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U.S. Official: Russian Ships Firing On Mariupol From Sea; Russian Forces Bombard Cities, Fail To Advance; Putin Spokesman Refuses To Rule Out Using Nukes In Ukraine; Civilians Flee Russia's Relentless Attack On Mariupol; Kherson Protesters Flee Russian Gunshots, Explosions; Ukraine Fighting To Take Back Territory From Russia; Ukrainian President Set to Address Japanese Lawmakers; Jackson Defends Judicial Record Amid Tough Questions; U.S. & Germany Call for Kremlin Critic's Immediate Release; Family Reunites in Poland after Harrowing Journey. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired March 23, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm here in Lviv, Ukraine. Welcome to our viewers around the world and in the United States. I'm Hala Gorani.
For the first time since the Russian invasion, it appears Ukrainian forces are going on the offensive. The Ukrainian military announced that it had taken back Makariv from the Russians. Now if Ukrainian forces consolidate control of this town near Kyiv, it will be a lot tougher for Russian troops to secure areas west of the capital and therefore push farther south.
Regional police toward Makariv Tuesday, they posted this video of the destruction. They say it is still being shelled, that every other structure has been destroyed and that there is almost no one left. But the battlefield is fluid. Russia could reverse recent losses. However, it is significant that the Ukrainians are pushing back.
Here is the Pentagon's take on what's going on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We have seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offense now. They have been defending very smartly, very nimbly, very creatively in places that they believe are the right places to defend. The Ukrainians themselves several days ago said that they were planning on -- so I think we have seen indications that they are -- that they're moving in that direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Meanwhile, intense fighting is erupting elsewhere in the country. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Foreign Language).
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: So this was an intense gun battle by a train station in a village north east of the capital Kyiv. A local politician who posted the video claims that these are Chechen immigrants, who fled the wars with Russia and are now taking up arms to defend Ukraine. You can see a long (INAUDIBLE) right there being shouted by some of them here and there. We can independently verify that information.
In Kyiv itself, several large explosions rang out on Tuesday while the capital was under curfew. That curfew is scheduled to be lifted right about now. One of the blasts was so powerful that it set off car alarms in the city center. So that's the situation in Kyiv.
Now to the south in Mariupol, that besieged city, the hits just keep on coming. A massive humanitarian crisis continues to unfold there. And now Russian ships in the Azov Sea have started firing on Mariupol from the sea, according to a senior U.S. defense official. Mariupol has already been hammered by land-based missile launches for weeks.
And new satellite images are giving us a sense of what's going on on the ground. They were captured Tuesday, they show smoke still rising from a neighborhood that is said to be under Russian control. And these pictures mark some of the only glimpses into Mariupol right now since there are, as far as we can tell, no independent journalists left in that city.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian President says negotiations with Russia are still underway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We continue to work at various levels to push Russia for peace. Until the end of this brutal war, Ukrainian representatives are working on the negotiations which continue virtually daily. It's very difficult, sometimes scandalous, but step by step, we are moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Russian forces have been stalled on the ground but their bombardment of Ukrainian cities is leaving widespread destruction and claiming an unknown number of civilian lives.
Alex Marquardt has the latest on the military developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): The booms of Russian missiles landing near Ukraine second largest city, Kharkiv, which has borne the brunt of so much of the Russian onslaught. But few places have felt the wrath of Russia like the port city of Mariupol. Now facing an attack coming not just from land, but from the water as well.
Russian ships in the Sea of Azov now joining the relentless bombardment of this key city. The deputy mayor estimating 90 percent of the city's infrastructure is now destroyed.
SERGEI ORLOV, MARIUPOL DEPUTY MAYOR: City does not receive any humanitarian aid. City is without food, electricity, water, energy supply. City is under continuous bomb and a lot of death, a lot of crime and a lot of awful war crimes.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): The Ukrainian military says this explosion at a Mariupol industrial compound was caused by a Russian attack. As new satellite images show the city is crumbling, while Russian artillery units dig in around it.
ZELENSKYY (through translation): Hard working on a city of Mariupol which is being destroyed by the occupiers and being reduced to ashes, but it will survive.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): In the capital Kyiv, loud explosions were heard after yet another curfew was imposed this time until Wednesday morning. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry saying that air defenses destroyed a Russian missile.
