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U.S. Formally Declares Russia Has Committed War Crimes; Joe Biden In Brussels For Emergency NATO Summit; City Of Dnipro Digs Graves For Ukrainian Soldiers; Norwegian Paramedic Transports Ukrainians To Poland; Ukraine War Mirrors Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan; NATO Chief Warns Against Use of Chemical Weapons; Committee Vote on Judge Jackson Expected on April 4; Prized Possessions Help Refugees Cope. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired March 24, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:59:52]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world this hour and also in the United States. I'm Hala Gorani reporting live from the Lviv in Ukraine.

[00:00:05]

GORANI: We are seeing more signs of progress in Ukraine's counter offensive against Russia exactly one month since Moscow launched its brutal invasion of this country.

A senior U.S. defense official says Ukrainians have pushed back Russian forces on the frontlines East of Kyiv, up to 35 kilometers or 21 miles in one day.

Now, Northwest of the capital, CNN teams witnessed this barrage of outgoing fire Wednesday night. Ukrainian forces have been fighting to take back territory from Russian troops in the Kyiv suburb of European.

The mayor says Ukrainian forces now control 80 percent of the city, 80. We're now getting new video from the city of Chernihiv. That's about 144 kilometers or 90 miles Northeast of Kyiv, which has been the scene of intense shelling by Russia.

You can see rubble in the streets, obviously very badly damaged buildings, fires still burning. The mayor said the city's cemetery is unable to handle all of the dead.

And these images are the first coming out of Izyum in the east of the country after days of fierce fighting, absolute obliteration. Bodies were seen in the streets, widespread destruction.

On Wednesday, Ukraine's president issued a global call to action urging people around the world to take part in demonstrations in support of its country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: From this day, and after them, show your standing, come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities. Come in the name of peace. Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life. Come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard, say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right, a call to action to the world really. Meantime, the American President Joe Biden in Brussels for what will be a full day of emergency summits there. More sanctions are expected from the G7 and European Council meetings. NATO leaders will gather in several hours and will approve the deployment of four additional battlegroups to protect the alliances' Eastern borders.

Contingency plans for Russia's potential use of chemical or nuclear weapons will also be discussed that is really a nightmare scenario for everybody. President Biden was asked about that particular possibility as he left the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. president, how concerned are you about the threat of chemical warfare right now? That Russia is using chemical weapons, how high is that threat?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's a real threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: I think it's a real threat. Meantime, the U.S. has taken the major step of formally accusing Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. Now to be clear, this is an official assessment that Russian troops have violated the laws of conflict by launching indiscriminate attacks that harm civilians, and by deliberately targeting civilians as well.

The U.S. State Department specifically cited the recent shelling of a Mariupol maternity hospital, and the bombing of a theater that was marked with the Russian word for children and letters visible from the sky.

The U.S. says it will keep gathering all of this evidence but that a court must ultimately determine criminal guilt.

CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak joins me now live from Brussels in a moment, but first I want to start with retired U.S. Army General and CNN Military Analyst Dana Pittard, thanks for being with us.

I'm going to start with you Dana Pittard. First of all, we're seeing some counter offensive around Kyiv that are pretty effective. They're pushing Russian forces back on the ground, however and I should say by the way that you're also the author of Hunting the Caliphate, I'm sorry, I didn't see that book pop up there. What is your assessment of how effective they can be without more either anti-aircraft weaponry or some sort of air exclusion zone?

MAJ. GEN. DANA PITTARD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Hala. They have been effective to an extent with the weaponry that they have, their courage and their tenacity, but to be able to really stop the Russian offensive, which is temporarily culminated around Kyiv, they're going to need more.

Right now, the Russian forces are still moving in the South and reaching many of their objectives. Obviously, Mariupol is one that has not been reached.

But temporarily, the Russian forces around Kyiv have been halted. So, in order for Ukrainians to continue on with a counter offensive, they're going to need more assistance.

GORANI: Yes, what kind of assistance?

[00:05:00]

PITTARD: Well, there's a number of things that can be done, you know, the equivalent of the Berlin Airlift as far as supplies, weaponry, and ammunition is something that ideally President Biden can help do and help orchestrate in his meetings with NATO leaders, that can certainly be helpful.

