all across the hungarian border ree r region i can't stress enough you see again and again in stores, guesthouses, cafés, ukrainian women with their children, no men around. it is an eerie phenomenon, result of this. the deputy mayor who is taking in these families, she predicts this is just the beginning. she predicts this will get much, much worse. erin. >> ivan, thank you very much. and thanks to all of you, "ac 360" starts now. good evening tonight from lviv, ukraine. we begin with breaking news, potentially ominous news. this is closed circuit video of the nuclear power plant in zaporizhzhia in southern ukraine. it is the largest in the country with six nuclear reactors. it's been under attack for

several days from russian attacks and now, it is said to be on fire. it is burning, firefighters reportedly cannot battle the blaze. these are live images you're seeing because of the continued shooting. ukraine's foreign minister tweeting a moment ago, tweeting directly from ukraine's foreign minister. russian army firing from all sides upon zaporizhzhia, npp largest nuclear power plant in europe. if it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than chernobyl. russians must immediately cease the fire, allow firefighters to establish a security zone, explanation mark else mark, als residential apartment building under shelling. a local driver captured one such

attack on dashboard video, published by new york times. you'll see them freeze at one time where they highlight the individual projectile falling on what the driver says is a residential area and you'll see multiple projectiles. [ speaking foreign language ] that is not precision bombing. those are multiple projectiles falling in what is said to be a residential area. along with the growing attacks on civilian areas, yet more people forced to relocate or flee the country entirely.

upwards of a million people are now refugees and that number rising according to the u.n., yet in all the grim news and grimmer forecasting, there is also th berlin's central train station in germany, greeting women, children, some carrying signs, offering total strangers places to stay. and later today, learn the biden administration extending temporary protected status to nearly 30,000 ukrainians in this country permitting them to stay whether visa's expire. now, across the region, cnn chief correspondent clarissa ward in kyiv, sara sidener at a crossing point in poland, nick payton walsh in southern ukraine, russian forces advancing. cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house for us as well and cnn national security correspondent here with me in

lviv. i want to go to nuclear policy expert, from bellford center, can you give us a sense of how concerned should everyone be about the situation at this very large nuclear power plant? >> the facts are unfolding as we, you know, sit here, but i would say in general, very concerned. we should remember, chernobyl in 86 was a meltdown that spewed radioactive material all over western europe. and so it's conceivable that one could have another version of that. i hope not, i pray not, but things could be worse. >> the image that you're seeing, it's very obviously, you know, middle of the night, it's hard to see. we zoomed in on what appears to be the fire. we're told firefighters can't fight it because of on going

attacks. is a fire at a nuclear power plant, i mean, obviously, it doesn't sound good, but are there systems within a plant to automatically fight a fire? >> well, yes, but not all fires. and not all fires at a power plant have catastrophic consequences. we can remember what happened at fukushima. the issues really go to whether the fire may be in the cooling pits, because there, you have material that is particularly radioactive, or if ultimately, a fire could cause a meltdown of the reactor and in that case, you would have a huge release of radioactivity and as i say, the radioactivity that was released in '86 from the chernobyl crisis or tragedy, you know, spread all over not just ukraine, but all

over western europe, and into russia as well. so the russians understand, the risks that are associated with a nuclear power plant. the ukrainian professionals do too, so i'm sure they're both, you know, working to try to avoid the worst but nuclear power plants are dangerous. >> now, assuming, again, the statement from the ukrainian foreign minister is saying, is really describing what is going on. we don't have eyes on the ground there, can't confirm exactly what is going on, again, basing our reporting off what we're being told by ukrainian authorities here, obviously, but of all the things -- what are the things we need to know specifically in order to determine just for the hours ahead for our viewers, what information do we need to know specifically about this fire, about its location, et cetera. in order to determine how

serious this may be? >> well, good question. i wish i had a good answer. i would say that there's so many uncertaintied uncertainties surrounding it but if i were doing my check list, first, where is the fire? and secondly, who is in control of the powerplant? it was reported that russians had taken control because of the concern about these risks, what it is they're fighting that gave rise to the fire or, you know, how did this come about? and then thirdly, what about the people who are trying to manage, put out the fire, given particularly the difficulties at night and with the uncertainty around it. and if there's fighting going on around chernobyl, around the facility, which i can't tell from the information available then obviously having firefighters trying to fput outa

