Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Wins South Carolina Primary; World Leaders Gather in Kyiv; Protesters Clash With Police in Israel. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 25, 2024 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And a very warm welcome to our viewers in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Paula Newton in New York.

Ahead here on CNN Newsroom --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Donald Trump has won South Carolina's Republican presidential primary. So, after the loss, what's next for Nikki Haley, the former governor of that state?

Western leaders gather in Kyiv to show solidarity with Ukraine as it begins its third year of war with Russia.

And protesters clash with police in Israel, calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

And we do begin here on the U.S. East Coast, where Donald Trump chalked up another solid win Saturday night, this time in South Carolina's Republican primary.

Now, with an estimated 99 percent of results in, Trump has just under 60 percent of the vote, you see it there, Nikki Haley, more than 39 percent. The sources say Trump's team now wants to move away from the Republican primary race and focus instead on the general election campaign.

In his victory speech, Trump said the party was united behind him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now, never been like that. And our party is full of energy like never before. And I mean it, there's never been unity. There has never been unity in our party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: CNN's Kristen Holmes is with the Trump campaign in South Carolina. She has more on what's next as the likely Republican nominee looks ahead.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Advisers to former President Trump tell me to expect the campaign to pivot to a general election after the South Carolina primary, despite the fact that Nikki Haley is going to remain in the race. They had hoped that a resounding win in South Carolina following three other resounding wins would help bring Republicans off the fence, would help bring in some of those holdout donors, and would also potentially put pressure on Haley to drop out.

But as that isn't the case, I am told that they're going to start having conversations about how to expand their campaign staff, particularly in these critical swing states. And we're talking about states like Michigan, Georgia, Arizona. I'm also told that there has been a number of efforts to try to get Donald Trump, who is still completely annoyed that Nikki Haley is staying in the race, to focus his ire on President Joe Biden.

Now, senior adviser did tell me they believed that that could be difficult, since they themselves had had to tell Donald Trump multiple times to just ignore her.

NEWTON: Now, regardless of whether Trump ignores her, as Kristen Holmes just said, the former South Carolina governor doesn't appear to be going anywhere, even after losing in the state she once led. She is refusing to drop out, vowing to fight on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm grateful that today is not the end of our story. We're headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we're headed to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week. We'll keep fighting for America and we won't rest until America wins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, despite a convincing win for the former president, his allies are taking no chances. They created a new super PAC to raise money for his campaign, and, of course, his mounting legal bills. The organization, Right for America, is being led by Trump ally Sergio Gor, who will serve as CEO. MAGA Incorporated, the other Trump-aligned super PAC, who will also continue to operate in fundraise, though it's not readily clear how the two will differ.

Joining me now is Richard Johnson. He lectures on U.S. politics at Queen Mary University in London. Thanks so much for joining us as we try and parse what's happened now. So, let's go through this state of play.

[03:05:00]

Haley loses big time in her home state. This is not a great headline. Is it over for her? And if it's not, why does she stay in?

RICHARD JOHNSON, U.S. POLITICS LECTURER, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Great questions. So, I think, practically, if not mathematically, the Republican contest for choosing their presidential nominee is over. Since the genesis of the modern Republican primary process over four decades ago, no candidate has won these three states by such convincing margins and then not won the nomination.

Now, Nikki Haley actually did a bit better than the expectations of the last couple of weeks were suggesting. People were looking at a 70 to 30 Trump victory over her. It ended up being 60-40. But an important caveat to that is South Carolina is an open primary state. And if we look into the exit polls among Republican voters who are about 70 percent of those who voted, Trump got that 70 to 30 margin over Haley.

So, the problem then for Haley is that South Carolina should be her best state. She was the governor there. It's an open primary state. And if her ceiling is 40 percent, that bodes very poorly for Super Tuesday, where on the 5th of March, this contest mathematically will be either improbable or impossible for anyone else to defeat Trump.

Part of that is because in the majority of Republican states, if you win over 50 percent of the vote, you actually win all or nearly all of the delegates.

And so the question is why is she still in? One, she has the money. And, usually, it's a lack of money that causes candidates to drop out or suspend their campaigns and primary contests. And the second is it's quite possible she's in it because she actually wants to weaken Donald Trump's candidacy.

And that may be for a variety of reasons. One may be that, okay, maybe she can't bring him down. But let's say he does get a criminal conviction, if she's helped to build the case internally against him, that might set things up better for someone else, maybe it won't be her, but for someone else to make the case, to replace him at the convention.