Another thing that can be done that is different than what's been done so far, I think it is time for NATO, maybe under the auspices of the United Nations, but to declare Western Ukraine as a humanitarian assistance zone.

And what does that mean? That means, west of Kyiv, all the way down, probably South as Odessa, would be designated as the humanitarian assistance zone, with NATO troops led by the United States, enforcing that, also a no-fly zone over Western Ukraine.

Now, it'd be minimal contact with Russian forces, because Russian forces really are not in Western Ukraine. But that would send a signal first of all, to help refugees and the civilians and the quarters going into the humanitarian assistance zone. And also, letting Russia know that at some point, NATO's going to insist on stopping the fighting in the future.

GORANI: That would kind of be like dipping your toe into a no-fly zone, right? A humanitarian assistance zone over Western Ukraine would still require NATO forces to shoot down any Russian aircraft, drone, whatever, in the skies above that part of the country?

PITTARD: Yes, it would in Western Ukraine. And NATO would have to, of course, in warnings to Russia to stay out of that area. And that's where potentially, there could be tension and conflict. But Russia has its hands full right now in Eastern Ukraine with Ukrainian forces. GORANI: So, let's talk about what these NATO allies, the E.U. Western allies can do in addition to what you listed there on the ground to help ground forces because the Russian troops are taking some absolutely huge losses right now. What do you make of what's going on on the Russian side first of all?

PITTARD: On the Russian side, we know that there are morale issues. There are logistical problems. There are command and control issues, you know, 20 years ago, commanded a brigade, a multinational brigade in Kosovo with Russian troops. And one thing that was very noticeable is that their junior officers, and their noncommissioned officers, like their sergeants did not take the initiative. And so, they were always waiting for orders from higher officers. NATO officers and leaders are being picked off and killed by Ukrainians, which is causing some of this malaise on the part of the Russian forces.

GORANI: So, which means what in the grand scheme of things in the war effort itself on the Russian side that there's such low morale, heavy losses in these thousands on Russian troops on the ground? Also, high ranking military officers are dying as well on the battlefield. What does that tell us about where they are in their effort now a month in when they presumably thought they could just blitz their way into Kyiv takeover and install a puppet government?

PITTARD: Yes, operationally around Kyiv. That's why they have temporarily come to what we call an operational culmination. But that is temporary, because though their morale is low, their capability is still high, and their lethality is still high.

So, at this point, it looks like the Russian forces are waiting for more assistance, either from outside of Ukraine, from Belarus or from Russia to reinforce what they have. They're also waiting for the forces in the South to finish in reaching their objectives so that they can in fact be reinforced.

Now, the Ukrainians cannot allow that, they must use what we call interior lines to continue to hold the line against Russian forces in the South and continue to hit hard Russian forces that are temporarily been held up around Kyiv.

GORANI: All right, thank you so much for this analysis. Dana Pittard, also the author, as I was mentioning at the top there of Hunting the Caliphate: America's war on ISIS and the Dawn of the Strike Cell. Thank you for joining us.

Let's turn now to Brussels and Kevin Liptak is there with the very latest. Joe Biden landing in Brussels' emergency meetings. It is obviously a very, very historically sensitive time now for this Western alliance as Russia continues its Assault on Ukraine, Kevin.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, it certainly is. And the NATO leaders will be gathering here really in a matter of hours. And when you think about it Hala, usually officials have months and months to prepare for these kinds of summits. This one really came together in the last several weeks.

[00:10:07]

LIPTAK: And so, officials from the United States and from European governments have really been scrambling behind the scenes to put together this package of announcements that the leaders are hoping to unveil today.

President Biden made it known that he wanted to meet face to face for the first time since Putin invaded Ukraine. And that is exactly what he'll do today. Most of this meeting at NATO will be behind closed doors, no cell phones in the room, even limiting the number of aids really underscoring the sensitivity of these talks at NATO.

And when those leaders sit down, they will discuss NATO's force posture along the Eastern flank of the alliance, both in the short term. And you mentioned in the opening the increase of these four battle groups in those Southern countries on the Eastern edge of NATO.

They'll also discuss long term changes, more permanent changes to the force posture in NATO. When the president meets with the members of the G7, he'll discuss sanctions, he's set to announce new sanctions on members of Russia's parliament, also a new list of oligarchs to come under sanctions.

