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Russian Forces Reportedly Regrouping in Eastern Ukraine to Prepare for Possible Military Breakthrough; Russian Atrocities in Ukraine Come to Light as Russian Forces Withdraw from Previously Occupied Ukrainian Cities; President Biden Signs Further Sanctions on Russia Due to Invasion of Ukraine; Crew of Private Citizens Reach International Space Station as Part of Space Tour; Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmed by U.S. Senate as Next U.S. Supreme Court Justice; Ukrainian Refugees Continue to Flee to Poland; Tiger Woods Plays in Masters Tournament after Suffering Severe Injuries in Car Accident. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired April 09, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:25]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour in Ukraine. Russian forces are said to be regrouping in the east of that country. Ukrainian officials bracing for a new onslaught and an attempt of a massive breakthrough attempt by Russian forces in Donbas. Right now, heavy shelling continues in Kharkiv, much of the city reduced to ruins as you see here. Officials there urging civilians to evacuate in advance of expected heavy fighting.

And today, 10 new humanitarian corridors are set to open across eastern and southern Ukraine. Those evacuation routes are being adjusted following a horrific Russian attack on a train station. A warning, some of the video is very disturbing to watch, but we feel it is important to show you exactly what's happening to civilians there. That Russian strike on the train station on Friday killing at least 50 people, including five children, almost 100 others wounded in the blast, and all were trying to escape the war. President Zelenskyy vowing to hold all those responsible accountable.

And it comes as a European official says a quarter of Russia's forces are now effectively inoperable following heavy losses and poor planning.

Let's go now to Odessa, Ukraine. That's where we find CNN's Ed Lavandera covering the latest on the Russian invasion. So Ed, officials there are saying that there was an explosion in the region today and a curfew is going into effect later on? Explain.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. There was one attack this morning, an explosion of some kind. Officials are saying it happened on the southern side of the city here in Odessa, but that there are no injuries, and that people should not pandemic. Everything is under control.

But it does follow a number of attacks that have happened in the last 36 hours, including three missile strikes overnight, apparently several people killed, and apparently happened at a military installation on the northeast edge of the city. And then there was another explosion during daylight hours yesterday. So there is some concern. You couple that all with the news coming out of eastern Ukraine and that deadly attack at the train station in Odessa. Officials here have announced that starting tonight at 9:00 p.m. local time, there will be a curfew that lasts until Monday morning.

But this also coincides with April 10th here in Odessa, which is a significant city holiday dating back to -- it's known as the liberation day of Odessa when the city was liberated from Nazis back during the World War II era. And so some people believe that it might also be connected to that, a day where outdoor gatherings would be very predominant. We spoke with one resident today who said that they probably are trying to keep people from gathering in public places given what has happened in other parts of Ukraine where civilians have been targeted in mass numbers.

So that is the significance of this rare curfew here in the city that is extending throughout the daylight hours until Monday morning, starting tonight, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, Ed, Ukrainian officials are telling people that they're bracing for an increased Russian onslaught in Kharkiv. How are they preparing civilians for that? What's the message that they are sending them?

LAVANDERA: Well, there are calls through many parts of eastern Ukraine to evacuate these areas. Ukrainian military officials are saying that they believe that the Russian military is preparing to make a major offensive in through the Kharkiv region in the northeast corner of this country, to move into that Donbas area where they expect this major, difficult, painful battles to emerge in the weeks ahead. And that is why you're seeing these calls for evacuation throughout many communities in that eastern Ukraine area. They are really bracing for this onslaught that could be unprecedented and deadly in this next wave of the war here in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: And then we've also learned that there are new humanitarian corridors that will be opening up today, so is there a heavy reliance on its safety given what we have already seen in recent days and weeks?

LAVANDERA: Right. What we've seen over the last several days and weeks, Fredricka, is that these humanitarian corridors are very delicate, can fall apart at any moment, and they're very difficult to keep going.

[10:05:00]

They've had to re-adjust some of these corridors because of the attack at the train station yesterday in eastern Ukraine. And some of the corridors are simply very difficult. For example, Mariupol to the closest city, there's a humanitarian route, but it's by personal vehicle only. So you can imagine, if they can even access a car, those are always on your own without any kind of protection. Those can be very dangerous routes to take.

WHITFIELD: That attack at that train station, 50 people dead, including five children, are we learning anything more about the people who were killed, the survivors of that attack as well?