fire in the midst of gunfire, not a good idea. but we should remember as i say, we go back to 1986, there was a terrible crisis at chernobyl, it released a huge amount of radioactivity, it actually changed the weather and the growing patterns all over a great swath of russia, ukraine, and much of western europe. so nuclear power plants in principle contain enough material such that if there's a fire in the cooling facilities that can release a lot of very dangerous radioactivity and if there's a melt down at the reactor, that can produce a huge release of radioactivity, and god knows there's enough problems in ukraine without a nuclear catastrophe on top of it. >> how -- how and again, this

may, i don't know if you know this, but how hardened is, are the reactors themselves? the, you know, the structures that contain nuclear material, how hardened are they to something like a rocket strike or to, you know, incoming potential, you know, collisions with anything coming into them? >> well that's a question i did look at when i was writing a book on nuclear terrorism, nuclear reactors not only here in the u.s. but the one at chernobyl, are not designed for advanced attack weapons so if an airliner were to crash into a reactor like the one in indian point in new york, for example, i looked at that in some detail,

you could have a great release of radioactivity. so if rockets were targeting a nuclear reactor, then i think they could quite successfully, you know, create a huge fire that could conceivably produce a large release. but i have not seen any evidence of attacks that produce the fire. maybe that's what happened, but again, it's, i think, a little hard to tell at this point. >> yeah, it would be, obviously, ideal for ukrainian authorities who apparently are still in control of this plant or still on site at this plant, if there are ukrainian firefighters there, must be ukrainian authorities there, you would think out of a sense of responsibility to the global community, getting as much information out as quickly as possible and not causing hysteria would be a good idea, trying to get as much information right now into

peoples' hands about what it was that caused this fire at the very least and where the fire is located. those seem to be basic questions that still need to be answered. >> i agree. i think the other thing is the level of professionalism in both the ukrainian nuclear community that deals with their reactor and in the russian community, i'd say, has been impressive. and so i think if it were up to the professionals who are trying to manage a nuclear power production facility, i would have a higher level of confidence. if this has gotten caught up in the warfare between russia and ukraine then, you know, god only knows. because almost no normal systems no normal, you know, parts of our lives are hardened against

serious military attack. that's just not one of the things that normal people prepare for most of the time. >> i should point out to our viewers, we're looking -- these images are coming from a closed circuit monitors. we are not in control of these images. these are being provided by authorities at the facility, so that's why there's low quality to it because it's a closed circuit camera but also you see the images changing and that's not something we have control over but it appears that fire, this is video now from earlier of the fire which you can see there in the middle to the right of that taller structure. they're saying that this is also the firefight that streaks across there which, you know, look almost like snow are actually tracer fire during a

firefight at the facility. so what's interesting about this is that it, apparently, and again, we don't know if there is, have been rockets or, you know, missiles in this area, but i mean that would appear to be tracer fire of relatively large caliber weapons so it looks like more of a ground fight at least at this time, on this camera. >> i can't, from the pictures, really, you know, interpret what's going on in the detail but i'm sure that as the night goes on, we'll learn more. >> yeah. i want to bring in our jim sciutto who is also here with me in lviv, i mean jim, this is obviously a very large concern. you would think even russian authorities with any sense of responsibility, even for russia, it would not be a good idea to be messing with a nuclear power plant. >> i should say that prior to the invasion, it was u.s.

intelligence assessment that russia would not deliberately attack nuclear power plants here. russia is invading the country with intention of taking over the country, would not want to irradiate the country prior to that however it was part of u.s. assessment that russia would attack so as to disconnect the plants from the electrical grid at least temporarily as part of their effort to squeeze cities and bring ukraine to its knees. the trouble is, of course, artillery fire or rocket fire or air strikes around nuclear power plant in and of themselves are dangerous because, of course, one of those shots could go astray. it's inherently unstable and you'll often hear, you and i talk about this, the idea of russian accuracy with its weapons is not great. they may intend to strike here and end up striking there but i should say, it was the u.s. assessment that it wouldn't be deliberate, right, because they own it, you know, you invade it, you own it, but they did want to

