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Russian Air Strikes Caused Significant Damage To Lviv's Infrastructure; Fallout Following President Biden's Remarks In Poland; Russia Confirms Missile Strikes On Fuel Depot In Lviv; Red Tape Delays Sponsorship For Ukrainian Refugees In The U.K.; Joint U.S. And Europe Task Aired Force Targets Russia's Energy Revenue; Firefighters In U.S. Sending Equipment To Ukraine; Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Faces Tight Confirmation Vote As GOP Opposition Stiffens. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired March 27, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:24]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and I'm also joined by my colleague, John Berman, in Lviv, Ukraine.

We begin with these new developments in Ukraine. Officials there saying Ukrainians forces have launched a series of new counterattacks liberating some villages in eastern Ukraine that have been taken over by Russian forces. This as Russia carries out new assaults into western Ukraine which has largely been spared from the bombing so far. Emergency crews now finally putting out the flames at a fuel depot in Lviv hit by a Russian airstrike.

And Russia's Ministry of Defense confirming the attacks on Lviv that we saw yesterday and it comes as even more Ukrainians flee the carnage. On Saturday alone, more than 5200 escaping through humanitarian corridors, most of them from the besieged city of Mariupol. The U.N. says more than 3.8 million refugees have now fled to other countries.

And President Joe Biden now back in the United States after sending shockwaves at the end of his whirlwind European trip, saying Russia's Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. The White House quickly clarifying those remarks, those nine adlibbed words.

We'll have a live report in just a moment. But first let's go to Ukraine, John Berman anchoring our coverage from Lviv. And it was 24 hours ago when we were talking to you. We heard the thumps and then saw smoke billowing behind you. Now we understand the fire has been put out but tell us what today is like, 24 hours later.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, what a difference a day makes, Fred. It was right behind me. You could see the smoke billowing behind me from where those missile strikes took place in the fuel storage depot. We heard the bombs go off, the missiles explode. Now just moments ago what we heard, church bells ringing on this Sunday. And I saw crowded busy streets all day, people trying to go about living their lives in this city of Lviv. I want to bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz for some information about

what -- we're learning a lot about what the Russians hit here yesterday.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed these strikes. They said they were two strikes and agreed with the Ukrainians, they hit a fuel depot. They say that was fueling Ukrainian forces on the frontlines, and they said the second strike was on a repair plant that was modernizing Ukraine's weapons.

But I think this starts to show the shift in Russian tactics. Right? Where a month into the war, they have yet to make any really big gains. They don't have air superiority, so what they're using is very long-range precision missiles to target fuel supplies, to target supply routes, to try to limit the access Ukrainian forces have to what they need to fight on the frontlines.

So, yes, this of course was a strike that was right in the heart of Lviv that shocked the community. We heard the mayor repeatedly telling everyone, stay indoors, stay in shelters. It did kind of shattered that illusion of security a little bit, but as you said Sunday and everyone is out again. And I think that's what's sometimes so astounding about conflict is people do find a sense of normalcy because this is still just about as safe as you can get in Ukraine.

BERMAN: And again, as you noted, these missiles were shot far, far away. We're talking the Black Sea. It reveals the situation for the Russian military in this country now, particularly as the Ukrainians continue to try to find these pockets where they can engage in counter-offensives.

ABDELAZIZ: Right. So we have this counter-offensive that is starting to claw back some territory. Make some small gains particularly in the east of the country. Ukrainian forces saying they've been able to take back two villages in Kyiv. The fighting has been fierce in the suburbs around that area. There's a counter-offensive right now in Kharkiv, the second largest city as well, but again these are small gains.

And at the same time we heard from Russia, the top general there saying they've now entered the second phase of the operation. They're going to focus on the east but somehow we also had strikes all the way in the west yesterday. This is entering another phase. This is becoming a war of attrition. I know people like to use that word stalemate, but it's not a stalemate.

Those frontlines might not be changing much, but the people trapped in the middle, they're going to suffer for a very long time.