LAVANDERA: President Zelenskyy is calling this another chapter of war crimes here in this country, 50 people dead, nearly 100 wounded, five children, mostly women and children killed in that attack. And we also understand that the missile strike hit a temporary holding facility there at the train station.

And to give you a sense of how vital this train station was for the evacuation of civilians in this region, the head of the train station says that in the last few weeks, on any given day, there could be 8,000 people traveling through that train station every day. And at the time of the attack yesterday, there were about 4,000 people there. So this was a target and a lifeline to safety for tens of thousands of people, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Terrible. All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you so much in Odessa.

The U.S. is putting more pressure on Russia amid the bloodshed that we are seeing in Ukraine. CNN's Jasmine Wright is at the White House. So Jasmine, Congress passed new sanctions which have now been signed by President Biden. It's the first time sanctions in -- that we've seen in response to the war that have come actually from Capitol Hill. So what other sanctions are there left to impose?

JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Fredricka. This is the first time that we have seen sanctions come from Capitol Hill after the Biden administration has really tried to put a lot of emphasis on their campaign, trying to punish Russia for its continued invasion into Ukraine. And so these two bills that the president signed yesterday, the White House announced in a late night statement.

Let me talk to you about what they would do. The first of which really suspends normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus as the U.S. continues to try to squeeze the Russian economy. And it also allows the president to put higher tariffs on Russian imports.

And now for the second bill, Fred, it bans energy imports from Russia into the U.S., and that includes coal and oil and natural gas. President Biden had already signed a similar executive order to the second bill on energy, but now with congressional action, it makes it into law, codifies it.

These are two bills that the president has urged Congress to sign for a few weeks now, really in consultation with allies abroad as they're doing similar efforts. And I think the administration thought it would happen a little bit sooner than just yesterday where he could sign it. But it took a bit longer from objections from some senators, including Rand Paul. But obviously they resolved those and now it is signed.

This comes after we learned that President Biden announced additional sanctions against Russian institutions as well as members of President Putin's family, including his two daughters, as U.S. officials believe that they could be hiding some wealth for their father. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Jasmine Wright at the White House, we'll check back with you throughout the day. Thank you.

So coming up, a historic landing, the first all-private space crew docking with the International Space Station this morning, but not without any hiccups. An issue with a camera delayed the private-paying customers. Details straight ahead.

Plus, Judge -- Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's emotional message after being confirmed as the first black woman to ever sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

And Tiger Woods' extraordinary return. He tees off for a third round at the Masters in just a few hours. We'll go live to Augusta.

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[10:13:27]

WHITFIELD: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accusing Russian troops of war crimes after hundreds of civilians were found dead in the town of Bucha. The president of the European Commission visited a mass grave in Bucha on Friday, vowing those responsible would be brought to justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: It is the unthinkable has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of Putin's army. We have seen the recklessness and the cold-heartedness with which they have been occupying this city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: More atrocities from Bucha are coming to light as are the stories of the victims. This report from Phil Black containing some very graphic images. We do want to warn you.

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PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Irina (ph) Filkina (ph) in a happier time, before the Russians came. It's likely this video shows Irina (ph) after the invasion in early March, just moments before her death. She's seen cycling through Bucha, heading towards a large number of Russian vehicles. As she approaches a corner, she dismounts. One of the vehicles fires. She moves around the corner out of sight, and it fires again and again, at least five more times. Then, a large muzzle flash from a second concealed vehicle. Moments later, smoke rises from near that corner.

[10:15:01]

A different video, geolocated by CNN to the same corner, shows a dead woman on the ground next to a bike. Other images of that body clearly show her hand and her distinctive nails. The woman who only recently taught Irina (ph) to apply makeup, recognized them instantly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She draw a heart on her finger because she started to love herself. This woman was incredible.

BLACK: Olga (ph) Shirov (ph) didn't need to see the nails to know that was her mother's body. She tells me she doesn't know what she feels now. "It's such a void," she says. "When I saw it was my mother, the war faded away. The war ended with her, and I lost the war."

Olga (ph) says her mother called her while she was cycling that day not long before she was killed. She had been sheltering at her workplace and decided to go home because she thought it would be safer.

BLACK: Tell us about your mother. How would you like the world to know her?

She says Irina (ph) had a hard life, overcoming obstacle, only really starting to live in the last two years. But she could do the impossible, and inspired others to believe they could too.