[01:05:11]
Russia now claims Ukraine was hiding weapons and that Kyiv shopping center that Russia had previously bombed. Ukraine denies the allegation. Local officials say at least eight people were killed.
The U.S. believes these brutal attacks signify an increasingly desperate Russian military that is struggling to resupply and is facing mounting casualties. Almost 10,000 Russian troops dead, according to report in a Russian tabloid, which the Kremlin denied. After the report was pulled down, the outlet claims they were hacked.
Asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his aims in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told this to CNN.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESMAN: Well, first of all, not yet. He hasn't achieved yet and we're speaking about special military operation that is going on. And it is going on strictly in accordance with the plans and with purposes that were established beforehand.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): There are growing signs of Ukrainian troops on the offensive fighting to take back lost territory, pushing Russian forces back around Kyiv, claiming to have retaken the nearby town of Makariv. They're trying to do the same in the town of Izyum, which Russia has pummeled. Ukraine's soldiers also pushing towards her son near Crimea, which had been taken by Russian forces, which are now being forced to reposition.
And while they struggle, U.S. and NATO officials are now warning that key Russian ally, Belarus, could soon send its forces into the war zone to help Vladimir Putin. With the war raging on, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continues his outreach to world leaders. ZELENSKYY (through translation): This morning, I spoke to His Holiness, Pope Francis. He said very important words, I understand that you longed for peace. I understand that you need to defend yourselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUARDT: Among the growing number of issues that Russian troops are now facing in Ukraine is the cold. According to a senior U.S. defense official, on top of the food and fuel issues, the logistical and communications issues that Russian troops are facing at the front, the U.S. is also seeing signs that some Russian troops have also come down with frostbite and have had to be taken out of the fight in Ukraine.
Alex Marquardt, CNN at the State Department.
GORANI: Well, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admits that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not achieved his military goals in Ukraine. Peskov spoke exclusively with CNN's Christiane Amanpour and he refused to deny that Russia could resort to nuclear weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PESKOV: You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used. So if it is an existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, I want to bring in Malcolm Davis from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. He's a senior analyst at the Think Tank (ph), working on Defense Strategy and Capability. Thanks for being with us. So you heard Dmitry Peskov there refusing to say essentially, that Russia could use the ultimate weapon, the most destructive possible weapon, which is a nuclear bomb, saying that, you know, if it feels under some sort of existential threat, implying it could be justified or could be used. What do you make of that?
MALCOLM DAVIS, MILITARY ANALYST: Look, I think it depends on how they define what an existential threat is. It's a very vague term, really, if you're looking at it from the perspective of Moscow. And I think that they could manipulate or rationalize somehow that, you know, Ukrainians are threatening Russia's existence. And so therefore, they're able to legitimately consider the nuclear option.
They also have this concept called escalate, de-escalate, where they would use or threatened to use a nuclear weapon to try and de-escalate a conflict by getting, for example, Ukrainians to quickly seek surrender and for NATO to back off. So that would involve, for example, detonating a small nuclear weapon as a demonstrated strike. So I, frankly, don't believe --
GORANI: Yes.
DAVIS: -- Peskov is (INAUDIBLE) that they would never use nuclear weapons unless Russia itself was directly threatened. GORANI: Right. But also, this isn't the first time we've heard nuclear saber-rattling from Russia. We heard it from Vladimir Putin himself just a few weeks ago. And this is really what's keeping Western and NATO allies in check here, right? I mean, they would potentially have implemented a no-fly zone. Had Russia not been a nuclear power. They're really, really concerned that any direct confrontation will lead to a war, an all-out war with a nuclear armed superpower here.
[01:10:11]
DAVIS: I think that's correct. I mean, if this was some third world dictator in the Middle East, then we would have been in boots on the ground by now. But it is Russia with 5,500 nuclear weapons. And clearly, Putin is willing to rattle nuclear sabers and make coercive nuclear threats. And that really has constrained NATO's options for intervention, including in regards to a no-fly zone.