strike near with the intention of disconnecting from the grid. >> which makes sense in the sick logic of warfare it makes sense to disconnect the power grids in a country you are attacking to deprive civilians and everybody of heat, of elelectricity, to b the will of a population. >> it's a siege mentality, you're seeing play out in a number of cities here where you encircle, put pressure on and fire deadly fire as well including civilians but deprive them of what they need, food, power, water, et cetera.. and this would be a case. trouble is, of course, this is a war, those weapons are powerful and anything near a plant like this is potentially dangerous. >> yeah. graham allison, i appreciate your expertise and you being with us. obviously, there is still a lot we need to know and i just want to stress, there is a lot we do not know in these kind of situations i always like to stress what we don't know. we don't know the exact location

of this fire. we don't know if it is in any place inside, anywhere that is potentially could lead to any kind of a release so i don't want to be overstating this, obviously a very alarming statement from ukrainian official, a tweet that went out, but again, there is an on going war. there is, if you look at it, there's a reason why they would want to put out a statement that is alarming and attention getting and may well be accurate but we want to be careful about what we are saying about this and saying there's a lot we don't know, we'll continue to follow that obviously very closely over the next several hours and bring you any information as we get it so we'll follow those developments from the nuclear power plant, largest in europe. also check with correspondents in the field. later, clarissa ward visits a children hospital where despite the shelling outside the caring has never stopped. we'll be right back. i grow als

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fire and gun fire at ukraine's largest nuclear plant, mo moments ago the international atomic energy tweeting iaea is aware of reports of shelling at zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in contact with authorities about the situation. with kaitlan collins, you heard from the white house about this fire at the nuclear plant, what are they saying? >> reporter: anderson, they don't seem to know much more than we do, monitoring this trying to find out exactly what happened here, you see from the footage the fire is underway and we know reports from shelling and what ukrainian officials have said but they're still assessing the situation as we are, still waiting to see what the impact will be and given of course the potential for damage

here, they don't know yet what is going on, still talking to ukrainian authorities but obviously this is deeply concerning to them. yeah, again, we'll continue to follow it. there's a lot we do not know. and a lot to learn, still. kaitlan, thank you. clarissa, the warning that french officials following macron's call with putin believe the worst is yet to come. explain what you have been seeing today. >> reporter: well, anderson, it's already been a bad few days but i would say today is the worst we've seen in terms of the types of material that are coming in, videos posted online from all around the country but particularly in a town called cherniv, about 70 miles north of here, where there were multiple strikes, vast residential apartment building apparently targeted. in one video i watched a man is

shouting, what means it was a pharmacy or drug store targeted and then you hear a woman screaming from another part of the area, screaming which means children, children, so the video is very graphic, i don't think that we can show it ubut you can see the bodies of civilians lying on the ground. hearing from local authorities that more than 30 people were killed in those attacks and also closer to the capitol just close to the northwest the town of boravyanka, minister saying there were many civilian casualties there, just astonishing images, anderson, residential apartment buildings, big tower blocks with gaping holes in them as a result of being hit by what we believe to be russian strikes, russian early bombardment, watched countless other videos that cnn has been able to geolocate today

where you can hear russian fire jets skreeching overhead followed by enormous blasts and the sense is -- >> i got to say, clarissa. >> gradually getting closer and closer. >> clarissa, we're showing the videos now the roeuters images, drone images of that apartment block. i mean that is, that is a residential building completely destroyed. >> reporter: it is, and, you know, the russian line has always been this is a sort of restrained military operation, very targeted, not maximalist or expansionist, not intended to be an occupation, not targeting civilians but when you're looking at those images, as you said, which looks like grasni or sites i've seen in aleppo, almost apocalyptic nature of

those pictures, what is left of that apartment building, how can you possibly begin to make the case that you are seriously trying to avoid taking civilian lives. i mean it's simply beggar's belief so what we're seeing here appears to be a sort of gradual turning up of the heat or upping the ante as ukrainian forces continue to pretty effectively defend towns and cities around the country, in particularly, around this capitol. we're seeing russian forces and we have been warned about this, anderson, by u.s. officials, we're seeing them resort to these kind of indiscriminate tactics to targeting of civilian structures because that does have understandably a profound effect on a country, on a people, on morale, particularly for civilians who are living through this horror, and so the idea appears to be to try to put

