this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and in

the united states this hour. i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv, in ukraine. it is just past 6:00 in the morning in the western part of the country throughout this war-torn land, more than a day after mariupol, ukraine, rejected russian orders to surrender, bombs have been hammering that city. a ukrainian officer says they have been falling every ten minutes. president volodymyr zelenskyy said on wednesday -- monday -- that mariupol is being, quote, reduced to ashes. but that it will survive. the eu foreign policy chief calls this bombardment a massive war crime. the russian defense ministry, meanwhile, claims more than 62,000 mariupol residents have evacuated to russia in, quote, complete safety. but the city council says thousands were, in fact, taken there against their will. in the capital in kyiv, authorities say recent missile strike on a shopping center has killed at least eight people, and they are warning that that number could rise. russia says it attacked the mall

because ukrainian troops were using it to hide rocket launchers. russia's defense ministry released this drone video that appears to show those weapons systems and accuses ukraine of using social facilities as human shields, which ukraine denies. this is the aftermath of the strike on the mall. the capital is under a curfew until wednesday morning, local time. and meanwhile, it's believed russia opened fire on a daily protest in the southern city of kherson. there have been protests out there from ordinary people, residents of that town against the occupation. there was an explosion and then loud bursts of gunfire. take a look. at least one person was seen bleeding profusely.

looked like an older gentleman from the video. kherson was the first strategically important ukrainian city to fall. it has been occupied by russian forces for about two weeks now. well, for the hundreds of thousands of people who may still be in mariupol, it is clear there is no safe place to escape the russian assault. phil black reports that their days are marked by sheltering in what's left of the buildings and confronting the bleak landscape outside. and as always, a warning, some of what you are about to see is disturbing. >> reporter: between the shelling and air strikes in mariupol, people emerge to do what they can for the living and the dead. this man says he hopes these graves are only temporary, that the bodies will be reburied someday. they spend much of their time sheltering in what remains of the buildings and often beneath them. basements offer some protection but little comfort.

this woman says they have enough food and firewood to last a week. around 300,000 people in mariupol are living like this. those without homes are crowding together in large buildings. over the weekend, an art school with around 400 people inside was bombed and destroyed. this video gives a sense of what these large shelters are like. it's from a theater where around a thousand or more people were staying. mostly women, children, the elderly. days later, it was blown apart in a suspected air strike. the russian word for children, marked out in huge letters outside, provided no safety. kateryna lived across from that theater, and delivered food and other aid to the people hiding out there. she tells us, it's difficult to describe the sympathy she felt for them. they were terrified, cowering in

horror at the sounds of planes overhead. always afraid of a bomb dropping. tina lived under russian attack in mariupol for 21 days. this is not just a city, she says, this is my whole life. she survived without power in freezing conditions, with little food, with eight other members of her family until the building was hit. they pulled dead neighbors from the rubble, and decided to leave the city. she says she can't imagine life without mariupol. she will return but now in her burning city, there are lots of people, lots of children under the rubble. others in shelters. the journey out of the besieged city is slow and dangerous. but every day, relatively small numbers are leaving what ever way they can along what are supposed to be agreed corridors. a local official says some

people have been fired upon. others have had their vehicles seized at russian checkpoints. the people of mariupol have no good options. stay and endure the horror of russia's bombardment. or face danger and uncertainty, leaving all they know behind. phil black, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> so much misery and pain. the united nations says russia's war on ukraine has driven nearly 3.5 million people out of the country. take a look at the map. the vast majority are heading west to neighboring countries and if you include those who are displaced internally but still in ukraine, the number jumps to at least 10 million people driven from their homes. that is almost, to put it in perspective, a quarter of ukraine's population now forced from their homes. the u.n. says more than 90% of the people who fled ukraine are women and children and they are at a, quote, heightened risk of gender-based violence and other forms of exploitation and abuse.

poland has registered the highest number of ukrainian refugees so far with more than 2.1 million people crossing as of monday. the u.n. says poland is now one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world and it happened almost overnight. many of them are continuing their journey to other european countries. cnn's ed lavandera shows us one polish couple opening up their homes to dozens of people fleeing the violence. >> reporter: the children enjoy a game of hide-and-seek with a young boy hiding in the corner. but they're not siblings. they're new friends, brought together by war and the good will of this man and his wife. they opened their home to this ukrainian family, who escaped the war zone less than a week ago. when did you decide to help ukrainian refugees? >> when the first bomb go down.