Elsewhere in Bucha, someone recorded the moment three men were found, all shot in the head. This video is how Olga (ph) Karaviluk (ph) found out her son Roman (ph) and son-in-law Sergie (ph) had been killed. She says, "I don't want to live anymore. The grief, I cry day and night. I don't know how to live."

Images from Bucha have taught the world undeniable truths about the brutality of Russia's invasion. For some, that knowledge is deeply personal and impossibly painful.

Phil Black, CNN, Lviv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Those images are just devastating. And as the European Commission president said there, the unthinkable has happened in Bucha and beyond.

Simon Shuster is a correspondent for "TIME" and he is in Kyiv. And Simon, it's hard to watch, but it is important to see, and it's important to see the video that you took documenting what you have been an eyewitness too. You've described it as a hellscape, and even your words to document what your journey has been like. So how do you -- as you continue to look at these images, do you kind of assess it differently each time? Or tell me more about kind of these haunting images?

SIMON SHUSTER, TIME CORRESPONDENT: That was just a snippet I took on the way into Kyiv a few days ago when we were driving into the city. It was shocking. I had seen the images before in news reports before I got here, but that highway that I was driving on had only opened up, I think, two days before we used it to get into the city. Previously you had to take a long way around. And it was just -- the workers there were still trying to clear it. It just, it showed me how much more it's going to take for Ukraine to recover in the areas that it is regaining control of. Where the Russians are withdrawing, we're seeing the devastation to infrastructure, homes, and, of course, human lives, as your report just showed. So it's going to be a very long road to recovery if Ukraine can get to the other side of this war.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Tell me more about what you saw when you say people trying to clear the debris at the same time they're recovering bodies. So what has that sequence of events been like to witness?

SHUSTER: It looks -- it's quite a complicated process. First, the demining zappers come in, and they look for explosives, booby traps, mines, and unexploded ordnance. And they try to clear that away. That of course, poses the most danger to civilians using those roads and that land. And then you have clearing trucks, essentially garbage trucks and backhoes, construction equipment that comes in and tries to clear the road of the massive piles of destroyed civilian vehicles and military vehicles that have been blown up in the battles.

This was an area that saw particularly heavy fighting as the Ukrainian forces pushed the Russians back and tried to keep them out of Kyiv over a number of weeks.

[10:20:00]

That was pretty heavily contested terrain. But in the cities that Russia did control for a number of weeks, like Bucha, like other areas northwest of Kyiv, the worst is the lives lost. And President Zelenskyy said that today, when I saw him yesterday, that we can rebuild, but we're not going to get those lives back.

WHITFIELD: Right. And you've been spending the last couple of days with President Zelenskyy there. And he's also been meeting with European leaders. What have you noticed in how he has been able to endure as much as he has, yet at the same time continue to lead with a feeling of victory being in sight?

SHUSTER: Yesterday was pretty shocking. He looked bad. So I saw him a few hours after the world learned at the same time as he did about the rocket attack in Kramatorsk, in east Ukraine, that killed upwards of 50 people and injured over 100, including children. And when I saw him, he was -- kind of his pale, shade of green. He looked really devastated, as you would expect. And also exhaustion -- six weeks or so of this invasion is clearly taking a toll.

But he held it together. He had a very important meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, where they talked about E.U. membership. And today I have the sense when I saw him that he managed to get some sleep and get some rest, and he was more his usual self. But he's human, like everyone else. It affects him, yes.

WHITFIELD: Right, he is human, but he also seems to exude a sense of optimism in trying to impress upon the Ukrainian people that they are going to get their country back.

So the E.U. is also saying it will resume its diplomatic presence in Kyiv after temporarily moving into Poland, and then some other countries including Italy and Slovenia are now also doing the same. So what does this signal? Is it a sign that Kyiv is becoming safe again, they're trying to convey that? Or is it also a way of perhaps gaining more security with the presence of those other countries?

SHUSTER: I think it's important for European leaders politically right now to signal that they are fully in support of Ukraine, that they're ready to take on sacrifices and take risks on Ukraine's behalf. As Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday on behalf of the European Union, your fight is our fight. And the I think the Europeans are going quite far to show that that's the case. Just today, the news broke that Boris Johnson, the prime minister of the U.K., was here in Kyiv. I think he's here now. The chancellor of Austria came through today. I saw him with Zelenskyy this afternoon, late morning. And the chancellor then went to Bucha to see the site of the atrocities that have played out there under the Russian occupation.