I think that's very unlikely but that may be what she thinks she needs to do if she has a problem with Trump being the next president.

NEWTON: Yes. Certainly, in politics, many are ready for long shot scenarios, just given the two candidates, likely the two nominees, President Biden and former President Trump.

Now, the argument that Haley would do better against Biden, one-on- one, would likely win against Biden, that did not resonate with Republican voters. Why not?

JOHNSON: It's pretty usual that primaries are not focused on electability. This is one of the great critiques that was made against the introduction of the modern primary process in the 70s and 80s. There's a great local scientist book called The Party Decides.

And the argument there really is that back in the days when it was the convention that decided, the party elites would put aside ideological differences to think about who was the most electable candidate. But primary voters, individual voters, they want candidates who think like them and share the same policy concerns as them.

The problem is primary voters are not representative of the general electorate.

NEWTON: Yes. And that does pose a problem, though, for the former president, given that, right now, in terms of when he faces Biden, if you look at the polls right now, it really would be a toss-up with polls in the margin of error for both candidates.

Can you set the record straight for us on one thing? Where once Trump's legal problems look like a drag on his campaign, for months now, they've actually boosted him. Do you expect this to continue?

JOHNSON: Well, it shows that -- well, the way to think about it is that I think whoever the party's nominee, the country is so polarized and partisan divisions are such that any Democratic nominee and any Republican nominee is starting with a floor of 40 percent of the electorate at worst. And so then the election is fought in the margins.

And this, I think, is something that Trump needs to -- you know, Trump's campaign needs to be wary of. We see that a non-trivial proportion of Republican voters say they will have a problem with voting for Trump if he has a criminal conviction.

[03:10:12]

Now, people are doubting that it's going to be a third, a quarter, or a fifth, but even if it's 10 percent, in a closely fought contest where these margins in the swing states are really thin, that will be a serious jeopardy for him.

So, the criminal convictions aren't going to make -- aren't going to tank his campaign, but they could make -- they could cause problems for him in those crucial swing states.

NEWTON: Right. and I have to leave it there for now. Richard Johnson, thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, when we come back, the war in Ukraine, the world remembers and pledges support as the fighting enters year number three.

And in Israel, police arrest more than a dozen anti-government protesters. Ahead, the tough tactics they used as thousands of demonstrators packed the streets of Tel Aviv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:15:00] NEWTON: People around the world are showing solidarity with Ukraine as it enters the third year of a brutal war with Russia, including several thousand people in Berlin promising to help Ukraine resist Russia's attempts to destroy its culture and language. The city's mayor says it's Europe's duty to help Ukraine, both with humanitarian aid and military aid.

While in Ukraine a number of Western leaders went to Kyiv to show their support, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also urged Ukrainians to keep up the fight and keep up the hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's good, you're cautious. Today, unfortunately, each of us has someone to keep a moment of silence and honor the memory of. Together we bow our heads. 730 days of pain, but at the same time, 730 days of hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: For more now, we're joined by CNN's Sebastian Shukla. He is in Berlin for us. Thanks for joining us.

I mean, look, a real tough anniversary, two years in, and a lot of issues on the line given the fact that Russia does seem to be on the front foot. The issue of U.S. aid really seems to be front and center for so many in Ukraine.

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: It was, Paula. And two years ago today, I was in Mariupol as Russian forces came from seemingly every direction over the Belarusian border, over the Russian border and from the sea as well.

And yesterday, one of the most poignant moments took place at an airport just outside Kyiv which was supposed to be the scene of Russia's bridgehead lightning strike to decapitate the capital.

Take a listen to what happened there yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUKLA (voice over): Two years ago, Ukraine came under attack from land, sea and air. Russian Special Forces descended en masse at Hostomel Airport, just outside Kyiv. They were supposed to establish a bridgehead. Instead, it became one of the most brutal opening salvos of this war.

On Saturday, world leaders gathered on the tarmac of that airport, the choice of venue very deliberate, a signal to Russia's President Vladimir Putin that he will not win.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Russian forces tried to make quick work of Hostomel Airport, and with it, Kyiv. Well, we are standing here today because he was wrong, like he has been wrong on so many things. SHUKLA: European leaders joined the Canadian prime minister in the Ukrainian capital to mark the second anniversary of this unrelenting war. The message to Ukrainians, a simple one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, we're here to tell you that Europe will continue to stand at your side for as long as it takes.