GORANI: Absent that, though, let's look at the advances of Russian troops on the ground, and in some cases, they're being repelled. We see it on the outskirts of Kyiv. They're resorting as a result to longer-range missiles, they're firing from the sea and to Mariupol. They're not putting their boots on the ground as close to the action, as I'm sure at this point they would have wanted. What does that tell you about the longer term picture here for Russian forces inside Ukraine?
DAVIS: Well, look, I think certainly the Russian initial campaign has culminated, it's reached the point whereby they can no longer advance on any front. So what they're doing is they're digging in for a longer term operation in terms of, as you say, bombarding cities indiscriminately with mass firepower. They're trying to get their logistical base back in order to resupply forces that are dug in.
But it's not clear that there'll be able to do that, because that logistical train is quite exposed to Ukrainian attacks in the rear. And at the same time as this -- as the Russians are digging in for a prolonged war, the Ukrainians are growing stronger, and more bolder each day, because they are getting military support from the West in terms of, you know, systems like javelin, and so forth.
And so you are seeing Ukrainian counter offense. Now these counter offenses are not necessarily making huge progress, but they are nevertheless important first steps. But I do think we are in for a prolonged conflict rather than a quick conflict. And I do think you will see intensified war of the cities where the Russians are using, you know, large scale artillery attacks on cities indiscriminately.
GORANI: So what the Western Allies, NATO allies, the U.S. the E.U., what they're doing now, is it enough in the longer term to help Ukraine really repel this invasion, do you think or do they need to be doing more? Ukraine seems to think that they need more assistance, more certainly anti-aircraft weaponry. They've called for a no-fly zone that's off the table for now. But do you think that what's being done now is enough to give them the tools that they need on the Ukrainian side? DAVIS: It's never enough. I do think that the West needs to step up even more in terms of shipping different types of military capabilities to the Ukrainians to enable them to become even more effective in attacking the Russians. And ultimately, the West also does need to really tighten the economic screws on Russia. And that means cutting off their oil and natural gas supplies.
But, you know, we can only go so far short of risking a wider war between NATO and Russia. And that's where we come into the no-fly zone issue. So we can -- we should be pushing our assistance to Ukraine as far possible as we can, without necessarily blundering into essentially what would be World War III.
GORANI: And that was Malcolm Davis, thanks very much.
Still to come, escaping the violence in Mariupol, one woman describes how she managed to get herself and her elderly parents to safety.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:18:12]
GORANI: The refugee crisis from Russia's war on Ukraine is worsening by the day. The U.N. Refugee Agency says more than 3.5 million people have now fled their own country. It is ramping up supplies of thermal blankets, hot meals and tents along the Ukrainian border as temperatures continue to remain quite low here.
The World Health Organization says about 0.5 million refugees in Poland alone need additional support, not just for physical issues but for mental health and emotional distress. The WHO reports at least 62 attacks on Ukrainian healthcare sites since the invasion began.
You can see why they need assistance. Thousands of civilians have escaped attacks like this one in Mariupol, as city decimated by the relentless assault by Russia. But many more remained trapped and are unable to flee.
CNN's John Berman spoke with a family who was lucky enough, I guess you call them, to escape this violence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This small apartment in Lviv in western Ukraine --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mama.
BERMAN (voice-over): -- is now a safe haven for a family of refugees from Mariupol. Natalia and her parents Ihor and Halyna arrived in Lviv just a day ago, after a harrowing cross country journey.
(on-camera): Your parents are elderly, they're in their 80s. How hard was it to get them out?
NATALIA HAYETSKA, FLED FROM MARIUPOL (through translation): It was incredibly difficult. In fact, I had no chance to evacuate my parents. I've got elderly parents and four pets that I will not leave. I set myself the task of taking everyone out.
[01:20:00]
Without our own transport, our chances were very miserable. That's why it is incredibly difficult. But thanks to good people and people who helped, it became possible.
BERMAN (on-camera): And what was happening in the city when you left?
HAYETSKA (through translation): No infrastructure, no potable water, no water at all, no electricity. And there was constant bombing. And not only artillery, they were also using UAVs and some aircrafts. They're dropping bombs all over the city.
BERMAN (on-camera): We've heard awful stories about dozens, maybe hundreds, maybe thousands of people killed in Mariupol. People being buried in the streets. No way to have funerals.