on the squeeze, put maximal pressure on to the people of ukraine to try to essentially blujen any fight that they have left out of them. so far, that doesn't seem to have been effective. we are also seeing ukrainian forces continuing to fight back, but nonetheless, some serious distressing images and distressing reports from across the country today, anderson. >> yeah, sara sidener, right after we went off air last night, word of a million refugees and to say they're refugees is really not appropriate. they have become refugees. they are women and children, people who were working in ukraine, they are people, i mean, from africa and all around the world just like you and me now forced to be refugees by circumstances. they have fled ukraine, more than a million people now, still at the border, what have you

seen today? >> reporter: we are at a train station, and i want to give you an example of what the people who are fleeing, with sometimes just the clothes on their back are seeing as they show up in poland and get off that train. you see that sign behind me? the sign says "here you are safe. welcome to poland" so you are seeing the kind of work that is being done here to try to make sure people feel comfortable and i'm going to quickly take you inside because all day and all night, we are seeing people flowing in here, sometimes there's a lot because a train will have dropped people off from lviv, for example, people are bringing their dogs, people are, of course, bringing anything that they can, but usually it's just one bag. i mean think about it. you leave your house and all you have is one bag, so you have to decide what to take and what not to take, inside, when people

come in from the war, this is what they're greeted with, on your right, there is sim cards, they are free so people can make phone calls when they get into this country without having any trouble. over here, to my right, you are also seeing food, it's hot food, they are bringing this every single day. it is never not available for people who are hungry. and then here, you can get help, trying to figure out where you might go, if anyone has a medical problem, there are people here to help with any sort of medical issue that someone might have and try to help them, for example, fill a prescription and then as you go along, notice these signs. these signs, that people are holding up are often signs that say look, we can take you somewhere. do you need a ride? we have space for you in our homes. and that is what we are seeing here. it is an incredible out pouring of giving from people, of volunteerism from people. many of these people are just

here to simply volunteer from all over europe, by the way, not just poland. polish are here in mass but people from germany and denmark today opening their homes and offering anything people need they can try to get it right here in this train station. anderson. >> truly remarkable to see. sara sidner appreciate you showing us that. jill doherty in moscow, the world heard from vladimir putin again today, what was he saying? >> reporter: there's no indication that vladimir putin has any intent to stop what he is doing. he had a teleconference with his security council and at that, he said everything is going according to plan and he also said he is intent on, as he, and other officials put it, de-nazifying ukraine and we also have, you made a quick

reference, president macron of france, made another phone call, 90 minutes he talked with vladimir vladimir putin, a source at the embassy palace said the expectation is the worst is yet to come and putin is intent on taking over the entire country and briefly here in moscow, continue to have those protests. they're taking place everyday. the total of the number of people who have been arrested is somewhere around 8,000 and then on the information war side, two of the independent outlets that would be tv rain and echo moscow, remember they were kind of blocked by the government, now today, thursday, they shut down. they're hoping, one of them at least is hoping to reopen. and friday, the parliament will be looking at a law that would make it illegal to give, as they put it, fake news about the war,

and that could be punishment -- >> hey jill. >> up to 15 years in prison. >> jill, i want to jump in, because we're showing the picture you showed me earlier today. this lady, who is maybe 5 feet tall if that and got to be in her 80s, upper 80s i would say, this is the woman vladimir putin fears. fears so much she is being arrested by a mob of riot police and dragged off to be booked. it's extraordinary to me. this lady, who is being applauded, standing there with two home-made hand-written signs protesting what is going on. this is the woman that vladimir putin who rides around on a horse shirtless and likes to show himself off, you know, on a dojo with his blackbelt doing judo as a tough guy, he is scared of this woman on the streets of moscow just standing there with two hand made signs.

>> reporter: yes, and interestingly, you know, those signs are against nuclear war. and that whole issue of nuclear weapons is hanging over all of us. look at what's happening in pictures you've been showing of that nuclear power plant, and this woman actually is, she is very up in age, but she is antiwar and there are her signs as she was dragged off by the police. >> i mean, of all the things this woman has survived in the soviet union, all through her entire life, she has seen the history of the soviet union through her entire life, be dragged off the streets by vladimir putin, the tough guy, it's stunning. appreciate, jill, your reporting and thank you for pointing this out to me earlier today. i've been thinking about that woman. hope we can find out what happened to her. kaitlan, president to announce further sanctions on putin later the afternoon, what do we know about them? >> reporter: yeah adding to the