So I think the European leaders are trying to signal that we're here, we're coming, we're not leaving Ukraine behind. Even if there is some danger to coming to Kyiv still, they're willing to take that risk to show their support.

WHITFIELD: And from where you are in Kyiv, is there a way to describe what day to day life has been like for most folks? And even for you, even though you're working, you still have to get out and get food. You still have to get out and interact with people. What is that experience like?

SHUSTER: Yes, Kyiv, it's great to see it's really coming back to life. There's still a military curfew in force, so everything closes pretty early, shops or cafes. But the cafes are reopening. I went to a place that was serving vegan carrot cake and lattes and stuff. So these kinds of things are coming back. Kyiv was a vibrant, happy, lovely European city before this invasion. It shut down when the invasion began. But now these little pieces of normality are returning.

And it's also the people who fled, a lot of them, it's still very empty. The streets are very empty. There's a lot of military checkpoints around the center, around government buildings. But some people are returning. Actually, there are more people returning to Kyiv now than are departing, and a lot of people are trying to return to their homes because the pressure militarily is off. So the Russian forces have withdrawn from this region.

WHITFIELD: Little tiny glimmers of hope, they really do matter. Simon Shuster, thank you so much. Continue to be safe there. We appreciate you making the time for us.

SHUSTER: Thank you.

[10:25:03]

WHITFIELD: Moments ago, all four, all private-paying citizens stepping onto the International Space Station. We are live from Cape Canaveral next.

Plus, a historic moment for the Senate-confirmed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, CONFIRMED TO U.S. SUPREME COURT: It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:30:03]

WHITFIELD: In another giant leap for mankind, a SpaceX capsule carrying three paying customers and a former NASA astronaut arrived at the International Space Station this morning, and moments ago the hatch opened, and the crew came right through. It's the first of its kind journey for space tourism. CNN's Rachel Crane joining me from Cape Canaveral, Florida. So Rachel, I know this is a huge moment, and it keeps you smiling every time something like this happens. So take us through this morning.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: You're right, Fred. The smiles ear to ear for space enthusiasts here on earth. I can only imagine how that crew is feeling. But as you pointed out, the crew here of Ax-1, which this mission has been called, just boarded the International Space Station after making a more than 20-hour journey after they launched here from Kennedy Space Center yesterday.

I want to point out that there was a minor hiccup this morning before they docked. There was an issue with a video link getting to the International Space Station. The crew was always safe on board, but it delayed the whole process by about 45 minutes. Luckily, they were able to proceed forward with the docking. And as we just saw, they just entered the station.

Now they will soon have a welcome ceremony as the crew on board Expedition 67 greets this crew. That will bring the total number on people on station to 11, Fred. So it's going to be pretty crowded up there. There's actually literally people will be sleeping in the hallways on the U.S. module side. So a lot of excitement.

And this was, as you pointed out, the first-of-its-kind mission. There have been previous space tours who have gone to the ISS before, but there's never been a completely all-private mission to the International Space Station. So this is once again, another leap forward in the commercialization of low-earth orbit, which is something that NASA has been working on for over a decade.

WHITFIELD: Rachel Crane, thank you so much.

There was more history made of a different sort right on the White House lawn. For the incoming U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson one day after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become now the first black woman to serve on the nation's highest court, and it was an emotional Judge Jackson who spoke about what all of this means to her and to so many.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, CONFIRMED TO U.S. SUPREME COURT: So as I take on this new role, I strongly believe that this is a moment in which all Americans can take great pride. We have come a long way toward perfecting our union.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now from Washington to talk about the confirmation and more, Fatima Goss Graves, the president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center. So good to see you, Fatima. So did you have a dry eye yesterday?

FATIMA GOSS GRAVES, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL WOMEN'S LAW CENTER: No one had a dry eye. What an opportunity to be a part of that history.

WHITFIELD: You were there. That's right, you were there. So that is even more special. What did it feel like? You could read the emotion of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, but as an eyewitness to it right there on the White House lawn, what did it feel like for you?

GRAVES: It felt extraordinarily special. In Judge Jackson's speech, she really named that she understood the moment in history, that she was standing on the shoulders of so many people who came before her and opening up a pathway for a next generation to imagine something very different. We all felt that gravity. And it also -- it just gave me and so many others so much hope. There's something about the long arc of history that helps you ground yourself in hope.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and in just one generation, here it is, her parents who would know what it is to experience a Jim Crow segregation, one generation later, she demonstrated, and she spoke of how she is exemplifying that all things are happening, that all things can happen. And she said that this moment that is happening -- and I'm quoting her now -- that we've made it, all of us, all of us. And in a recent CNN op-ed, you wrote this, saying, "We hailed her career and celebrated not only her, but also the work of countless black women silenced, erased, and excluded from the top echelon of the legal profession." Elaborate on that.