SHUKLA: But time creates anguish. How much longer can families bear the horror of burying their loved ones?

YEVHENILA DEMCHUK, WIFE OF LT. COLONEL IHOR DEMCHUK: Every single day we bury someone. Every day I can hear funeral music and anthem and it brings me back into my most horrific day.

SHUKLA: Recent battlefield shifts suggest Ukraine is some way from expelling Russian forces and the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, marked the day and a rare good week by visiting Russian troops in the combat zone.

Recent Russian victories in the east suggest Ukraine's war of survival may go well beyond a third year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHUKLA (on camera): And for Ukraine to stand any chance, Paula, it desperately needs continued support from its allies. European leaders have pledged $55 billion worth of aid to Ukraine, but the main one needs to come from the United States and lawmakers need to pass a massive $60 billion aid bill to make sure that weapons flow from the United States to Kyiv. Paula?

NEWTON: And so all eyes on Capitol Hill this week as the House does return. But in the meantime they keep talking even on the front lines about how low the stores of ammunition are. Ukraine still though has managed to inflict damage on Russia away from the frontlines.

SHUKLA: It has. It's changed its modus operandi as those ammunition stores have depleted and run low and the change has been that Ukraine has looked to attack Russia within Russia much deeper into the country. And the targets have been infrastructure, gas and oil plants and metal and steel manufacturers, which are propping up the Russian economy, which has transformed into more of a war economy. And the intent is to disrupt those supply lines and also to remind the Russian people that President Putin has dragged them into this war and to remind the Kremlin that nowhere in Russia is safe.

[03:20:05]

And equally at sea they have managed to push back, particularly in the Black Sea area Russian fleets and ships away from Ukraine's land sea borders by targeting vessels sinking ships. We saw one that happened in the middle of February. This is Kunikov, which was sunk by these Russian sea drones. And all of that has enabled Ukraine to open up a grain corridor, which is a key economic lifeline as well as just pushing the Russian Navy further away from Ukraine's borders, therefore protecting and giving a degree of protection to Ukrainian civilians.

So, a shift there whilst they are not able to make progress on the battlefield, they are looking for new avenues and areas to push the Russian war machine. Paula?

NEWTON: Yes, two years in it is quite impressive what they've managed to do given even U.S. officials in the early days were saying that Kyiv would fall in a matter of days.

Sebastian Shukla for us in Berlin, thanks so much.

Now, last hour, I spoke with Inna Sovsun. She's a member of the Ukrainian parliament. And I asked her about the toll that two years of war is taking on the people of Ukraine, especially remembering those first days when it was feared that, as I just said, that Kyiv could actually fall in a matter of days. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INNA SOVSUN, MEMBER OF UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: I still remembering those headlines. That was a terrifying experience and it still is. Just thinking that Russian army can be over here in Kiev. But they are not. They are not here. They are not in the north of Ukraine overall. They are, however, on the east and on the south. And they have really dug in, particularly over the last half a year. And, unfortunately, the war is going on.

And I think that if you ask any Ukrainian how they are feeling right now, I think the major response would be they're extremely tired. Living through this experience is terrifying and exhausting for all of us, especially, of course, for those in the trenches or for those who have their loved ones over there on the frontline, including myself.

That is a terrifying experience to go through. But at the same time, we feel proud that we managed to survive up until this point.

NEWTON: In fact, your partner is still part, of course, of the military effort. On a personal level, this has really touched everyone in the country.

SOVSUN: Yes, it did. It touched people in many ways. There are those on the frontline. There are those who are their family members. There are those who lost their houses. There are people who lost their loved ones who were civilians.

Just ten days ago, there was an attack in Kyiv, and literally the house next to the math teacher of my son was hit. And I saw it on the news and it looks exactly like the house of my math teacher. And just experience of texting someone you know, saying, are you okay, are you alive, is it your house on the news or is that the house nearby, it's just terrifying to try imagining going through something like that yourself. I think people can really relate that this is just terrifying experience.

I'm not even talking about the families who have lost their loved ones or who don't know where their loved ones are, the families whose children have been kidnapped and taken to Russia, and that is probably the most terrifying of all, having lost your child and not knowing where it is.

So, this is just the immense price that we're paying because we chose to go a democratic way as an independent state.