oligarch sanctions list, seven oligarchs also going after putin's personal spokesperson, dmitri pescov, you often hear from him the one talking to reporters, no plans to invade ukraine of course, we know that's not true. they're added to the list, also going after visa restrictions to seven russian oligarchs and their family as well. there is the big question here tonight of banning russian oil imports, something the president has been asked about and notably here in washington, there is bipartisan agreement on this. republicans and democrats alike coming together they do say that should happen, including house speake speaker nancy pelosi who said yes, ban the russian oil exports. day talk about the interagency process, it's not clear they're chae a actually going to do that but something there is pressure on the president to actually do,

even from members of his own party, anderson. >> kaitlan collins, appreciate it, jill doherty, clarissa ward, sara, more coming up from clarissa at a hospital in kyiv. talk about the nuclear plant fire, what we know about it now and don't know about it as well, as the rest of the war with retired four star army general, westly clark.. e - everyday. plus, patients get t 20% off thr treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. because your anything is our everything. aspen dental. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental.

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taking a look at closed circuit tv image from ukraine's largest nuclear plant, a fire breaking out there after a russian assault and now according to local mayor, russian shelling appears to be preventing firefighters from battling the blaze, again, that's from a local mayor, now we hear from retired four star army general westley clark, i wonder about your reaction to this around the nuclear power plant, obviously a lot we do not know about it and have to take the word from ukrainian officials on their decepscripti of what's going on, from a military perspective, what do you make of what's going on there, what we know? >> well actually, what's happening, anderson, is the russians are trying to seal off the river, going up to bag a

bunch of ukrainian forces in what they call a giant encirclement. this is a sort of classic maneuver, the zaporizhzhia is right in the way but the zaporizhzhia power plant is a really key strategic asset now providing 25% of the power for ukraine. take that offline, the grid is at least temporarily destabilized. you're cutting the ability of ukrainians to be able to handle communications to a lot of other things. it could be cold and dark in some places in ukraine so yeah, that's a military objective now. shooting at it, starting a fire in it, that's crazy stuff. because if one of those, and there are six reactors there, i understand four are operational. if one of those four operational reactors that's under pressure has got a high temperature with water in it, it's radioactive, if that containment gets punctured, something happens to the failsafe mechanism on those

reactors, you could have something that's just as bad as chernobyl was and could spew radioactive steam and other by-products, could spew it for hundreds of miles to the west. it would make parts of ukraine in that area, which is very valuable farmland virtually uninhabitable for generations, so it's a reckless, stupid military maneuver. >> you know, general, clarissa ward was showing us moments ago, reuters images of an apartment complex just completely blown apart and they're drone images, extraordinarily disturbing, you know, they looked like grosni, which i talked about in the past, russia's actions there. i mean how -- this tells you about what lies ahead, potentially, for a lot of cities, a lot of urban population centers in ukraine.

>> right, well what the russians are going to do is go into these population centers, take them, force the mayors to capitulate to save human lives, sort of what happened, and then tell local ukrainians who are affiliated with the russian parties or otherwise sympathetic to russia and put them in charge, leave security forces behind and move on and the ukrainians of course, fight with territorial defense forces, use the police to help you, and then stay global. we don't want to see the ukrainian forces east of the big river, fighting against the donbas area, we don't want to see them caught in a pocket where they're encircled and run out of ammunition or captured or annihilated so got to fight a mobile battle here and at the same time protect the population centers as much as possible.

>> yeah, and the areas that we -- that apartment complex we were looking at which was heavily attacked from air, or from, at least from rockets, that's just around, that is around kyiv. you know, how violent will the attack in kyiv itself be? i mean, will they attempt to destroy kyiv first, before actually moving in? >> you know, it's, there are various ways to go after a city like this. they tried the sneak attack, sending groups of saboteurs in, kill zelenskyy, cause chaos and have the people throw up hands in despair and surrender, that didn't work, ukrainians have the barricades up, prepared to fight, so they can take it section by section. they can put the artillery fire in there and move through it or simply stand back and bombard it with artillery until finally the

president says look, enough's enough. we're not going to have a million people die in kyiv. you can have it. and that could happen. i think it's unlikely, but i think that's what putin is believing. putin doesn't have respect for zelenskyy. we know that by the way he's talked about him and he should have respect. zelenskyy's been a real hero, very resolute in my view and really rallied not only ukraine but world opinion. so if putin thinks he can launch artillery in there and wipe them out, kill a few thousand civilian and see zelenskyy will surrender and turn the country over, i think putin misunderstands the quality of ukrainian patriotism and the strength of president zelenskyy. so you're going to look at a long battle. it's going to be tough. >> yeah, general westley clark appreciate it. just ahead, how the ukraine's largest children hospitalal is survivining the ak