BERMAN: That's a really good point.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for being with us. As always, we appreciate your reporting.

All right, President Biden is back in Washington after wrapping up his critical trip to Europe with Western allies. The president also delivering that major speech from Poland's Royal Castle which seemed to call for regime change in Russia.

[13:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Want to bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz at the White House.

Arlette, the White House now walking back those comments. Why don't you tell us what they're saying?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this was a very carefully crafted speech that the White House had hoped would really lay out the stakes of the battle in Ukraine. But it was just with nine words that President Biden went completely off script, suggesting he wanted to see regime change in Russia. Now in the past 24 hours since those remarks, top administration officials have really scrambled to try to clean up what the president said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the early hours this morning said that what Biden meant was simply that Putin should not be able to exercise control or power over his neighbors or the region, and that the U.S. is not pursuing or interested in regime change in Russia. But still, it drew a very quick rebuke from Russia, with a spokesperson for the Kremlin saying that ultimately that is not a decision for Biden to make, but one for the Russian people to make.

And here in the U.S., there's also been some criticism of the president for those remarks. Take a listen to Senator Jim Risch. He is the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He called this a horrendous gaffe that has serious ramifications. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM RISCH (R-ID): Any time you say or even as he did suggest that the policy was regime change, it's going to cause a huge problem. This administration has done everything they can to stop escalating. There is not a whole lot more you can do to escalate than to call for regime change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now these comments from President Biden come as he was really stepping up his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days. On this trip calling him a war criminal, and even a butcher, Biden making those comments after he met with some refugees just yesterday. But these comments came at the end of this whirlwind trip through Europe, where President Biden was really seeking to present a united front among Western allies against Putin's aggression. And the president also tried to lay out the stakes of what this battle

in Ukraine means, specifically when it comes to that fight between democracies and autocracies, something that President Biden thinks democracies will ultimately prevail in. But he really was warning and telling allies that this is a battle that they have to prepare to wage for years and months to come and that Ukraine is simply the battle -- the frontline of the battle to ensure that democracies can thrive -- John.

BERMAN: Arlette Saenz at the White House.

Arlette, as usual, thank you so much for your reporting.

I want to bring in Maria Mezentseva. Hang on one second. We have Phil Black -- I understand.

In the aftermath of what we saw here in Lviv yesterday, you saw the smoke rising from that hill behind me with that strike on that fuel storage depot. CNN's Phil Black has a closer look at the impact and the aftermath.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What this attack does show is that there is no way in this lodged country that is truly safe from Russia's fire power. This was -- the heavy strikes in other parts of this region, but this was the first to take place within the crowded city limits of Lviv itself. People here are a little nervous, I think a little shaken by this.

It is a little quieter here noticeably so compared to what we have seen in a city that has otherwise been functioning quite normally over the course of this war with the exception of the huge intake of refugees and displaced people that have sought shelter here from fighting further east.

This fire at the fuel depot was, well, it was pretty huge. They had to fight it all night in order to bring it under control. And it was extinguished a little after sunrise this morning. The other site that was hit, we are told by Ukrainian officials, they simply described it as military infrastructure but it also suffered severe damage.

No one or there have not been any recorded deaths as a result, which is, perhaps, remarkable given that these strikes did take place very close to people's homes. This was the Lviv mayor talking a short time after the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRIY SADOVYI, MAYOR OF LVIV, UKRAINE (through translator): This is the second hit over the last week, and we can clearly see that those very targeted strikes on the infrastructure, and the destruction is serious, and the shock of blast also destroyed a kindergarten, a school, and luckily there are no casualties.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACK: Now we can't know if this was a specific message to President Biden. But it does fit a recent pattern of Russian (INAUDIBLE).

[13:10:01]

It was the third fuel depot to be destroyed in recent days. And those others were in different parts of the country. Russia has also been going up to weapons storage areas. So it seems to be that they are trying to knock out logistics, support sites, the sort of support that Russia believes Ukraine needs in order to continue waging its military defense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right, our thanks to Phil Black for that report.