>> reporter: since the war started, the family has taken in 46 people. this truck driver, who recently recovered from cancer, says helping ukrainian refugees is something he has to do. yfr why have you opened up your house to so many people? >> because it's polish tradition, i think, to open our hearts, open our homes for someone who is in need. >> reporter: and he's quick to think of the little things that make his guests feel at home. yulia is in poland with her 7-year-old son, 4-month-old baby, along with her elderly parents. today is her birthday. she wanted us to see the gift she received from her hosts -- blue and yellow flowers, ukraine's national colors. yulia and her family escaped from the eastern ukrainian city of dnipro last week. the fighting has intensified

around their hometown. so, on march 13th, at 5:30 in the morning, a russian fighter jet flew over your home. what were you thinking in that moment? she says, this was the turning point. i realized that i could no longer endure it. at that moment, i thought i had to save my children. yulia is a police officer at home. she was on maternity leave when the war started. now, it's up to her to figure out what to do next as the war drags on. but she says her heart is in ukraine with the family she left behind. my heart stayed at home, she says, i'm scared for my relatives. but thank god i'm in a warm place surrounded by kindness and have inner peace. this family here in poland -- will you always consider them part of your family? >> yes, she says. they have already become part of

our family. on this night far from home, yulia was treated to a birthday cake surprise and a lovely version of the song, the traditional polish birthday song. she tells us her only wish is for peace and the end of war so her family can return home. ed lavandera, poland. >> you always find kind people in times of crisis. connor lockland is with catholic relief services and he joins me now from moldova. thanks for being with us, connor. what's it been like on your end? >> well, we are witnessing here in moldova is thousands of people every day streaming across the border into moldova in winter conditions. and they are in need of shelter, warm clothes, um, information on

what to do next. and also, counseling. >> uh-huh. and do most of them travel on? or are they happy just settling temporarily in moldova? what -- what's that been like? >> many people are traveling on. over 350,000 people have come into moldova and we must remember that moldova is a small country here of less than a population of 3 million people. 100,000, though, are staying in moldova as well. and what we have witnessed here and much like we saw in your last segment is a huge outpouring of kindness from moldovans to ukrainians that have fled. many have opened their doors, and to support people and there has been enormous solidarity here for ukrainians that are fleeing as well. >> i want to ask you, though, about these concerns that because so many of those fleeing are women and kids, that there may be people who are -- who target them for human

trafficking or for gender-based violence. what advice do you give people who are crossing the border to make sure they do not fall for -- for any story of someone offering them a ride or so that they keep themselves and their kids as safe as possible? >> i think it's very, very important. what catholic relief services is doing is providing those safe shelters to provide for particularly that profile. for women and children is what we are witnessing coming across the borders and it's important that we, as a humanitarian agency, provide that safe environment for those women and children that are coming. so we do get information to them of -- to the places that they can go, where they can ensure that they can get -- um -- that shelter, warm clothes, the counseling services that they may need as well. and we're also providing those safe places for children in -- in appropriate shelters, as well. and i think it's very important as humanitarian agencies, such as catholic relief services, that we do tailor our services

and our support to -- to those vulnerable groups that you mentioned. >> and how -- how does this crisis compare to other crises you've responded to? because we've covered conflict zones quite a lot here at cnn, and one thing that -- that struck me in this one is how quickly it all happened. if you look at middle eastern war zones, i mean to get to the numbers we are talking about here -- millions displaced -- it doesn't -- it takes longer than three or four weeks. in this case, it just all seems like it happened overnight. how is -- has that changed your -- your calculus and your response to -- to some of these -- to -- to how you handle these desperate refugees? >> i think, you know, that's -- that's exactly it. what i think in terms of the displacement, i mean the numbers that we're talking about and the u.n. has, of course, estimated that 10 million people are displaced. in moldova, this has -- in the last three weeks -- this has been over 350,000 people have coming in. and just to put that in context, that is the equivalent of 43

million people coming into the united states. so, in terms of our calculations, it does mean we have to mobilize very, very fast to provide that immediate relief. those physical needs around shelter, clothes, but also what we are witnessing is the trauma that people have suffered because of this. and we have to meet those emotional needs, as well. and -- and those services around psycho -- psychological support are also what we need to mobilize very, very quickly here. so, it is all hands on deck here. we are working with other -- with the government, with society here. we have witnessed, as i said, enormous out pouring of support from moldova as well to help alleviate this suffering and as humanitarian agencies like catholic relief services, we are focusing on -- on alleviating that immediate suffering as much as we can, day by day here. >> all right. connor, thanks very much. good luck to your teams on the

ground. much more to come from here in lviv, including human kindness on display at the city's art palace. now, a distribution for aid to the victims of the war. stay with us. realtor.com's draw a map feature helped us find what we wanted, where we wanted. so we could finally buy our first "big boi house." big boi house. big boi foyer! big boi i marble. big boi quartz. word? realaltor.com to each their home. vo: here w we are again. an overseas conflict hikes up our gas priceses. and oil ceos rake in record profits. it will keep happening. untiwe break free from oil. right now, we need congress to ramp up production of clean, renewable energy sources. energy that doesn't run out, so it costs families less. energy that's de here in america. energy that can't be manipulated by erratic dictators across the globe. because real energy independence is built on clean energy. at pulte, we build homes that think ahead to everything you'll need.