HAYETSKA (through translation): Yes, that's true. People were carrying those who were killed closer to the road and covering them with blankets. They were waiting for someone to collect the bodies. Some people buried the bodies in the yard because they knew no one would come to them. This is all true.
BERMAN (voice-over): Despite the odds, Natalia, her parents and all four cats made it safely to Lviv after a four-day journey.
HALYNA ZHELEZNIAK, FLED FROM MARIUPOL: I'm 84, and this was the first time in my life when I felt horror. I couldn't believe it happened. It was just a shock. I couldn't believe it. But this is the reality my family and I had to face.
I'm grateful to my daughter Natalia for saving us. She simply saved us. She didn't leave us behind. I still can't believe that such a small woman is capable of such a heroic deed.
BERMAN (voice-over): Now they're taking it day by day, unsure how to move forward, or even where to go next.
(on-camera): Can you believe that Vladimir Putin, that Russia is doing this to your city?
IHOR ZHELEZNIAK, FLED FROM MARIUPOL (through translation): I couldn't have imagined two months ago that something awful like this, such a crime could take place. How is this even possible? He's a murderer. How can a person feel when this is the only thing left? I have absolutely nothing now.
BERMAN (on-camera): Do you ever think you'll see Mariupol again?
I. ZHELEZNIAK (through translation): In the year 3000. The Mariupol I left will maybe be back in the year 3000. But I'm not going to live that long, because there are only ruins.
BERMAN (voice-over): John Berman, CNN, Lviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well joining me here in Lviv is Maria Tomak, she is the head of Ukraine's Crimea Platform Department at the Ukraine President's mission in Crimea. Thanks very much for joining us.
MARIA TOMAK, HEAD OF UKRAINE'S CRIMEA PLATFORM DEPARTMENT: Thank you.
GORANI: So we just saw this report of a family that fled Mariupol. I mean, Mariupol just is, just the worst affected city in the sense that it's besieged. People can't even flee. I mean, we heard an attack on a bus convoy, empty bus is going in by Russian forces. It's -- what are you hearing from people you know there?
TOMAK: Indeed, what we see in Mariupol is a disaster, is a humanitarian disaster. But what is important to say is that while shooting the convoys from Ukraine, Ukrainian convoys for the humanitarian sake, Russia tries to force people to flee to the territories that are controlled by Russia, to Russia itself, or, for instance, to the occupied Crimea. And then to make this stage video on how Russia is rescuing Ukrainian refugees, you know, that cynical thing.
And when people come, for instance, to Crimea, they -- so they -- Russians try to take their passports, and to provide them other fake documents that people can no -- not use them after that. And with these documents, they cannot even get to Ukraine after that, so...
GORANI: Yes. So they're trapped in that Russian controlled territory.
TOMAK: Exactly.
GORANI: Let's talk about Kherson because we have some video that we've obtained from people who took part in an anti-Russian occupation demonstration in Kherson, and we know that Russian forces there used live ammunition and at least one case, severely injured one of the demonstrators. I want to put that on our screen for our viewers to see.
What are you hearing from Kherson? We can see the Ukrainian flag there floating above the crowd.
TOMAK: I think it's important that even in those territories that are partly under the control of Russian army, people are still resist -- resisting. They go to the streets with Ukrainian flags. They sing anthems. They say that Kherson is Ukraine basically. And they get the violence and the response.
And, you know, somehow it reminds me of Prague Spring, you know, that events in the late 1960s --
GORANI: Yes.
TOMAK: -- when people in Prague said, OK, Soviets go away, or in Russians go away. So something similar is happening there. And I think that these people are really very courageous to do that.
[01:25:00]
GORANI: But I wonder, are these Russian troops and soldiers on the ground who probably were told that they were going to liberate Ukrainians that they would be welcomed with open arms, I wonder what their reaction is to, obviously, opposition in the streets to their very presence there.
TOMAK: It's hard to say, I mean, we can assume what's the reaction from those press conferences that are held by Ukraine with those prisoners that are captured by Ukrainian forces. And we see that they're surprised because they're also being brainwashed that Ukrainian people are so much awaiting for the so-called liberation that were seized by Nazis here. And therefore, we need Russia to come and rescue us. So probably, they're also, to some extent, at least they're victims of this propaganda.