We've got our technical issues figured out. We want to bring in Maria Mezentseva. She is a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

Thank you so much for joining us right now. I want your take on what President Biden said. President Biden said, Vladimir Putin, this man cannot remain in power. It's caused quite a controversy in the U.S.

I fear we lost her shot again. Can you still hear me, Maria?

All right. Listen, we lost Maria Mezentseva's shot. She's a Ukrainian member of parliament. Hopefully we'll get her back in a second. In the meantime, we're going to take a quick break. Our special live coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:21]

BERMAN: Joining us now is Maria Mezentseva. She is a Ukrainian member of parliament.

Thank you so much for joining us. I've been trying to ask you President Biden caused quite a controversy when he said of Vladimir Putin, this man cannot remain in power. It's controversial in the United States, but what do you think about that statement?

MARIA MEZENTSEVA, MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Well, you know, it's a general perception of a democratic world that such person who is trying to invade other independent states, which is not just Ukraine. We've witnessed that in 2008 in Georgia, in the '90s was Moldova. We've had so many other exercise, military exercises, et cetera, which are proving that the -- this is a playground of geopolitics for Putin, and that can be a very straightforward understanding for Ukrainians.

We might not see any, you know, double, let's say double trouble in here. Moreover, if we are talking about leadership, we have seen, we have seen some communication among Russian citizens, how they're yelling about the crises, and the, you know, when it comes to sanctions, which was jointly backed by the U.S. and E.U. on the first layer, touching upon the Russian central bank and many other things, SWIFT, et cetera.

They are now playing a big deal on the pockets of regular Russian citizens. And I think, you know, this message was -- has to be taken very straightforward. Putin does not represent the whole Russian people. We do believe that there has to be an internal protest which can become bigger and bigger only which will lead to the change of the leadership.

And of course, this is not the only thing we rely on. We rely on the help of the U.S. to dedicate the $2 billion which are now as allowance for military support and now on defenses, $1 billion for humanitarian aid and many other programs which are in joint efforts will lead to the win of Ukraine for the whole world. As we became a shield, a security change, a security game changer, because, you know, every book I read back in the U.K. doesn't make sense right now because the game changer is our Ukrainians ourselves.

No one expected such a withstand for more than a month already, well, more than eight years, let's make it very clear, on this bloody war. And I've heard in detail what you've reported from Lviv, but what I also want to report, these ridiculous things which are happening right now, like when Ukrainians are in more or less, between the sirens, are getting out from their basements, trying to get the humanitarian aid and they're being shot dead on the spot next to hospitals, next to post offices.

This is what Putin is doing on the ground in Ukraine. Is this the fair conduct of war? Definitely not. This is a prohibited actions within the Geneva Convention, humanitarian -- international humanitarian law and many other things he will be accountable for. So he does not, he does not -- he's not the leader of his nation. He is not the leader of whatever, he is just, you know, by himself, and he will be by himself once he will be fully isolated from the whole world.

And while Russians will take this as a pay for everything that is happening in Ukraine, Russian troops are still coming. There are more victims of this war on the Russian side. We've seen 16 solvent, you know, dead soldiers. We've launched a special platform so that their parents can find them, so that other parents will prevent their sons going to Ukraine for death. And you know, this is just about the bloody leadership of the so-called leadership of Vladimir Putin.

BERMAN: Maria Mezentseva, we appreciate you bearing with us. Thank you so much for your time.

MEZENTSEVA: Thank you very much.

BERMAN: Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, John. Well, as you know, more Ukrainians are fleeing the carnage in their country.

[13:20:01]

And yesterday alone more than 5200 escaped through humanitarian corridors, most of them from Mariupol. Hundreds were also evacuated from Kyiv and the Luhansk regions.