NEWTON: So much of what you're saying is just a fact of life for so many Ukrainians and yet it's chilling just to hear you repeat what everyday life looks like right now.

I want to ask you, President Zelenskyy is talking about a new counteroffensive. What would that look like and do you believe the majority of Ukrainians have the stomach for something like that right now?

SOVSUN: Well, if you look at the sociological polling, then it proves that absolute majority of Ukrainians believe we have to continue fighting. And I think the reason for that is simple because they understand that until we win completely, there will be no real peace.

So, until there is a single -- up until there is a single Russian soldier on Ukrainian soil, this means that the war can break up again any moment.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And our thanks to Ina Sovsun there.

Now, spokesperson for anti-Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny says Russian authorities have handed the activist's body to his mother. The release comes more than a week after his sudden death in an Arctic penal colony.

CNN's Matthew Chance has our report from Moscow.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Russian authorities have finally handed the body of Alexei Navalny to his family, but no plans for a funeral have yet been announced. Navalny's mother, who received the remains of her son at the weekend in the Arctic north of Russia, near the penal colony where he died, says she was told the funeral must be private before her son's body would be handed over.

[03:25:12]

The family had made it clear they'd prefer a public funeral in Moscow for the later opposition leader.

But, clearly, that would potentially be a highly charged political event particularly as it's just a few weeks now before the presidential election in Russia.

Navalny was a figure who in life was able to draw tens of thousands of Russians onto the street and the Kremlin, which has denied responsibility for Navalny's death could well be concerned that that funeral becoming a rallying point for anti-government protests. Meanwhile across Russia, tributes continue to be laid at makeshift memorials across the country for Alexei Navalny, Russian authorities detaining hundreds of mourners, including at least 49 people on Saturday alone.

Matthew Chance, CNN Moscow.

NEWTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday he was expecting an update on negotiations for hostage releases and a ceasefire in Gaza. The group representing families of most of the hostages says there are credible reports that a deal is being hammered out and the government needs to act without delay. CNN has not been able to independently verify the reports of a deal.

In a social media post, though, Netanyahu also said he'll discuss operational plans for Rafah at the beginning of next week. He said that will include evacuating civilians from the city in Southern Gaza.

Meantime, clashes between the Israeli police and anti-government protesters on Saturday led to the arrest of at least 18 people, Israeli police said. It's just the latest instance of civil unrest directed towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

Our Nic Robertson has more now from Tel Aviv.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, these were anti-government protests calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Organizers say there were tens of thousands of supporters out on the streets, but we have seen some of the toughest police measures used in these protests so far.

They've been occurring almost every Saturday for a number of months now and growing in scale each time. The protests focused around the main security administration center in the center of Tel Aviv, and the police saying that the protesters were blocking some of the thoroughfares in the center of Tel Aviv, and that's why they bought in water cannon and horses to clear the protesters off the road.

At the same time, Prime Minister Netanyahu indicating that he'll discuss the progress made in the Paris talks to get the hostages released. His head of intelligence was there along with the head of the CIA, Egyptian intelligence, Qatari officials there as well.

The prime minister not really saying much about the content of those discussions in Paris. Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of national security here, indicating that there might be some progress to be made. Prime Minister Netanyahu also saying that he'll meet at the beginning of the week with his full cabinet to discuss the military operations that could happen in Rafah, saying that there will be a civilian evacuation if those operations go ahead.

The pressure that he is trying to put on Hamas here very clear, the prime minister saying that the way to negotiate with Hamas to get the hostages released is not only to put this negotiating pressure on them, but to put military pressure on them as well. And that clearly is where his sort of directing Israel's stance on this at the moment. Nic Roberson, CNN, Tel Aviv, Israel.

NEWTON: The U.S. and the U.K. have carried out a fourth round of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. U.S. specials tell CNN the strikes hammered dozens of targets in multiple locations.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann has more now.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and the U.K. carry out another round of strikes, coalition strikes, against Houthi targets in Yemen on Saturday night, Yemen time, after a number of recent attacks from the Houthis have hit ships associated with the U.S. and the U.K.

In this case, the U.S. and the U.K. struck 18 different targets across eight different locations. Those targets included weaponry used by the Houthis, underground storage facility for that weaponry, radar sites and more.

The goal here, as it has been now for several months, is to try to degrade and disrupt the ability of the Houthis to attack commercial vessels. These attacks carried out by aircraft and perhaps other assets as well.