And he'll also work very importantly to plug some holes in the sanctions that had been used to evade what is already in place. And then, he'll come where I am to the European Commission to discuss the big issue here is the energy of European dependence on Russian energy. The president has been very forceful behind the scenes and encouraging Europe to lower its dependence on Russian gas and oil.

He is set to make an announcement before he leaves Brussels about providing Russia with some liquefied natural gas from the United States to help ease that burden somewhat.

But of course, the question looming over all of these talks is whether it will have any effect on Vladimir Putin, U.S. officials have been frank that he feels backed into a corner and they are worried about what he will do next. Will he use a chemical or biological weapon? Or would he even use a nuclear weapon on the battleground in Ukraine? And that is something that leaders will certainly discuss at all three of these meetings today, potential contingencies, should that occur, making sure that they are all on the same page. Should that happen?

It does raise the question, does that change the threshold for NATO involvement in Ukraine, that is something that had been certainly off the table until now. But the use of those weapons would of course change the calculus of the leaders here in Brussels. So, the president certainly has a stacked agenda. The stakes really could not be higher for him here in Brussels today, Hala.

GORANI: Right, and for really all of us as well, if there's even any possibility some of these weapons could be used. Kevin Liptak in Brussels. Thanks very much. We'll stay in touch with you as you continue to cover these extraordinary meetings taking place in Europe.

NATO officials estimate as many as 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war on Ukraine. That is a staggering number. Thousands more obviously wounded, others missing.

The city of Dnipro has largely been spared from the fighting but it is collecting the bodies of Russian soldiers and burying its own war dead, all while trying to keep the city running.

And a warning, a report from CNN's Ivan Watson contains some graphic content.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The (INAUDIBLE) military cemetery stands on a windswept field on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Rows of graves a reminder of the stark reality Ukraine has lived with for years.

All of these crosses marked the graves of Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting against Russian backed separatists in the Donbass region since 2014. And these are new graves for Ukrainian soldiers killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th of this year.

MYKHAILO LYSENKO, DEPUTY MAYOR, DNIPRO, UKRAINE: A lot of Ukrainian guys.

WATSON: My guide here is Mykhailo Lysenko, current Deputy Mayor of the City of Dnipro.

LYSENKO: It's Mihajlo (PH), very, very young men -- very, very young men.

WATSON: Born in 1997.

LYSENKO: Yes. It's very hard for us. For our city and for people from Ukraine.

WATSON: Nearby rows of freshly dug graves that are so far empty.

These are preparations in case there are more casualties.

LYSENKO: Yes.

WATSON: This deadly war presents a bizarre challenge to Ukrainian officials like Lysenko (PH). On the one hand, they have to fortify city defenses and support the armed forces and at the same time, provide basic services like garbage disposal, and running city buses.

LYSENKO: If you look on our street, now we have a clean street.

WATSON: How do you manage a city and fight a war at the same time?

It's complicated, he says, but we have experienced because this is the second war we fought against Russia. The ground war has yet to reach the Eastern city of Dnipro and its population of nearly one million inhabitants.

[00:15:13] WATSON: Sometimes the city looks almost normal, though there is a strict 8:00 p.m. curfew, and instead of advertisements, billboards defiantly cursed at the Russian military. These days city officials carry guns.

This is because of the war that you have weapons.

LYSENKO: Yes. It's a normal for me -- it's normal for me.

WATSON: Why is Ronald Reagan's portrait in your office?

LYSENKO: Yes. Because this guy, he's a very charismatic guys, and these guys destroyed Soviet Union.

WATSON: To see another side of the conflict, the deputy mayor brings me here to one of the city's morgues to see a parked refrigerator truck.

LYSENKO: And then, this fridge, we have 350 dead Russian soldiers. In another morgue, we have 400. I cannot open this truck. Because in this truck, just for each truck, a lot of dead guys. I don't want to show his face, his legs, his -- any pieces of body.

WATSON: Lysenko says all of the dead Russian soldiers gathered from frontlines across Eastern Ukraine are stored here in Dnipro before eventually being shipped to Kyiv.

Why is the Ukrainian government collecting the bodies of Russian soldiers?

LYSENKO: We cannot leave this body on our fields, on our streets or another place. It's not normal.