[10:35:00]

GRAVES: Well, I have been thinking a lot about -- even before Judge Jackson was named, the many black women attorneys who were never considered. And it was wonderful to see so many names out there, but I've been thinking about people like Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children's Defense Fund, or Elaine Jones, who is the former head of the NAACP legal defense fund, legal luminaries whose names weren't bandied about for the Supreme Court. What a mistake we've had as a country to not have had their greatness on the court, and the greatness of many others.

WHITFIELD: And while her presence on the U.S. Supreme Court does not change the six to three leaning, do you see that her interpretation of law, the history of her rulings, her words, her experience, her life experience, will in some way make an impact on what's presumed to be the six to three ruling when Justice Breyer was there?

GRAVES: The addition of every new justice to the Supreme Court changes not only the individual decisions you might see, but the composition of the court. The court as an institution itself will change. We will now have more than one perspective around blackness on the court. We will now have near parity, basically, on the court in terms of women, with four women on the court. We will have a dynamic that will be new that for the first time this six-three divide that you name, it will be all women in that three. And I think that will shape the country's understanding of what it is the court will do. And I hope it helps the court reflect on itself further.

WHITFIELD: Fatima Goss Graves, you said it so well. Thank you so much. Great to see you.

All right, more than 4 million Ukrainians have fled Putin's assault. The majority of those who have fled by train are finding refuge in neighboring Poland. We'll go there live next.

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[10:41:51]

WHITFIELD: An official with the Ukrainian state railway enterprise says they've evacuated 3.5 million people since the Russian invasion began, nearly half-a-million were transported by train abroad. The majority are fleeing to neighboring Poland which is where we find CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. Salma, how is the country continuing to be able to provide for these refugees, so many? Can you hear me, Salma? That would be a pretty good indication she cannot. We'll try again to reconnect with her.

Salma, now you're back. You are there, you can hear me. Very good. OK. Tell me how Poland is able to handle so many refugees at once?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Hello? Should I be hearing the show?

WHITFIELD: OK, we're going to still try this again. Oh, here we go.

ABDELAZIZ: So we are at a train station -- sorry for that. Sorry for the technical difficulties. We're at a train station here near the border, and what this is no longer just a transport hub. Yes, people are able to get out of areas of violence, of areas of conflict. They've reached safety. But their journey continues once they arrive here.

We're just going to pan a little bit to the left, because this has essentially become a waiting area now for these families. You can see they have only what they can carry with them essentially. And now they have to figure out where they go next, where are they going to spend the night? Where are they going to sleep?

I'm just going to walk you through so you can get a sense of this space, because, again, it's now just become this halfway point for these families. And they have only what they can carry with them, so sometimes they arrive and they're asking for diapers or milk, or a warm meal. And that's what the volunteers here are for.

There's always a medical point here. So there's always a paramedic available on standby. If somebody needs medical attention, then they can get checked out here. There's always signs instructing people. Here's another one, women in pregnancy consultation. So if someone needs to be checked out, that's what they're going to do. There's an ambulance outside as well, and a tent with warm food. And here they've even set up a playroom for the kids. So while the parents are working the phones trying to figure out where they go next, there's a place for these kids to play.

And what everyone is essentially doing here now is they're working the phones. They're trying to find if they have other friends in other parts of Europe that can take them in, if someone has posted a spare room on Facebook or on social media that they can have for another night. And the question you're going to hear over and over again, the question that you hear these volunteers get, is where am I going to lay my head down tonight?

WHITFIELD: Extraordinary measures that have been put in place for the so many millions who have found refuge there. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for that perspective. Appreciate it.

And to learn more with about ways you can help the people of Ukraine, go to CNN.com/Impact.

And a moving moment of solidarity in the U.S. America's past time honoring Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:45:11]

WHITFIELD: That delicate, yet strong voice coming from 11-year-old Yulia Holiyat singing the Ukrainian national anthem at Yankee stadium. Her family immigrated from Lviv back in 2006. The New York Yankees honoring the people of Ukraine before their home opener against the Boston Red Sox on Friday. New York City is home to the largest Ukrainian community in the U.S.

