tomkiewicz of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 27 years old; Captain Ross A. Reynolds of Leominster, Massachusetts, also 27 years old; Gunnery Sergeant James W. Speedy of Cambridge, Ohio, 30 years old; and Corporal Jacob M. Moore more of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, 24 years old.

Now, the Marines have said that the deceased have been successfully removed from the site and are in the process of being returned to the United States where they will be reunited with their families in a dignified transfer.

The investigation into this crash is still underway, but we do have the statement from the Commanding General of the Second Marine Aircraft Wing who said the pilots and crew were committed to accomplishing their mission and serving a cause greater than themselves.

He added, "We will continue to execute the mission while keeping these Marines and their service on the forefront of our minds. We will never allow these Marines sacrifice to go unnoticed or unappreciated."

Now, it is important to note that this was part of exercise called Response 2022. This was a long-planned NATO exercise that NATO says did not have ties to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. We've also reached out to the White House to see if the President has spoken with these families or will have any further statement regarding this tragic news of these four Marines who have been lost -- Pamela.

BROWN: Our hearts are with their families tonight.

Arlette Saenz at the White House for us. Thank you so much -- Don.

LEMON: All right, thank you Pamela.

Starting high school in Paris without speaking French isn't your typical high school experience. I wanted to take a look at this.

These 15-year-old Ukrainian twins fleeing a war, it's as closest to normal as they have been in a very long time. Masha and Sasha fled Kyiv and arrived in Paris. That was on March 5th. They left their father, a police officer behind to fight.

Their mother lives with them in an apartment close to the school where they are learning French. Now, although they are safe, Sasha says that she worries about her father and relatives not knowing if they are still alive since they can't be reached by phone.

Her twin, Masha holds on to hope that they will return to their home in Ukraine, reunite with family and give them all a very big hug. We certainly hope that that happens.

Again, there are so many stories, Pamela, coming out of here. We have to remember the humanitarian part of this. This is the biggest humanitarian efforts since World War Two. The refugees that this has all created, it is unbelievable. But yet, here we are, 15-year-old twins fleeing Ukraine, for Paris.

And you know, I spoke to that little 11-year-old boy, Hassan, 600 miles -- 600 miles, Pamela, on a train by himself with just a cell phone, a phone number written on his hand, and a plastic bag with whatever belongings he could take to try to get to safety. His mom put him on that train.

BROWN: Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. You know, there have been the latest numbers that are coming out from the U.N. are 10 million refugees, half of them children, like that little boy that you talked to traveling alone all those miles. You just can't imagine how scared he must have been, like those twins in Paris.

And you know, they had to just uproot their lives, and now, they are trying to find a new life outside of their homeland, outside of Ukraine. And you know, Don, I've gotten a lot of questions not only on the refugees, the people who have left Ukraine, but also the animals in Ukraine.

A lot of people have been reaching out to us about that. They are also at risk as Putin's war in Ukraine rages, and up next, the story of a woman who traveled for days to save her beloved horse.

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[19:58:56]

BROWN: We've talked a lot about the people suffering in Ukraine, but what about all those animals left behind? I know a lot of you out there watching have been wondering that, too. I've received so many viewer questions about the animals.

And let me tell you about one story we have. A woman called Masha and the unwavering love for her horse, Vasya.

Masha was living abroad when Russia invaded Ukraine, but she was determined to get Vasya out as soon as possible. The journey to rescue him and seven other horses from a small village near Kyiv took days of driving, and meant sleeping in subzero stables.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASHA IEFIMOVA, SAVED HER HORSE, VASYA IN UKRAINE: And we all had the most complicated and the longest journey of our life, and sometimes, we had to sleep in the stable with minus two temperature. Sometimes we didn't have food, not for people, not for horses. We didn't have enough of petrol.

He deserves to have a good retirement and to have a good life because he is very nice boy. He's my pet, like a big dog.

See, it's not like -- you know, he can't do any competitions. He like -- the only thing he can do like we can just do some like short walks and that is it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is like your family.

IEFIMOVA: Yes, he is my family member.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I think we can all relate to that. We are animal lovers. We all love our animals so much. She, clearly, with her tremendous sacrifice to safe her horse, save seven horses in all and so many more animals have been left behind. So heartbreaking on so many levels.

Please remember, you can help. So many of you already have helped. Find out more at CNN.com/impact.

Your next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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