CNN's Melissa Bell spoke with one woman who fled to neighboring Poland. Listen to what she had to say about her decision to evacuate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYNA LIKKEI, FLEEING KROPYVNYTSKYI: Yes, it is -- we are really scared, and so we understand the situation that we have to be on the separate side. Yes, but in general, it is really sad and I'm really disappointed to leave my family and my husband. Yes, we understand that we have to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: In fact, thousands of Ukrainian refugees are hoping to join relatives in the U.K., and they're waiting for applications to get processed. But as CNN's Nada Bashir reports, government rules and a lot of red take are becoming major obstacles for many of them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After an agonizing wait, Victoria and her mother have finally been reunited in London. Life returning to what little normality is left after Russian forces closed in on their hometown of Berdiansk. Like many Ukrainian refugees, Victoria's parents fled first to Moldova and then Romania. But actually getting to the U.K., where Victoria has lived for more than a decade, proved to be one of the most difficult parts of their journey.

VICTORIA ANDRIY, UKRAINIAN BRITISH CITIZEN: I was the only source of information and I was guiding them through like, you know, step by step, what to do, helping with the applications. So it was all hectic. There were no instructions.

BASHIR: Government data shows thousands of Ukrainians hoping to join relatives in the U.K. are still waiting for their applications to be processed. A separate scheme set up to allow U.K. citizens to open up their homes to refugees is also proving to be riddled with red tape. Only in the fine print are applicants told they'll need to find someone to sponsor on their own.

ELSA DE JAGER, HOST, UK "HOMES FOR UKRAINE" SCHEME: It feels, genuinely, every step of the way, as a deterrent to people applying. That's how it feels.

BASHIR: Hoping to open up her London home to someone in need, Elsa connected with a support group helping Ukrainian refugees on Facebook. It's here she connected with Yana, still in Ukraine with her 4-year- old daughter, desperately trying to make it across the border in the hope of reaching the U.K.

JAGER: I mean, it's so frustrating because our houses are sitting, not empty but the rooms are sitting empty. There's room for people today to come in. This shouldn't be this kind of red tape when people are getting bombed every day.

BASHIR (on-camera): And do you think that's intentional?

JAGER: I think it's absolutely intentional. It's absolutely intentional. It's in my mind a PR stunt to say we're going to open U.K. homes to refugees.

BASHIR (voice-over): The two are perfect strangers. But they've been required to share sensitive personal documents with one another as part of the application process. And Yana, in turn, left a trust in Elsa's generosity.

JAGER: If something happens to them whilst we're waiting for somebody behind a desk to put a stamp on a visa for them, I mean, I don't know how it feels but I'd be more than devastated.

BASHIR: The government has said Ukrainians are welcome, asserting that its schemes will allow refugees to live and work in the U.K. for up to three years. But there is growing impatience about Britain's approach, which they see as more bureaucratic than some of Ukraine's neighbors.

LAURA KYRKE-SMITH, U.K. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: But it still involves this lengthy process to apply for a visa and what a far better system would be is for visas to be waived all together. Every human being has the right to seek asylum under international law.

BASHIR: The U.K. Home Office says it's streamlined its visa application process in order to help people as quickly as possible. But for so many, the experience has been far from straightforward.

ANDRIY: If government is afraid that this people will stay here for longer term, I don't think that's the case because their families are still there. Men are still in Ukraine fighting. As soon as there is a chance, they will go back home.

BASHIR: Despite the devastation at home, Victoria's mother, like so many, remains hopeful she will one day be able to return to a peaceful country, her life no longer in limbo.

Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And across Ukraine, moving symbols of unwavering strength.

A cellist who is performing some of the most well-known concert venues in Europe and Asia now playing Bach on the war-torn streets of his hometown of Kharkiv.

[13:25:03]

He says he hopes his performance will raise awareness to the widespread destruction there and raise money to help rebuild after the war.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:42]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. At last week's summit in Brussels, President Biden announced a joint task force with the European Commission to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas. Biden also said the goal was to deprive Russia of money it needs to prop up its economy and the war in Ukraine.

[13:30:02]

In the past revenue from oil and gas has accounted for 43 percent of Russia's federal budget.

Well, let's bring in now former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. He's the co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the CEO and founder of the Energy Futures Initiative.