In this statement we saw from the coalition that took part in this, that includes the U.S., the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands, Bahrain and others, it specifically lists some of the ships that were hit recently, including the Rubymar.

[03:30:02]

That's a ship associated with the U.K. that's now anchored in the Red Sea. It is apparently the first ship whose crew had to be rescued and abandoned ship because it was struck by a Houthi attack.

It has now left an 18-mile oil slick as it poses an environmental hazard and sits there because U.S. officials say it's not safe enough to go rescue it because of the threat of more attacks from the Iran- backed rebel group.

Part of the challenge here is that U.S. officials have acknowledged the ongoing strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, the attempts to degrade their weaponry and take some of that away have been unsuccessful and haven't changed the Houthi's direction here. They continue to launch these attacks.

And what makes it difficult is that the U.S. doesn't have a great sense of how much more weaponry and equipment the Houthis have. That's because Iran continues to try to resupply them.

Still, the Biden administration has made clear, as has the Pentagon, that if the attacks on commercial vessels in one of the world's most critical waterways continue, so too will the U.S. strikes and the U.K., as we now hear, see this fourth round of coalition strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Oren Liebermann, CNN at the Pentagon.

NEWTON: Stay with us, there's much more to come on CNN. We'll dig deeper into Donald Trump's latest Republican primary victory this time in South Carolina. And South Carolina voters share their reasons for choosing one candidate over the other in Saturday's primary. Some of them might surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Donald Trump's march to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination continues following a big win in South Carolina's GOP primary.

[03:35:00]

With an estimated 99 percent of the results in, Trump has nearly 60 percent of the vote, while Nikki Haley has 39.5 percent. Sources say Trump is ready to focus on the general election campaign, and it showed in his victory speech. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have a country that is a failing nation, but we're not going to have a failing nation very long. We are not going to allow, we are not going to allow this to happen. We love our country. We love it dearly. We're going to fight for our country. We're going to fight for our rights. We're not going to let this go on because it is not sustainable by any country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, while Haley did, of course, lose her home state, she did pull in a larger margin than the 30 percent margin that recent polls had suggested. And she insists she is staying in the race through Super Tuesday next month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: Now, I'm grateful that today is not the end of our story. We're headed to Michigan tomorrow. And we're headed to the Super Tuesday State throughout all of next week. We'll keep fighting for America and we won't rest until America wins.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: So, the question is, how did Haley lose to Trump in her own backyard? Now, a wide range of voters turned out to vote in the Republican primary Saturday, which is an open primary where anyone can vote, and that does include Democrats. CNN spoke with some of the voters to find out who they voted for and why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like Trump would just have a whole lot stronger stand and we need that right now because we're going in the wrong direction right now, for sure. And we need to be a lot stronger around the world, not just around here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't vote in the Democratic primary just because I didn't see the need to and I thought I'd be more beneficial to vote in this one so that I could get Nikki Haley on there. Because, I mean, truthfully speaking I do like her as a person even though I'm not a Republican myself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just really love the different things that he's done for our country. I do know that there's a lot of controversy with how he's treated people or how he's acted, but as a Christian, I think that he's done really incredible things that stand by the values that I hold as a believer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: In the meantime, President Joe Biden is already fundraising off the results in South Carolina. In an email sent after the results came in, the Biden campaign warned that Trump will be the likely Republican nominee.

Mr. Biden already has an impressive war chest. He raised more than $42 million in January alone, ending the month with $130 million on hand, the largest amount ever amassed by a Democratic presidential candidate at this point in the campaign. Democrats have outpaced Republicans in fundraising so far in this election cycle.

Now to Georgia, where the suspect in the death of a nursing student in Athens here in the United States has been denied bond, that's according to jail records. Authorities say Jose Antonio Ibarra didn't know the victim and didn't go to the same school. The 26-year-old Ibarra was taken into custody on Friday, a day after a nursing student, Laken Riley, was found dead.

Riley was a junior at the Augusta College of Nursing. She had gone jogging on Thursday before she disappeared. Police say it appears to have simply been a crime of opportunity and that an examination revealed she died from blunt force trauma.

The head coach of Duke University's basketball team is calling for a ban on students storming the court at the end of games. Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski was injured when fans ran onto the court at the end of the Wake Forest upset win over Duke Saturday. You see the melee there.