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in addition to the fire at the nuclear power plant in southern ukraine, destruction in and around the capitol of kyiv continues as well as we've been showing you, the video of an attack mentioned earlier from a small town outside kyiv, locals reportedly repelled a russian assault, destroyed buildings and burning cars just give you a sense of the level of violence

we're now seeing as part of daily lives of civilians. as we reported earlier, of course, all feared to get worse, particularly for some of ukraine's most vulnerable citizens, clarissa ward, tonight, has details. >> reporter: outside the akmadiv hospital, the sound of heavy fighting pierces the night air. the shelling has started, in nurse isays. we're in the surgical department for newborn babies, it's so loud. exhausted staff hover nervously in the hallway. this is ukraine's largest children's hospital. shutting down is not an option. neuro surgeon dmitro oshenko shows us the impact of just one week of war. so the children who are too sick to be moved have to stay here in the basement in case the bombardment starts again.

there are 10 patients currently being treated in this underground hallway and they are very sick indeed. is this your daughter? on the floor, in one corner, we meet sonya and her three month old daughter milena. milena has a brain tumor. it's a terrifying situation. we must stay under ground and we don't know how long for, she says. i'm alone here at the hospital, and my husband is at home with my other kid. for seven nights, she has been sleeping on this floor as the bombing gets closer. she's saying the stress of the situation has meant that her milk has dried up so she's now using formula for her daughter. with resources being diverted to deal with trauma injuries, parents are stepping in to help where they can. at one bed, valentine is feeding

an unconscious child. so he's saying that little baby there is his little boy but he's helping with this child because their mother can't be here. i tell him, he's strong. there's no other way, he says. god gives us strength. in this environment, doctor ashenko offers his patients and their families whatever he can, but there are limits. >> it's really very challenging, really tough, because we don't have good conditions for our patients. >> reporter: is this dangerous for them, this situation? >> yes. and not only because we have the war, these conditions is not suitable with brain surgeries. >> reporter: for now, nonessential procedures are on hold. 11-year-old larislov's sutures

should have been removed but the risk of infection is too high. his mother ludmila tries to covet him. i will massage you and everything will be okay, she says. but no one knows how long this war will last. and these children cannot wait forever. >> it is just so heartbreaking to see this, clarissa. do these families come from other parts of ukraine to get to this hospital, or are they all from kyiv? >> reporter: no, they've come from all over the country, anderson. that man, valentine who we were talking to, he comes from a town in the southeast near the city of mariupol now under russian control, his family is still there, you can imagine the anxiety and the fear these families are separated from each other, that woman sonya who i was talking to as well, her family is in kyiv, but they haven't seen each other in a

week, her eldest son just 2 years old separated from her, and living under constant fear not just of the bombardment but that their children can't get the treatment they desperately need. the only potential glimmer of hope is that the ukrainian and russian delegation did meet today on a second round of talks. the one thing they may have possibly agreed on is the establishment of some kind of humanitarian corridor to get kids out to safety. but it is not going to be easy. and you can just imagine, anderson, horrifying to see sick children like this in any context. but under bombardment is just heartbreaking. >> my team and i went to today in lviv to a specialized children's hospital, mainly for kids with cancer, and they have actually now received more than

100 children from kyiv and elsewhere who were receiving treatment before the war for cancer in hospitals in kyiv and kharkiv and odesa and have now been able to make it to lviv. they got here not by ambulance. these were kids with serious cancers, brain tumors, stomach cancers. they had to get on buses, on trains just like everybody else, fighting those crowds to get a place, standing up often for hours on the train since they got here. they're in a hospital here in lviv, and i'll have that report in our next report there, what we saw there. clarissa, i appreciate the reporting. thank you so much for that. more now on the humanitarian crisis, as sara sidner mentioned earlier, according to the u.n., more than 1 million people, ukrainians, workers who had been here, people from other countries, have now fled ukraine. they are now refugees. others are staying. the russian attacks have sparked the need for more aid, certainly