So good to see you. So the U.S. says it's trying to send natural gas supplies to Europe, but how quickly can that help?

ERNEST J. MONIZ, CO-CHAIR AND CEO, THE NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE: I think it can help relatively quickly. We've just increased our export capacity in the last months, for example. But of course the real goal will be to provide stable and growing supply over this decade. In fact the pledge to have a stable demand for 50 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 of U.S. gas would actually soak up quite a large fraction of the anticipation growth in U.S. exports in that period.

So I think it's a very good move, and it reflects what in 2014 when I was in the Obama administration, what we noted was that energy security is a collective responsibility among allies and friends, not just an individual country. I think this is a good manifestation of that.

WHITFIELD: In particular after 2014 you're talking about Russia's invasion of Crimea and you helped craft the G-7 Energy Security Initiative that call for greater European independence from Russian energy. So why is Europe then still in this position almost a decade later?

MONIZ: Well, Europe did respond somewhat to that revisiting of energy security, for example, by increasing their internal infrastructure to make the markets work better, to get reverse flows of oil from Slovakia to Ukraine. However, it was not uniform, and in particularly Germany going forward with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, certainly went in the opposite direction of increasing dependence on Russian gas if it were to operate. It looks now like it's being suspended perhaps permanently.

WHITFIELD: In a meeting of business leaders at the White House just last week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon urged President Joe Biden to create a kind of Marshall Plan for U.S. energy independence. In your view, wow would that work?

MONIZ: Well, I think what Mr. Dimon was referring to is that to see our oil and gas reserves produced requires also collaboration with the financial industry. Frankly, the financial industry has been telling them to focus much more on returns of cash to investors. Now I think what's needed is exactly a high-level summit, if you like. The president, the secretary of Energy, the financial institutions and the gas producers, for example, looking at production through the lens of both climate change and energy security.

In fact, Fredricka, you mentioned in 2014, we revisited energy security principles, and diversifying suppliers and supply routes was certainly very important, but also it was the transition to low carbon because, after all, things like renewables, sources like renewables, do not have energy security issues. So we need to have a unified discussion. Climate, energy security, geopolitics, infrastructure all to accomplish our national goals.

WHITFIELD: Also, I want to change the subject but still, you know, under the big umbrella, I want to ask you about, you know, renewed Iran nuclear deal. Talks are still going on. The U.S. envoy has been, you know, very cautious publicly, but do you see that there might be a deal or a new deal coming soon?

MONIZ: Well, frankly, I was kind of expecting a deal to get over the top a couple of weeks ago until Russia raised issues about sanctions relief. Those have been perhaps cleared up, and so perhaps that Iran nuclear deal will be restored, but, frankly, I think it's up in the air right now with these other considerations involving Russia and China. But I would add, let me be very clear, in my view there is no doubt that restoring the nuclear deal would be in our interests.

We all recognize the need to address the regional instabilities. Just for example recently the oil price was affected when the Houthis in Yemen again struck Saudi oil infrastructure with a missile.

[13:35:07]

So we have to address all of that. But the reality is that a restored deal would give us another nine years in terms of very, very severely reduced Iranian, enriched Iranian stocks, and that's the time period, those nine years, we need to use frankly more effectively than the last five years were used.

WHITFIELD: All right. Former Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, thank you so much. Appreciate you.

MONIZ: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So as Ukrainians forces fend off the Russian advance, some ambitious efforts to help some families, especially children. Today Kyiv's mayor announcing that schools in the capital will reopen tomorrow. Not as they knew it, of course. Classes will be online and adapted because of the Russian attacks on Ukraine.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:06]

BERMAN: Yesterday here we watched responders in Lviv work feverishly to put out this huge blaze after the missile strike. They are the brave few who run toward danger every day and must continue their heroic work in a warzone. Now emergency gear and supplies donated from firefighters in the United States are en route to fellow responders in Ukraine.

CNN's Alexandra Field has more in this week's "Beyond the Call of Duty."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OLEG SKACHKO, CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Everything that you see in here in this trailer, it's going to be get shipped out to Ukraine.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Where emergency responders on the frontline badly needed.