GORANI: What is the morale like now about one month in because, I mean, obviously, people are going to become more and more tired?
TOMAK: Yes, but also I -- all the time, I try to remind that we're being under the Russian attack for eight years now. So it started in Crimea in 2014. But now it's very large scale, basically.
GORANI: Right.
TOMAK: It's --
GORANI: And it's a completely different picture. Yes.
TOMAK: Definitely.
GORANI: Yes.
TOMAK: And lots of us are IDPs as well, for instance, myself. I'm an IDP now. So, and of course, we're getting tired. Of course, it's very complicated to leave the -- in the country which fights for its existence. But nevertheless, I don't think that there's even any chance that we are give up -- giving up to Russia. We're not going to do that.
And it's very clear. And even though the situation is so hard in the places like Mariupol and Kherson, I don't see the voices that call, you know, to surrender to Russia.
GORANI: Sure. Yes. Because Russia is basically saying surrender or else in places like Mariupol.
TOMAK: Exactly.
GORANI: But despite that, and despite the suffering, the population on the -- which by the way, ironically, this is a population that is -- a lot of it, Russian speaking that may have had some sympathies toward Russia. They're being bombed by the very forces that say they're there to liberate them. TOMAK: Yes. But, you know, not all of those people who speak Russian are sympathetic towards Russia.
GORANI: Sure.
TOMAK: It's very important to understand --
GORANI: Yes, yes.
TOMAK: -- that many, many Ukrainians, maybe millions of Ukrainians, for whom Russian language is the kind of first language --
GORANI: Sure.
TOMAK: -- that they speak, that they use. They are like very pro- Ukrainian, pro-European and pro-Western. So that's the point. And that's why Russia is failing, basically, because they don't understand that. And they don't want to recognize that Ukraine is absolutely European country.
GORANI: OK. Well, thanks very much for joining us. With that, Maria Tomak, appreciate having you on the program live.
Ukraine's President is hours away from his speech to Japanese lawmakers. He's been doing the rounds to other lawmakers and other national assemblies. What the war in Ukraine may mean for Tokyo's ties with Russia, that's when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:17]
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Japan is among the countries imposing sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine. Also talks between Russia and Japan have just broken down over formally ending World War II hostilities. All of this as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to address Japanese lawmakers in the coming hours.
Let's get the latest. CNN's Blake Essig is outside parliament in Tokyo. What do we expect the Ukrainian presidents to tell Japanese lawmakers, Blake?
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Hala, later this evening as you mentioned, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address members of Japan's parliament. The goal, of course, to continue rallying global support against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This will be his first address to a country in Asia. And it's only scheduled to last about ten minutes.
Since the invasion started just a few weeks ago, President Zelenskyy has taken time to speak directly to national legislatures around the world including Italian lawmakers just yesterday, thanking for them for their support and asking them to do more.
Now, so far in line with other G-7 nations including the U.S., Japan has been very active in its support for Ukraine by imposing significant sanctions against Russia and Belarus. They've also joined the call to cut Russia from the SWIFT banking system, provides humanitarian aid, amended rules to be able to deliver defense equipment and supplies to the Ukrainian people.
And in another extraordinary move for a country known to be closed off to refugees, Japan has started accepting in Ukrainian evacuees pledging to support them with housing and jobs.
Now, in response to Japan's support of Ukraine earlier this week, Russia suspended peace treaty talks to end World War II hostilities with Japan and potentially resolve a territorial dispute involving a set of islands north of Hokkaido.
But Hala it's important to recognize that Japan's sanctions, its tough actions that it's taken on Russia are not just aimed at Russia. Japan views the crisis in Ukraine as a global issue. And all of the sanctions and tough talk that have taken place over the past few weeks from Japan are not only aimed at Russia but also China, who for a long time has had an eye on reunifying Taiwan.
GORANI: All right. Blake Essig, thanks very much, live in Tokyo. We'll keep in touch with you.
I'll have more from Ukraine next hour, but first let's go to John Vause in Atlanta, John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hala, thank you for that.