with food, supplies, medicine becoming scarce across the country. our next guest is samantha power. she went to the polish border, where many ukrainians wait hours to cross to safety. take a look. >> reporter: i'm here at the crossing point where ukrainians are entering poland. there's a food station where people are getting their first hot meal in some cases in four days. there are mothers all around with their children, some cases three children, infants, toddlers. and the poles have huge stocks, teddy bears, blankets for people to pick up, as they begin what might be new lives here in poland. >> samantha power joins us now. she's the former u.s. ambassador to the u.n. and former national security adviser. you've seen a lot of refugee situations all over the world. you've been doing this for -- this kind of work and had this kind of interest for a long time. i'm wondering how this compares

to other places you've been, what stands out to you about the situation right now on the humanitarian basis. >> well, like you, anderson, yes, i've seen a lot of refugee crises and a lot of humanitarian crises. i've never seen refugees move this quickly. to have more than a million people cross international border in a seven-day period is quite exceptional. and to know that so many are behind them, wanting to follow. i'd also never seen in welcoming refugees on the other side as the poles, the hungarians, the moldovans have done, i've never seen that kind of universal welcome where citizens and governments alike are opening up their doors and their hearts. but i've also never seen the concentration of women and children. it's, as you know, just overwhelmingly women and children. and so while there's relief to cross the border and to get a

hot meal, there's just the searing knowledge that your husband, your son, your father has been left behind. >> this is obviously headed for a very long conflict here. it could go in a lot of different directions. but, i mean, this is not something that's going to end, you know, next week. what are the needs right now? long term, what are the needs going to be in terms of helping people here? >> reporter: well, to separate out the sort of two places of need, i mean, first when that more than a million refugees cross, they need to be welcomed by the frontline states. and that is happening. and that's 2% of the ukrainian population fleeing in a single week. europeans did something, again, unprecedented today, which they announced that everybody fleeing could have temporary asylum in europe. that means work permits, food, schooling for kids. i mean, that's an incredibly

important step to have taken. and it's going to make the transition for those families a little bit easier. but what is -- what we're all desperately focused on now is the situation in the other theater, which is ukraine itself, and specifically the r have large part of ukraine that is coming under unprovoked horrific russian attack of the kind you've been depicting over the last bit. and there we have food trucks that are now moving in, food program, other ngos, and civil protection donations frl european countries, from united states and elsewhere. they're all there. and what we're trying to do is facilitate handoffs so they can be brought into those areas that are the most vulnerable. and that's where you saw the tentative announcement tonight about potentially some agreement on tactical humanitarian pauses. i don't have details on that at the moment, but that is an absolute imperative that we get food and medicines in and that

any civilian thants to evacuate these besieged communities can leave, can actually cross frontlines without being fearful of being shot or shelled. and right now that hasn't been the case. and that's why you're seeing a growing number of civilian casualties. >> yeah, i mean, russia doesn't have a great track record on honoring, you know, civilian corridors in war torn areas that they are operating in. >> you can say that again. and the attacks that they're undertaking against residential buildings, potentially as you've seen reports about the nuclear power plant. i mean, none of this bodes well. at the same time, you know, there are things that russia wants. they would like international organizations to get access to their prisoners of war. they would, perhaps, like their dead soldiers to be repatriated. so, there's, you know, a little

bit of an interest there. and remember, putin is still pretending, lying, and claiming that this is a special military operation. and indeed, you hear russian rhetoric about how all the humanitarian corridors should actually just bring civilians to russia where russia can welcome them and treat them properly. in syria, anderson, where you've reported, there were possibilities of getting humanitarian pauses or getting select access with the russians, with the syrian government when they were carpet bombing aleppo. so, it can happen even in the worst circumstances. but what will make it happen is pressure from those countries that still have connections with putin, pushing him, those countries that -- the very few countries that didn't vote with the overwhelming majority yesterday. those countries should go to putin and say, look, we're not loving abstaining on a vote condemning this because we're kind of hating this.

could you kindly grant humanitarian access? could you kindly let food and medicine in? and the pressure we're imposing on the accountability side is the companion to that. we need the chinas of the world and those that are very uncomfortable right now to press for humanitarian access to support the ukrainian people. >> samantha power, i really preesh you joining us tonight. thank you. >> thanks for being there, anderson. >> my honor. tonight's breaking news, the fire reported at a nuclear report in ukraine, amid reports of shelling in the area. we'll talk to experts around the world standing by as we watch these images of that fire. we'll be right back.