SKACHKO: I need more.

FIELD: Ten tons of firefighting gear and supplies have already been boxed up here in Clifton, New Jersey. They're en route now to the warzone. The plan is to send it all to the Polish Fire Service, which will pass it over to Ukrainian firefighters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's it going?

FIELD: The collection effort, nothing short of monumental, was the idea of Oleg Skachko, who was born in central Ukraine and moved to the U.S. when he was 14. Three years ago he joined Clifton, New Jersey's fire department.

SKACHKO: Seeing how the brotherhood runs through the departments, that was one of the reasons.

FIELD: When Russia invaded his home country, Skachko says he knew his Ukrainian brothers needed him, too.

SKACHKO: You see the brotherhood not just in United States but all over the country, and including our cities. Everybody comes in at once in the time of need.

FIELD: What started as an effort to collect a few sets of turnout gear to send over quickly turned into 1100 sets and so much more.

LT. MARK DREW, CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We wanted to focus on firefighter personal protective equipment, which would be your coat, your pants, hood, helmet, and gloves and boots. And then we branched out just a little bit further and told people that we would need hand tools. Then we branched out a little bit further onto the medical side with backboards.

FIELD: To date the donations mostly retired gear but perfectly useable have come from more than 100 fire departments across the country.

DREW: We were getting contacted by departments in Colorado and Minnesota and Wisconsin and Ohio. That's what firemen do.

FIELD: The deliveries haven't stopped. On this morning a load comes in from Parsippany, New Jersey.

JIM LUKASHUK, PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I am Ukrainian, so when I heard about this through Facebook I brought it up in our meeting. We had some gear that we were going to get rid of anyway. It's like, why don't you donate it? Put it to a good cause.

FIELD: Another truck full from Haledon, New Jersey.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We brought bunker gear, jacket, helmet, gloves, some boots. You got to help out one another.

FIELD: The money to send the gear is being raised by a nonprofit, New Ukrainian Wave, Passaic, which is relying on a GoFundMe page. Getting it there quickly is now the biggest concern. The shipments will include Ukrainian flags with the insignia of the departments that donated stitched on them.

SKACHKO: Hopefully someday eventually I'll find the pictures of the flag and the gear making it to the frontlines where they need it right now.

FIELD (on-camera): What do you want to say to the people who will wear this gear?

SKACHKO: The people who wore the gear before you, just know that they stand behind you.

FIELD (voice-over): Alexandra Field, CNN, Clifton, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Standing behind them.

Still ahead, Senate Democrats are trying to make history by appointing the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, confirming the first black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. We're going to go live to Capitol Hill next, with the latest on her confirmation process.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:48:34]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. After four days of hearings last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to bring the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Senate floor in, quote, "short order." The Senate is expected to vote on Jackson's confirmation April 4th. It's likely to be the closest Senate vote in the history of Supreme Court nominations as Republicans stiffen their opposition. For the very latest now, let's bring in Daniella Diaz on Capitol Hill.

So, Danniella, good to see you. So what's happening behind the scenes ahead of voting on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination?

DANIELLA DIAZ, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, right now, the White House and Democratic leaders were hoping that it would be a bipartisan confirmation for Ketanji Brown Jackson where she would become the first black woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court but it doesn't look like any Republican Senators are going to support her nomination when it goes to a floor vote in just short order as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

You know, we were keeping an eye on a handful of Republicans who supported her for the D.C. Circuit in 2021. Those Republicans being Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but Graham has already come out and said he does not plan to support her and Collins and Murkowski have not yet said where they stand on this vote.

But I do want to reflect, Fred, on one moment that went viral this week between Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, the only black senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, where he moved her to tears when he applauded her history as a litigator and he said that she deserved this nomination.