WATSON: As we speak, we hear something in the sky.

LYSENKO: These guys is innocent.

WATSON: What's that noise? Where do we go?

Just now had a little alert, because there's a sound that Mykhailo says was sounded like a Russian drone.

War dead and the threat of enemy drones part of everyday life now in Eastern Ukraine.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: And still to come, a Norwegian paramedic says he had to do something to help people escape the war in Ukraine, we'll have more on the lifesaving service he and so many others are offering.

Plus, facing a very uncertain future while clinging to mementos of the past, we'll look at some of the prized possessions that refugees take with them at the last minute before fleeing their homes, we'll be right back.

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[00:22:05]

GORANI: Despite the millions of people that have already fled Ukraine, there are countless others still trying to escape Russian attacks. One Norwegian volunteer paramedic now makes daily trips to Ukraine to help as many people as he can flee to Poland. CNN's Ed Lavandera has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The air raid sirens no longer startle Didrik Gunnestad.

DIDRIK GUNNESTAD, VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE DRIVER: The sirens are telling us it's no danger anymore.

LAVANDERA: With that, he eases the nerves of a mother and her two children he's just picked up at the train station.

Tonight, he will drive them to Poland. Didrik Gunnestad struggles to explain how a 27-year-old from Norway has found himself dragging an ambulance through the streets of Lviv.

GUNNESTAD: That's the most difficult question actually.

LAVANDERA: He's part of a volunteer team evacuating critically ill hospital patients and refugees from Ukraine.

GUNNESTAD: I just wanted to help, do something. Not sit at home and just look at everything on the T.V.

LAVANDERA: Most days, Didrik drives into Lviv from Poland with an ambulance full of medical supplies and distributes the loads to hospitals facing grave shortages.

Zoryana Ivanyuk is the medical director of the St. Nicholas Hospital in Lviv. She says since the start of the war, her hospital has been overwhelmed treating every day seriously ill patients.

DR. ZORYANA IVANYUK, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, ST. NICHOLAS HOSPITAL, LVIV: He brings us some medicines, some equipment, which we need so much. That's why we are thankful for him and his team. It's really a dream team.

LAVANDERA: Hospitals are struggling to handle all the patients needing critical lifesaving care. That's where Didrik team comes in.

GUNNESTAD: We have just delivered a lot of equipment to that hospital and to another hospital. We went to the train station and picked up a few refugees as well.

LAVANDERA: He's lost count of how many patients and refugees he's driven out of Ukraine. GUNNESTAD: I have helped a lot of kids, women and children who needs to go out of the country. And in the places we are getting the people, they don't have anyone else. For right now, they only have us.

LAVANDERA: Didrik and his team of paramedics and nurses have spent almost three weeks crisscrossing the city, answering any call for help that comes in.

How stressful is it to drive around Ukraine right now?

GUNNESTAD: Oh, my God. It's horrific. And it's not possible to explain.

LAVANDERA: This area of Western Ukraine has seen just a few Russian airstrikes since the war started nearly a month ago. But Russian forces have targeted hospitals and civilians in Eastern Ukraine. Didrik knows he's driving into potential targets. It's a risk he's willing to take.

[00:25:02]

LAVANDERA: Is doing this worth dying for for you?

GUNNESTAD: Yes, it is. Because it's so meaningful what I'm doing. When I see this crying children who are really sick and needs to get out, I feel a responsibility.

LAVANDERA: For Didrik Gunnestad, it feels like the road to saving Ukrainians goes on forever.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Przemysl, Poland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, the determined resistance that the Russian military is facing in Ukraine that surprised so many people by the way is echoing the bitter fighting that the Soviet army faced 40 years ago in Afghanistan. A closer look at the two conflicts, how they are the same, how they are very different when we come back.

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GORANI: The raging conflict in Ukraine is nor one month old. It's hard to believe. Russian losses are mounting daily. Ukraine fighters are outnumbered and outgunned, for sure, yet they've managed to stall the Russian juggernaut, and they've even begun to regain territory.

[00:30:23]

NATO officials estimate at least 7,000 Russians have died in battle so far and say the actual number could be as high as 15,000.

The Ukrainian military is claiming some successes at pushing Russian forces away from the capital. This photo shows Ukrainian forces in Kyiv, firing at Russian positions outside the city. But Russia's bombardment of the southern city of Mariupol goes on.