Now, Duke Coach Jon Sheyer says Filipowski suffered a sprained ankle. Wake Forest University released a statement saying they sincerely regret the unfortunate on-court incident.

Now, as Ukraine enters its third year of war, we look back and ahead as the country struggles to survive.

Plus Ukrainians living far from the fighting aren't forgetting about their country's plight. Now, Ukrainians abroad are honoring their homeland. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:40:00]

NEWTON: More now on our top international story, Russia's brutal war on Ukraine enters its third year. A number of western leaders travel to Kyiv Saturday to show solidarity with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion. Crowds of people in cities around the world, meantime, also demonstrated their support, including hundreds who marched in Athens holding signs and waving Ukrainian flags.

Far fewer expected the war would ever last this long. Now some wonder when the bloodshed will ever end.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in separation of Ukraine for us.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think today some Ukrainians has been a moment of pause, really, to remember how their lives were so radically different, how war of this magnitude was unimaginable just over two years ago, but also today to look at the scale of the task ahead.

Yes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had an extraordinary array of western leaders, European luminaries, coming to Kyiv to continue to pledge the strategic support and talk of how precisely vital Ukraine's fight is for so many across all of Europe. But, ultimately, this occurs at a moment when western aid is in doubt, frankly, and even the European bids to increase shells for Ukraine in the next weeks or so, well, they've fallen flat in the past, and still there is a shortage that's urgent now on the frontline.

Some suggestions of the trouble Ukraine is in overnight, Odessa, the previous night had been hit for the second time in a row, lives lost by a drone attack, a sign perhaps of the air defenses, which Ukraine warned might be the first thing to suffer potentially no longer being as effective as they had been, and also Russia claimed that it had taken 200 Ukrainian prisoners during its seizing of the town of Avdiivka, a vital fight on the eastern frontlines that Ukraine had to give up last weekend, because it simply didn't have the manpower or ammunition to sink into taking a place of little strategic value.

And I think it's extraordinary to look back over the past two years and observe quite how resilient and resourceful Ukraine has been, initially believed, many did, that it would be a matter of days until Russia walked across the entire country with the third strongest military in the world, yet they were shown to have equipment that was way below standard and be tactically significantly less competent than many had indeed imagined.

[03:45:03]

But slowly over time, two expectations that people thought would be the case at the start of the war are slowly becoming true. Initially, many believed the west wouldn't be unified in opposing Russia. It turned out they were, yet that, over time, has slowly eroded with the $60 billion worth of U.S. aid not being approved by a Republican-led Congress. And I think many also thought that the Russian military would be far superior at the start of the war than they turned out to be.

Well, it's fair to say now, too, that Vladimir Putin's military are getting their act back together. The economy has proven more resilient than sanctions had hoped would be the case. And they are slowly, I think, clawing their military industrial complex back towards a point where they can sustain this war a little longer.

None of that's translated into a massive breakthrough at the frontline, but there are multiple points along the frontline, which appear to show Russia giving extraordinary pressure on Ukrainian forces.

It's not necessarily too late, and I think the difficulty for Ukraine is to project how urgent it all is, while at the same time suggest they can continue the fight. But as we enter the third year, it's a very bleak picture indeed.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine.

NEWTON: Now, a new documentary released this week tells the story of a 70-year-old Ukrainian restaurant right here in New York City. Since 2022, that restaurant has raised more than a half million dollars to support Ukrainians in need.

Polo Sandoval shows us how the restaurant is providing a much needed point of familiarity and comfort for Ukrainians in New York.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was some two years ago that the sounds of sirens announcing that initial bombardment on behalf of Russian forces over Ukrainian cities, it sent shockwaves throughout Ukrainian American communities here in the United States, and that certainly holds true here in Manhattan's East Village, specifically here in Veselka, a restaurant that for about seven decades has been serving more than just Ukrainian comfort food.

But it really has been a rally point for the community here, a source of support for the Ukrainian people. Many people certainly gathering here over the last two years. In fact, this restaurant has been a main character in a recently released documentary. And in that, there's actually a story of Vitali D., who oversees operations at one of these locations here.