[13:50:12]

She deserved to be confirmed, and he reflected on that moment with our CNN -- CNN's Dana Bash on "STATE OF THE UNION" earlier today where he said he did not think that the Republican line of questioning was racist. He thought it was more having to do with the fact that she faced these allegations of being soft on crime because she's a woman, and that is why they attacked her when she faced the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearings this past week. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I think this is not about racism. It's about decency. I think that this is not about any kind of partisan effort. There is legitimate questioning that went on by Republicans there, but, to me, it's just about the kind of way we're going to treat folk. And I think it's a kind of thing that a lot of folks, women of all races, have had to endure often when they get into a room that they're qualified to be in, but are yet questioned in ways that are disappointing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Fred, Ketanji Brown Jackson will be all but confirmed to the Supreme Court when the Senate votes later in a couple of weeks on her confirmation, on her nomination, because Senator Joe Manchin actually came out on Friday and said he supported her nomination and Democrats don't need Republican senators to support her nomination. They can pass this along party lines with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaking vote. So first, of course, the Senate Judiciary Committee has to meet and

vote her out of committee. That will likely happen on April 4th. Then the Senate will vote. But as I said, that will likely happen. She will likely become the first black woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court bench -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Daniella Diaz, thank you so much, on Capitol Hill. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:23]

WHITFIELD: New intelligence suggests Russia is shifting its intentions with Ukraine after failed operations in Kyiv. Ukraine's military intelligence chief says Vladimir Putin could be looking to carve the country into two, like North and South Korea. In the meantime, for years, the U.S. government has said its missile defense system would stop any threat from above. But experts now warn the defense systems may no longer be enough.

Here's CNN's Will Ripley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, ignition.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America's missile defense system, the best and perhaps only line of defense from a North Korean nuclear missile aimed at the U.S. Now a stunning warning from some of America's leading experts.

FREDERICK K. LAMB, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: If North Korea were to fire a nuclear armed ICBMs at the United States, we cannot be assured that our missile defense system would prevent the loss of millions of Americans.

RIPLEY: Kim Jong-un's most powerful test in almost five years, an intercontinental ballistic missile. A warning to President Joe Biden and America as North Korea sharpens its nuclear sword. For years, U.S. leaders have reassured the public.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Missile defense begins here.

RIPLEY: And America's allies.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They should be very confident.

RIPLEY: Missile defense systems can keep them safe.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Easily shoot them out of the sky.

RIPLEY: Senior Defense officials project confidence the U.S. could also shoot down a North Korean ICBM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defense of the homeland.

RIPLEY: These experts say the odds of success are very low.

LAURA GREGO, STANTON NUCLEAR SECURITY FELLOW, MIT: It's been described as hitting a bullet with a bullet, trying to hit a warhead.

RIPLEY: For the first study of its kind in 10 years, commissioned by the American Physical Society. Their conclusion, despite more than six decades of missile defense efforts and $350 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars, no missile defense system has been shown to be effective against realistic ICBM tests.

(On-camera): Why is it so hard to shoot down an ICBM?

LAMB: That warhead undoubtedly will be accompanied by decoys and by things to fool the defense or overwhelm the defense.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A fundamental problem.

JAMES D. WELL, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: We do not see in the next 15 years that an effective defense can be mounted against ICBMs.

RIPLEY: The current system has only been tested 19 times since 1999.

GREGO: And in those tests, they have been essentially scripted for success. But even so the tests have only succeeded around half the time.

RIPLEY: But what about all those successful intercepts in the Middle East? What about the Iron Dome?

WELLS: ICBMs are a qualitatively different threat than any of the missiles that we have read about in the news, traveling significantly higher and having potential penetration aids and countermeasures.

RIPLEY: CNN reached out to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. When asked about the report's findings, a spokesperson cited this defense report from January. It says the middle defense system has demonstrated a measure of capability to defend the United States, deployed forces and allies from a rogue nation's missile attack. And that its most advanced radar will be able to separate the warhead from a cloud of decoys.

U.S. think tank CSIS says these images show an undeclared North Korean missile base, just miles from the Chinese border, a potential launch site for ICBMs.

JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA: We need to understand that there is no military solution.