Thousands of civilians are trapped there among the ruins. This is unbelievable. This is an aerial shot of Mariupol, and it reminds you of the worst devastating conflicts. In East Aleppo, for instance, some of that reminds me.

The U.S. on Wednesday formally accused the Russian military of war crimes.

Now, if NATO's estimates are correct, Russia's war casualties after just one month in Ukraine may be as high as all ten years of the Soviet-Afghan war in the '80s.

CNN's Nic Robertson has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Nearly 43 years ago, Moscow ordered troops into Afghanistan. Over the following decade, some 15,000 Soviet Red Army soldiers would at die there. Their war and eventual retreat led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Today, the death toll of Russian troops in Ukraine could already match those killed over ten years in Afghanistan. Four hundred and ninety- eight dead in the first week of war, according to Russia's defense ministry. And despite no updates since, NATO officials say after a month of fighting, the Russian death toll is now as many as 15,000.

Across dozens of Russian cities, more than 15,000 people have been arrested for protesting the war. Recently, anxious parents of troops have begun showing up.

Putin's Achilles heel is the perception soldiers are dying unnecessarily.

It's why he's tightened reporting laws and swamped Russia with Kremlin propaganda. And it's why the Ukrainian military shows off battlefield gains, like knocking out Russian tanks, or captured Russian soldiers, because they know bad press back home is what got the Red Army out of Afghanistan.

What sunk (ph) for the Soviets in the '80s was the Afghans' determination to fight for their homeland. And that the United States supplied the Afghan fighters with Stinger surface-to-air missiles. The shoulder-launched weapons turned the tide of the war. Russian helicopters were easy prey. They lost air superiority, and with it, the will to endure high casualties, and anger back home.

Two years after an ignominious pull-out in 1989, the economic cost of war overpowered the ailing Soviet economy, and seven decades of communist rule collapsed.

Afghan parallels with today's war in Ukraine are clear. Like the Afghans, the Ukrainians are ferociously battling to save their homeland from Moscow's army. And as they did with the Afghan fighters, the U.S. and allies are supplying the Ukrainian army with U.S.-made Stinger missiles to shoot down Russian helicopters and jets with success.

JOHN KIRBY, U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: The airspace is contested, and it's contested because the Ukrainians are making it that way. And they're being very smart about how they're martialing and using their air defense resources.

ROBERTSON: Tank-busting, U.S.-made Javelin missiles are also helping Ukraine keep Putin's army at bay.

Russia's enemies, if not Russia, have learned the lessons of the Afghan war. No one yet, though, predicting the collapse of Putin's power.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Well, I have more from Lviv, Ukraine, at the top of the hour. First, though, let's bring in John Vause in Atlanta -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, thank you.

In the coming day, we'll see an unprecedented trio of high-level summits -- NATO, the G-7, European Council -- all meeting in Brussels, and the U.S. president will be at all three with a focus on maintaining unity with European allies, as well as a unified response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

When President Biden addresses his fellow NATO leaders, he's expected to urge them to stay the course; increase the pressure on Russia. Also, make good on their new commitments to boost defense spending.

[00:35:05]

The emergency summit is expected to approve four additional battle groups in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.

Ivo Daalder is the former U.S. ambassador to NATO and coauthor of "The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership."

Ambassador Dollar, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

IVO DAALDER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Great to be here.

So here's a little more now on NATO'S deployment of forces, from the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, Julianne Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIANNE SMITH, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: This is a NATO-wide effort. This is not just a handful of countries coming together. We've seen almost every member of the alliance step forward and move troops, ships, fighter jets into central and eastern Europe to ensure that we are all collectively addressing the security needs of those allies on the eastern flank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So compare now to just a few years ago when you said the alliance was experiencing the best of times and the worst of times. The worst because many countries just weren't spending what they had to on defense. How would you describe the state of the alliance today? Did Putin essentially breathe new life into NATO like never before?

DAALDER: Yes, it really looks like that. I mean, Vladimir Putin has reminded everyone, not only in the United States, but also particularly in Europe, that this is a dangerous world. A world in which, just because you're trading and talking about each other, you don't have to worry about military capabilities or the use of force. Which many Europeans seemed to believe for a long time.