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i'm hala gorani live in lviv, ukraine. the european union says it is ready to impose more penalties on russia over its actions in ukraine. now, this would include just more drastic measures, like sanctions on russia's entire energy sector, and potentially joining a u.s.-led embargo of russian oil that countries like germany had been resisting. the eu also reached an agreement on monday to provide an additional $551 million in military and other aid to ukraine.

here's more. >> from the eu foreign policy chief. >> what is happening in mariupol is a massive war crime. destroying everything. bombarding and killing everybody. in indiscriminating manner. this is something we have to condemn in the stronger terms. >> well, meantime, the american president, joe biden, held a call with the leaders of france, italy, germany, and the uk. they discussed a coordinated response to russia and support for ukraine. we are coming to you live from lviv, and the art palace in this western city has been turned into a makeshift distribution center for aid to ukraine with some volunteers coming from thousands of miles away. here's our report from ben wedeman. >> reporter: sometimes, the kindness of strangers comes in boxes and bundles.

blankets, food, diapers, bottled water. svetlana drove a thousand miles from france to deliver aid to ukraine. our small town of 2,000 people has already sent three shipments of supplies here, she tells me. okay. all right. michael left his family in london to pitch in at this distribution center in lviv. >> inspired me to come here was seeing the women and children suffering, in distress, even the men -- um -- and just seeing them -- them being pushed out of their homes and leaving everything behind. i just had to come out and give them the help with my two hands and my two feet. and do the best that i can, and hopefully it's helping them. >> reporter: lviv's art palace is a hive of activity. taken over by volunteers overcome by a deluge of donations. >> relief supplies continue to arrive at this distribution center and others like it around

lviv. from ordinary citizens and from abroad. amidst the bitterness of this war, the milk of human kindness hasn't soured. in the basement, dr. victoria sorts through thousands of boxes of medicine. >> we are really thankful to them because our pharmacies are empty. >> reporter: those in need come here for help, which goes only so far to dull the pain. we feel the support, she says, but without tears it's impossible to think about my home, about my city, kharkiv, which is completely destroyed. and even the kindness of strangers can't change that. ben wedeman, cnn, lviv. >> well, in a grim reminder that the horrors of war are relentlessly repeated, a 96-year-old holocaust survivor

was killed during a russian strike on kharkiv. boris had survived four concentration camps during world war ii. but it is this war, started by vladimir putin to, in his words, denazify ukraine, that ultimately killed him. president zelenskyy's office noted his death, saying each passing day makes it increasingly clearer what russia's denazification is really all about. still ahead. a children's arcade in central ukraine is now sheltering dozens of refugees. we'll hear from one family who escaped mariupol after weeks of russian attacks.

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i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv, ukraine. a ukrainian officer says bombs are now falling every ten minutes in the besieged city of mariupol. the city has spent weeks under almost constant attack by russian forces. this video shows the moment a russian strike hit some factory buildings there. local officials say at least one major steel plant has been destroyed. and ukrainian officials also believe tens of thousands of residents are still trapped inside the city without water, heat, or power. on monday, the european union foreign policy chief called the situation in this city a war crime. ukraine's president has echoed that sentiment, but insists that the city will survive. >> translator: hardworking, honest city of mariupol which is being destroyed by the occupiers and being reduced to ashes but it will survive. >> meanwhile, russia's defense

ministry released this video showing monday's attack on a shopping mall center in ukraine's capital. russia says the mall was being used to hide rocket launchers. ukraine is dismissing those claims. either way, you see the impact of that strike on what really was a -- a mall with a home improvement center, a gym, residential tower blocks. this is what the scene of monday's attack looks like now. officials in kyiv say at least eight people were killed, but warned that the number of people who died could rise. the city is now, yet again, under a strict curfew until wednesday morning. the u.n. is reporting that nearly 1 in every four people living in ukraine has been forced from their home by the russian invasion. more than 3 million people have fled the country, and nearly 6.5 million others are displaced internally throughout ukraine. cnn's ivan watson spoke with one family from mariupol about their ordeal.