We'll take a short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. But when we come back, a marathon day of questions for the first African-American woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court. Allegations and a text from Republicans, praise and positivity from Democrats.
[01:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: In the U.S., Senate Republicans ramped up attacks on day two of the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson. The first black woman nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court was accused of being soft on child sex offenders, grilled over her faith, criticized for defending detainees at Guantanamo Bay and whole lot more.
CNN's Jessica Schneider has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ketanji Brown Jackson defending her record during hours of intense questioning from Republican senators, pushing back against their broad characterization that she is quote, "soft on crime".
[01:39:46]
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: In order for us to have a functioning society, we have to have people being held accountable for committing crimes, but we have to do so fairly, under our constitution.
As someone who has had family members on patrol and in the line of fire, I care deeply about public safety.
SCHNEIDER: Jackson's brother was a police officer in Baltimore and her two uncles were members of law enforcement. One was the chief of police in Miami.
But Jackson's background has not insulated her from Republican attacks, particularly for her record representing terrorism suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay.
SENATOR JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Why in the world would you call Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and George W. Bush war criminals in a legal filing? It seems so out of character for you?
JACKSON: Well, Senator, I don't remember that particular reference. And I was representing my clients and making arguments.
SCHNEIDER: Democratic Chairman Dick Durbin later providing context noting the filing was a procedural one against U.S. officials, making claims on behalf of detainees.
SENATOR DICK DURBIN (D-IL): One of which was an allegation that the government had sanctioned torture against the individuals which constituted war crimes under the alien tort statute.
So to be clear, there was no time where you called President Bush or Secretary Rumsfeld a quote, "war criminal", close quote.
JACKSON: Correct, Senator.
Federal public defenders don't get to pick their clients. They have to represent whoever comes in.
SCHNEIDER: Judge Jackson also responding to claims she handed down lenient sentences to convicted child pornography defendants.
JACKSON: As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth. These are some of the most difficult cases that a judge has to deal with.
SCHNEIDER: Republican Senator Ted Cruz pressed Jackson on her views of critical race theory, an idea that American institutions are inherently racist and something conservatives falsely claim is widely taught in elementary schools.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Do you agree with this book that is being taught with kids that babies are racist?
JACKSON: I do not believe that any child should be made to feel as though they are racists, as though they are not valued or though they are less than, that they are victims, that they are oppressors. I do not believe in any of that. SCHNEIDER: Jackson did have the chance to reflect on the historic
nature of her nomination.
JACKSON: This nomination against that backdrop is significant to a lot of people. And I hope that it will bring confidence. It will help inspire people to understand that our courts are like them. That our judges are like them doing the work, being a part of our government. I think it is very important.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): And this marathon and intense question and answer session continues on Wednesday with 20-minute rounds from each of the 22 senators on the committee. It will be the last day of questioning and then the issue will turn to will she get any Republican votes.
Three Republicans voted for her less than a year ago to elevate her to the appeals court here in D.C. But this time around, she's facing significant resistance from at least one of those senators, Lindsey Graham.
Jessica Schneider, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For many Ukrainians, escaping the Russian attacks is a chaotic, dangerous and sometimes deadly ordeal.
And coming up, emotional scenes across the border in Poland as one family finally reunites.
[01:43:46]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The U.S. and Germany are leading the call for the release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny after he was sentenced to nine years in a maximum security prison. That's on top of the two and a half years he was already serving for violating probation. Prosecutors allege he embezzled from his own anti-corruption foundation.
CNN's Nic Robertson has more on Navalny's ongoing battle with the Kremlin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Tender moments, as Alexei Navalny is sentenced to nine years for fraud in a maximum security penal colony. The emaciated Kremlin critic comforted by his wife Yulia.
This trial, like so many has faced already on charges human rights organizations say are trumped up to silence him. But despite the obvious toll on his well-being, Navalny refusing to be silenced.
Vowing to appeal and defiantly tweeting, "You only do two days in jail. The day you go in and the day you come out." A quote from his favorite TV series, "The Wire".
Navalny's reality however is far harsher. Poisoned and almost killed with the deadly Kremlin nerve agent Novichok while on a political campaign in August 2020.