Still ahead, Tiger Woods' extraordinary return to the Masters. He has made the cut to advance, and he's teeing off in just a few hours from now for the third round. We'll take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:12]

WHITFIELD: In a career marked with extraordinary challenges and victories, golfer Tiger Woods' remarkable return to the Masters continues this weekend. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is Augusta. So Tiger tees off at about 1:00 eastern time. And where does she stand on the leaderboard right now?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Fred, when we were talking about Tiger Woods perhaps learning that he's tied for 19th, doesn't seem like it, goes with all of the attention that he's receiving. But you got to think about what he has overcome in the past 14 months. This is his first competitive golf tournament in more than 500 days, and, of course, his first sense that February 2021 car crash where me nearly lost his life and thought he was going to lose his leg. That's now held together with metal rods and a plate. And you can kind of see that over the past few days when he made the surprise announcement he was going to come to Augusta, practice for the Masters. He was limping noticeably. He was a little bit slower. But the game is still there. And while there were some hurdles for him, Tiger says that he is very comfortable where he is right now. He's going to be starting the day at just one over par.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, FIVE-TIME MASTERS CHAMPION: I'm proud of the fact that my whole team got me into this position. We worked hard to get me here to where I had an opportunity, and then not to have any -- as I said, any setbacks this week. And we haven't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: So Tiger is right now nine shots behind world number Scottie Scheffler. He leads the pack and seems to be running away with it right now. But it is Saturday in Augusta. Anything can happen. Fred, this is the 22nd Masters cut in a row that Tiger Woods has made, not something anybody a year ago people thought was going to happen.

WHITFIELD: It's just an extraordinary story, just the journey of being there and heading into round three.

So one thing I love about Augusta, Dianne, is just how beautiful it is there. Those azaleas are in bloom. It's gorgeous. But it's kind of chilly today, isn't it? So how is that possibly going to impact play?

GALLAGHER: You can see my hair is tied back. I have two coats on right now. It is chilly in Augusta, and it is also windy. And that wind is going to pick up right around the time of Tiger's tee time. That's going to even the playing field a little bit for everybody. Tiger remarked yesterday that this might be the Masters that the Masters committee has been waiting for. The greens are fast, the course is firm, and that wind is going to make all of these golfers have to rely on their skill set. It may give him a chance to continue to stalk the leaderboard as we're used to seeing him do for the past 25 years. He slipped on that first green jacket 25 years ago this weekend, Fred. That would be quite a story, quite a comeback for a man who has had nothing but a career of comebacks, again, for the past quarter century.

WHITFIELD: Right, and he was only 25. A little 25-year-old at the time with that first green jacket. Hey, so what about the enthusiasm? Everyone -- if you have a coveted

ticket of the Masters, people are excited, enthusiastic. But now it seems like it's been taken to a whole new level, particularly because of Tiger Woods' appearance.

GALLAGHER: It is. Aside from the weather, Tiger is the only thing people right now can talk about, because, again, no one thought this was going to happen. People made trips. It's hard to get Masters tickets, right? There's lotteries you have enter. They're expensive. Everybody here, a lot of these fans showed up this week after Tiger sent out that tweet saying I'm going to practice, it's going to be a game-time decision. All around Augusta it is absolutely electric.

And Tiger has mentioned that. You see those crowds around him for the practice rounds, Fred. It looked like a Sunday at the Masters on Thursday. And he mentioned the energy that he gets from all of those fans there. Yesterday he struggled on the front nine, and you watched the fans kind of push him through it, cheering him on, yelling go Tiger, yes, Tiger. And you could see him as he limped up those hills, getting that energy from his fan base. He has talked about how important those fans are to him, and I promise you, they have showed out. I can't imagine what it's going to look like tomorrow for Sunday.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So exciting. Glad you are there. The excitement is palpable that far away, but I can feel it. But just what it will be like if we end up seeing him in red, oh, my gosh. Anyway, we have a lot to talk about. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much in Augusta.

[10:55:00]

All right, a quick programming note. There was no one like Anthony Bourdain. This is a story that you haven't heard from the people who knew him best. "Roadrunner, A Film about Anthony Bourdain" premieres tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

And still ahead, we're live from Ukraine. Heavy shelling is under way in the eastern city of Kharkiv at this hour as people there brace for a new onslaught of Russian forces. Much more straight ahead.

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