>> reporter: children at play, frolicking in an arcade meant to host games of laser tag. but these are not normal times. the owners here have turned their children's entertainment business into a makeshift shelter. a place to house dozens of ukrainians who just fled the besieged-port city of mariupol. >> the last couple of weeks were like hell. >> reporter: dimitri, his wife tonya and their daughter escaped mariupol on thursday. they endured weeks of russian bombardment from artillery and air strikes. >> each 15-20 minutes, you can listen the airplane. and then, the sound, bomb. >> reporter: tonya kept a journal. march 2nd, day seven of the war, nothing's changed, she writes, no electricity or heat and there's no running water now, as well. they lived in a basement and

when they emerged, tonya took photos and videos of their apartment building marked with bullet holes. unexploded shells in residential streets. desperate people looting a bomb-damaged store for food. they scavenged for drinking water, pulling buckets from street sewers. >> the rainwater. taking the rain, waiting for rainwater. >> heavy shelling on nearby houses, tonya wrote, on march 5th. we all went to sleep with the thought of how to survive and stay alive. one day, a shell exploded near dmitry as he stood in line for water. >> and killed like three people in front of us. one guy was without head. another one in the line was like half of the head and the last one was killed. with my own eyes like three people completely i saw killed and we were making the grave for

them. digging. yes. yes. >> reporter: finally, it was all too much. >> the last day, i saw my father because my mother was completely destroyed mentally. i mean, was like completely depression. was sitting in the cellar and she haven't left the cellar since beginning eveof the war. just staying inside unfortunately and the last day i saw my father, and he begged me like, please, guys, leave. leave somewhere. i don't know where. just escape this. escape this and he was crying. >> reporter: dmitry and his wife and daughter piled into a car with friends and spent 15 hours driving through russian front lines to escape the siege of mariupol. their parents refused to leave. >> i don't know if i'm going to see my parents again. i don't know. no idea. it's like living from day to day. today, we are alive. tomorrow, maybe not. >> reporter: in the relative safety of this arcade, built to

entertain children, the kids welcome the escape from the conflict. i really want to say hello to other children, tonya's 7-year-old daughter vlada says. and i want the war to end quickly. her parents appear haunted, clearly traumatized. tonya gets a call from her mother in mariupol, weeping and saying good-bye because she fears she will not survive the night. ivan watson, cnn, dnipro, ukraine. >> and if you would like to help people in ukraine who need basic things, like shelter, food, and water, go to cnn.com/impact. you can find ways to help on that page. i will have more from lviv, ukraine, at the top of the hour. but first, let's bring in john vause in atlanta. john. hala, thank you. assessments from both nato and the pentagon claim the russian invasion of ukraine has stalled because the russian military is

underperformed and a surprisingly strong resistance by ukrainian forces. a senior nato official says the war is approaching a stalemate with neither side able to gain superiority over the other. but the same official cautions vladimir putin is not about to admit failure, and the russian military is not backing down. resorting to less precise and more brutal weaponry against civilian targets, and reinforcements are being assembled. a similar assessment from the pentagon which says russian forces have failed to achieve their main objectives on the ground. and now, russia is turning to long-range strikes from cruise missiles and artillery fire. general mark hertling is a cnn military analyst and former commanding general for europe and seventh army. it's good to see you again. it's been a while. >> good to see you, john, thanks. tough circumstances. >> yeah. exactly. but let's get into this because cnn is reporting one reason for the russian military underperforming here is that the been unable to determine if they have designated a military

commander responsible for leadingent country's war in ukraine. likely a key contributor to the apparent clumsiness and disorganization of the russian assault. um, you know, so there is that. there is also a, you know, just like u.s. intelligence perhaps which predicted forces would be quickly into baghdad, greeted as liberators, and saddam hussein would be overthrown and quickly replaced with with a government friendly to the west. it seems putin's had a few bad breaks here, including some bad advice. >> yeah, he's had more than a few, john. what i would suggest is, yes, the theater commander or not knowing who the theater commander could be a contributing factor. but my experience with the russian army and i have seen them train and exercise on multiple occasions is they have poor general officer leadership. they have nonexistent, noncommissioned officer and junior officer corps that -- that actually leads. their training is abysmal. they can't synchronize their supply chain to support the forces forward.