And as we see in the reaction of countries as diverse as Germany and Switzerland, real change is happening in many ways, what the Germans are going through. A fundamental reassessment that says that, for our security, it's not enough to talk to other countries. It's not enough to trade with them. But we actually need to have some serious military capabilities, underpinning a serious military alliance.

VAUSE: So we have a situation with the U.S. president will be at this NATO summit. And his main goal, from the very get-go, has been unity. To try and get this alliance together.

And that unity could be tested, I guess, in the coming days or weeks, should there be a stepped-up Russian military defense inside Ukraine leading to a lot more casualties. Civilian casualties in particular.

And there's also this chance, this potential use of chemical and biological weapons. If they're used, that could also text the unity of NATO and how they react. Here's the secretary general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL The use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict. And it will be a blatant violation of international law and have far-reaching consequences. And I think that's the most important message to convey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So on his to-do list, President Biden would like to get an agreement on where the line is and what Russian action would trigger a NATO military response. How difficult will that be and how high will that bar be set?

DAALDER: Well, I think it is a tough set of issues. I mean, up till now, we have tried to draw a line in between, on the one hand, doing whatever we can to help the Ukrainians defend themselves, and on the other side, avoiding a direct military confrontation between NATO forces and Russian forces. And we've been able to maintain that line for four weeks but I think

as the secretary general rightly underscores, the use of chemical weapons or biological agents or worse, nuclear weapons, would fundamentally alter the character of the war. And therefore, need to lead to a reassessment about where we're going to draw the line.

In my view, at that point, it is necessary for NATO to be prepared to come to the aid of Ukraine directly with its military capabilities. And it would be a good outcome of this meeting if there were agreement on that and to communicate that clearly to Vladimir Putin, perhaps privately, but nevertheless clearly communicated, so he knows what the consequences are.

VAUSE: One thing which has sort of been, I guess, highlighted here is that this unity among the Europeans has been a surprise to Vladimir Putin. That was something which was picked up by the European Commission president. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: If there's anything that Putin did not anticipate, then it's our unity, the speed of our action, and our determination. He should be in no doubt that we will stay the course. Long live unity and long live Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And that's great, but is it perhaps a little premature? We're not even a month into this conflict.

DAALDER: Well, I think of course, she's right that in the last 24 days or so that the conflict has been going on, there has been remarkable unity.

Yet unity didn't just appear on that day. It was built over an extended period of time by the Biden administration, by warning allies of what was about to happen, and then putting in place a very concerted strategy along three lines: helping Ukraine defend itself; bolstering NATO and its capability to defend itself, particularly in the east; and imposing very severe economic sanctions.

I think even the administration is surprised with the speed with which all of the to defend itself, particularly in ty to defend itself, particularly in the east and posing various economic sanctions.

I think even the administration is surprised with the speed with which all of this has come together. And I think one of the great challenges that the United States has, working together with its allies, not only in Europe, but also in Asia, is to find ways to, in many ways, institutionalize what has now emerged as a strong united front.

VAUSE: Yes, I guess the question -- has to stick together if this works out. And there are concerns of quagmire (ph), but we're not there yet, and we may never get there.

Ambassador, good to see you. Thank you. DAALDER: Great to be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still ahead here on CNN, Republicans in the U.S. Senate step up their attacks on President Biden's Supreme Court pick. The highs and lows for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:00]

VAUSE: The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote in less than two weeks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.

But with Republicans lining up in opposition, her confirmation vote will likely be one of the closest in history. CNN's Paula Reid reports on her final day answering senators' questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Supreme nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson facing questions from increasingly hostile Republican lawmakers.

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: That's not what I said, Senator.

REID: The hearing was often contentious.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): You're supposed to answer the question. You can bang it as loud as you want.

REID: Republican senators once again used significant portions of their allotted time to focus on Jackson's judicial record in child pornography cases.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): You're a mother. You seem to be a very nice person. Are you aware of how many images are out there on the Internet involving children in sexually compromising situations?

REID: Senator Graham repeatedly interrupted Jackson's attempts to explain previous sentencing decisions.

JACKSON: No, Senator. I didn't say "versus."

GRAHAM: That's exactly what you said. To put their ass in jail, not supervise their computer usage.

JACKSON: Senator, I wasn't talking about versus.