This conflict, this war, it certainly hits close to home. Not only has he been able to actually bring his mother here from Ukraine to enjoy the relative peace of the United States, but it certainly tells us a little bit more about how he is marking this anniversary, and most importantly how he refused to lose hope and faith in Ukrainian forces who held on tight to the Ukrainian capital and continue to do so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VITALI DESIATNYCHENKO, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, VESELKA: It feels weird to be able to enjoy the clear sky, the comfort of our food, you know, just the normal day-to-day basic things, roof over our head, you know, seeing family and being comfortable. So, unfortunately, it's still going on, but I don't think even a single Ukrainian can lose faith in this situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Vitali also adding that he certainly hopes that this anniversary will remind people that this conflict is certainly far from over, especially lawmakers in Washington with the Ukrainian aid package stuck in limbo.

Polo Sandvaol, CNN, New York.

NEWTON: And a reminder that millions of Ukrainians remain away from home at this hour and around the world.

We will be right back with more news in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

NEWTON: And you are looking at live pictures of the U.S. Capitol right now. It's about freezing. That's 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which means about zero degrees Celsius.

Now, while it's still chilly right now in most parts of North America, we may be reaching for that air conditioning in the car by the end of the week.

Elisa Raffa has more now in the CNN Weather Center.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: our winter was kind of spring like winter continues this weekend. And as we go into next week, I mean, look at the high temperatures forecasted for Sunday. We're looking at highs in the 70s from Kansas City to Oklahoma City in the eighties from Dallas to Midland Texas, even some sixties from Atlanta to Charleston and staying pretty mild, even up into the mid-Atlantic.

We're looking at temperatures climbing into the eighties for places like St. Louis by Tuesday. Same thing for Oklahoma city in the middle 70s in Atlanta, even a place a little farther north like D.C. still winds up getting into the 60s by Monday and Tuesday, much above average for this time of year.

I mean, look at the departure from normal, the huge red bull's eye in the central plains with temperatures 20 to 25, almost 30 degrees above average for this time of year. That warm air continues to slide eastward and we're looking at temperatures continuing to stay 15, 20, even 30 degrees above average going into Tuesday for some areas to the east.

In fact, we're looking at multiple records of falling hundreds of records. More than 345 records could fall through the week. We're looking at daytime highs and overnight lows, breaking records as we stay with these temperatures much above average. In fact, in Dallas, Texas, you could hit a high temperature of 90 degrees on Monday, which would tie that record set back in 1917 and sits 35 degrees above average, just incredibly warm for February. Now, we know that this is the trend. A place like Dallas does see more warm winter days since 1970, 12 days, in fact. So, your winter finds two more weeks worth of days that are just warm and above average. That's the case for a lot of the U.S. You see all these pink and red dots. That's where you're looking at more warm winter days since 1970 from the central plains over towards the East Coast, kind of up and down the eastern seaboard.

And we find that winter is the fastest warming season in a lot of those locations. Those blue dots show where the season has the highest fever and winter is really it. Look at all the deep reds. Winter has a four to five-degree fever from the upper Midwest down into the southeast and the northeast and a lot of these places, especially in the northeast and up towards the Great Lakes right now are in the midst of their warmest winter on record.

[03:55:03]

NEWTON: Thanks to Elisa there.

Now, Stratolaunch says it's one step closer to developing a reusable hypersonic vehicle. The U.S. company revealed on Saturday it conducted its second captive carry test flight of the Stratolaunch Talon A, which was carried aloft by the Spirit of the Mojave, a modified Boeing 747-400.

Now, hypersonic weapons are being touted as the next generation of arms. Their speed and ability to evade defenses has made them the focus of increased funding.

Now, defense contractors are also, as you can imagine, focusing not just on building these weapons, but developing new systems to detect and defend against them. Stratolaunch says it hopes to complete development of the reusable Talon A sometime this year.

And here in the U.S., it's the time for the celebrated award show where only actors vote for their peers to be recognized. The 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards got underway in Los Angeles. Saturday, the star-studded ceremony shined a spotlight just ahead of the Oscars. No surprise, you get one guess as to what on best picture. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last award tonight, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is, and we're milking it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, no, no, no, I wouldn't say that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oppenheimer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, the biggest surprise, though, perhaps, Pedro Pascal won for outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series for The Last of Us. He was pretty surprised. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO PASCAL, ACTOR: Jeez Louise, I'm making a fool of myself, but thank you so much for this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, this year's SAG Awards also managed to bring together presenters who shared the big screen before in epic ways, including "The Devil Wears Prada" stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, all there on stage, what a reunion, yes, go to your streaming channels and watch that again, great movie.

I'm Paula Newton. Thanks for your company.

Kim Bruhuber is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]