He survived by being flown unconscious to Germany for treatment. Months later, preparing to return to Russia under no illusion about the danger he faced.
ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I understand how system work in Russia. I understand that Putin hates me. And I understand that these people who are sitting in the Kremlin they are ready to kill me.
ROBERTSON: In January last year, his last moments of freedom recorded as he and his wife rode the airport shuttle bus to the terminal And arrest.
By now, Navalny, not just President Putin's most popular living critic, but an icon of international hopes. Putin may yet be challenged.
[01:49:57]
ROBERTSON: Navalny's political party, the anti corruption foundation FBK gained him even more notoriety, publicizing what he said, was Putin's massive Black Sea mansion.
CNN could not independently verify Navalny's claim, but the video further raised his profile and Kremlin anger. In February, he was sentenced to two and a half years in jail, sent to a penal company outside of Moscow, where he claims dogs kept him awake at night.
He went on hunger strike. The Kremlin designated him as a terrorist. His health deteriorated, but his criticism of Putin remained as fiery as ever. On the eve of Russia's invasion, tweeting this criticism of Putin's combative national security council meeting. Putin demanding loyalty from his security chiefs. And Navalny likens it to the Soviet leadership ordering the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
Navalny's skill is knowing and exploiting Putin's political vulnerabilities. And today, the price for his success just went up.
Nic Robertson, CNN -- Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: During an exclusive interview with the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Christiane Amanpour asked him for his reaction to Navalny's new Putin sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON: Navalny is a prisoner. He is a prisoner. He had his first sentence. Now he's got his second one. And he's been disproven by the prosecutors office that he's been for fraud, so it's purely economical crime.
He was collecting money by his foundation from citizens, regular citizens of Russia and also from abroad. And he was spending part of that money for his personal purposes. This is fraud in our country. And he was supposed to be punished.
And no one is afraid of him. If people are criminals they should be in prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You can see Christiane's entire exclusive interview with the Kremlin spokesperson anytime at CNN.com.
Amid a steady flow of refugees fleeing Ukraine, there are unmistakable reminders of how families are being torn apart by war. Exhausted mothers alone with small confused children, journeys made harder when grandparents too frail and too old for a grueling journey to a miserable future decide not to leave.
Every hour of everyday since this horror began, love ones have been forced to part often in a frenzied rush to safety.
But then amid the heartache and loss, there are moments of hope and a reason to believe in a better tomorrow.
Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tucked away in the back of the train station in Przemysl (ph), Poland we see the latest train from Ukraine arrive filled with families escaping war.
And it is where we find Tatiana Trut (ph) and her husband Vitaly waving joyfully at one of the carriages. This train is carrying special cargo.
Through the metal barricades, Tatiana sees her son, two sisters, and their three children, walking off the train. She's waited three excruciating weeks for this moment.
(on camera): You have a very big smile on your face, I imagine that you are very happy right now.
(voice over): "Yes," she says, "it's very scary there. And we've been waiting for them for a very long time."
Tatiana also tells us they could not leave for a long time.
The family tells us their journey to get to Poland was a path through death and destruction. They live in a small village south of Kyiv. They say the only road that Ukrainian civilians could use to escape was constantly attacked by Russian forces. He says, "There was shelling from both sides. Everyone who wanted to
leave by car was simply shot. We were afraid that if our family decided to leave, we would lose them. We waited a long time for the military to allow it. We waited for the Russian troops to be removed so that our family could leave. And we succeeded. We immediately told them to go."
This was the escape route, the sisters' father drove them in his car from their village to the city of Mykolaiv. From there, they jumped in a mini bus helping families escape to Odessa. That's where they boarded the train that brought them to Poland.
[01:54:49]
LAVANDERA: The area this family escaped has seen brutal warfare the last three weeks. Tatiana was in Poland working, and couldn't return home in time when the war broke out. She says her son often told her about hearing military planes flying over their home and missiles exploding.
Finally, the family is reunited outside the train station. In the moment, it seemed unnecessary to ask Tatiana what this moment meant to her. Sometimes hugs and kisses speak far louder than words.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Przemysl, Poland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With that we'll reset for the top of the hour. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us.
In just a moment Hala Gorani takes over our breaking news coverage live from Lviv in Ukraine.
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