GRAHAM: You just said you thought it was a deterrent to supervise them. I don't think it's a deterrent.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Senator, would you let them respond? GRAHAM: Yes.

JACKSON: Senator, every person in all of these charts and documents, I sent to jail. Because I know how serious this crime is.

REID: Senator Hawley's questions revealed Jackson's fatigue with an issue that was relevant only to a handful of cases in her career.

JACKSON: Commitments --

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): My question is do you regret it or not?

JACKSON: Senator, what I regret is that, in a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we've spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences.

REID: Committee Chairman Dick Durbin admonished his Republican colleagues for their talking points, appearing to appeal to movements like QAnon, which peddles false conspiracies about Democrats and pedophiles.

DURBIN: Your nomination turned out to be a testing ground for conspiracy theories and culture war theories.

CRUZ: And videos.

REID: Cruz, Jackson's Harvard Law School classmate, made news with his question about the upcoming affirmative action case going before the justices next term, where Harvard is a defendant.

CRUZ: You're on the board of overseers of Harvard. If you're confirmed, do you intend to recuse from this lawsuit?

JACKSON: That is my plan, Senator.

REID: Democratic lawmakers, again, using much of their time to allow Jackson to talk about her record and the historic nature of her nomination.

JACKSON: I do consider myself, having been born in 1970, to be the first generation to benefit from the civil rights movement.

REID: She wiped away tears as she listened to Senator Booker.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): When that final vote happens, and you ascend onto the highest court of the land, I'm going to rejoice. And I'm going to tell you right now, the greatest country in the world, the United States of America, will be better because of you.

REID: Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Many refugees fleeing Ukraine had just minutes to escape their homes, taking only a few prized possessions. When we come back, though, some of them will speak to CNN about what they brought on their journey to safety.

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[00:53:00]

VAUSE: What began as a trickle at the start of the war quickly became a flood. Millions of Ukrainians fleeing their homes and their homeland, most finding safety in Eastern and Central Europe.

But now, almost a month into this crisis, and with the strain showing, E.U. leaders are considering a continent-wide response, with all member states sharing the burden of caring for so many is so much need.

All up, 10 million -- more than three and a half million Ukrainians have actually fled their country; 10 million have been displaced. This is the fastest moving refugee crisis since World War II, according to the U.N.

So, that's the big picture. But that moment, deciding to leave everything behind, all that you know and all that you own, could be soul destroying. Entire lives packed into suitcases, sometimes in just minutes, but despite that turmoil and chaos, many are able to grab one keepsake, that something special a reminder of a happier life that was and will be again.

Here's CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Life changed in an instant for these families, forced to flee their homes as Russian troops invaded. But what do you take with you as we run? What is your most precious possession?

For 11-year-old Victoria, it's her beloved teddy bear. She's outgrown him, but he's just the right size for her little sister.

(on camera): Oh, it's for Vanae (ph). This is her favorite toy, is her bear.

(voice-over): "It was mine, and now it's hers," she tells me. "When she's crying a lot, she cuddles him at night."

Tatiana (ph) packed as the sound of explosions grew closer and closer to her family's home in Kyiv.

(on camera): What is the most precious thing you took?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is me and my father.

(voice-over): "When I was gathering my stuff, I knew I needed to take this," she tells me. "It's the only album with my dad's pictures in it."

Her father died when she was six, but pictures of his smile bring comfort.

"I knew the photo album would make me feel calmer."

Seven-year-old Milana (ph) rushes to grab her favorite thing. It's easy to see why she loves it. "Because there are animals in it, and dogs, and you can count. Here is six, here is four."

Denis (ph) was given just ten minutes to leave his university dorm, but he knew what to grab.

"My sunglasses. I adore them," he tells me. "They make me look cool like Kurt Cobain."

(on camera): Put on the sunglasses for me, please.

How do you feel now that you have the sunglasses on?

(voice-over): "It makes me feel like everything is going to be fine," he says. "That we will win, and I will walk on the streets of Kyiv under a peaceful sky again."

A dream shared by the many victims of this senseless war.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Lviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Hala Gorani will be back live from Lviv in just a moment. And we'll leave you with music amid the devastation in Kharkiv, and a haunting solo performance by cellist Denis Karachevtsev.

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