and this plan truthfully from the very beginning and -- and i said this prior to the war starting -- that 190,000 troops seems like a lot around the borders of ukraine but if you look at the -- at the half moon that is eastern ukraine, it's 1,400 miles' worth of terrain that -- that are around the border of this very large country. and to command and control that, and to execute six different axes of advance into the country to take multiple objectives when the enemy force to the russians, the enemy force is the ukrainians, when they're coming in with 190,000 and the ukrainians have about 250,000 within their army, there are -- there are several factors that, from the beginning, i said would work against russia's favor. >> one timeline which is out there focuses on the next two weeks, and expectations that by early-next month, the russian military will need a major resupply effort if it's to keep going. if the ukrainians can keep this

at a stalemate of sorts until then, would they have a reasonable banchance of forcing russia to negotiate an end to the conflict? >> i would certainly believe that's true. and i would also take your premise that it would take another month to be too long. i believe it would be about two weeks and, in fact, we are already seeing the demise of the russian force in the field. now, having said that, though, i'm going to say a caveat here and, that is, the russian ground maneuver, the tanks, the infantry, the -- the forward forces that are trying to take over different cities -- that -- those have stalled. what russia still has at their disposal is quite a bit of artillery, rockets, and missile launch systems. they can shoot those from far away. they don't have to be in the cities to shoot those. so, i don't think any of the russian forces are going to get into the city in -- in any way to occupy them. but they can certainly continue

to conduct barrages against the civilians of the city. >> you know, right now it's hard to know precisely what the losses are on both sides. but u.s.' assessments put the number of russian troops killed in action around 7,000 out of a force of around 150,000. that's clearly high but overall, the russian rate of attrition is not as bad as ukrainians. in other words, the russians have lost a lot but they have a lot more soldiers, lot more tanks, a lot more drones compared to ukraine. so, it seems while russia is doing badly from a military point of view, it's not doing as badly as social media or maybe some news reporting might suggest. is that a fair comment? >> it -- it might be. i don't know because the ukrainian social media has been extremely active in proclaiming their victories. but i also truthfully think and everyone is shocked at those figures that were reported within russian press today. that was -- that were leaked from the ministry of defense or came out of the ministry of defense for a short period of time, and then they were knocked off the web. i actually think -- i'll

surprise you on this -- that those casualty figures are low based on, you know, the calculations of this kind of high-intensity lethal warfare with tanks and tanks, force on force, nose to nose with each other. with artillery constantly shelling. with the effects of the lethality of drone warfare and -- and some of the fighting that we've seen. i actually think the russian casualties are greater from the standpoint of killed in action and wounded in action. and there is certainly an awful lot of evidence that says a lot of russian forces are abandoning their equipment and deserting. >> okay. so just to button this up, we have sort of painted a picture of, you know, the really complex nature of what could be happening out there. you know, on the battlefield in ukraine. but what are the chances that any of this actually forces putin to come down to negotiate a peace settlement with the ukrainians and end this any time soon? >> that is the key question. i heard a great quote from the author tom friedman, who said,

you know, russia -- putin could either end it now and end it ugly. or he could wait a lot longer, and end it very ugly. so, the longer putin waits, the fact that he hasn't achieved any of his strategic objectives. he has not subjugated ukraine. he has not further divided nato. he has not divided the united states from their nato alliance. and he has not created an economic advantage in this -- in this conflict, which he thought he would do. those four strategic objectives, he has not met yet and he will not meet 'em. so, anything you're talking about now is just carnage, death, and destruction. >> general hertling, as always, thank you so much for your -- your insights and your experience. >> thank you, john. appreciate being on. >> pleasure. thank you, sir. still to come here. bad weather may delay efforts to find survivors of a commercial airliner crash in china. we are live in beijing with the very latest on the investigation. stay with us.

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a senior u.s. air crash investigator has been appointed to work with the chinese government to try and determine why a china eastern airlines flight crashed on monday. just after losing airborne contact, the boeing 737-800 with 132 people on board plummeted more than 30,000 feet in 90 seconds. this video appears to show the plane in a vertical nose dive moments before impact. right now, officials say bad weather and limited access to the crash site could slow search-and-rescue efforts. according to chinese state media, no survivors have been found, at least not yet. cnn's beijing bureau chief stephen jiang live for us with the very latest. so what is the latest on the actual investigation? what do they know at this point? and do we know if that u.s. investigator has actually received permission by beijing to travel to china and be part of this investigation? john, that's something we have not heard official announcement or confirmation from either side. but you know, the senior investigator appointed by the national safety -- national transportation safety board --

is being joined by representatives from boeing -- the aircraft manufacturer and ge, the engine maker, as well as the federal aviation administration. so, this is a pretty standard composition of this kind of u.s. go team to investigate air crashes around the world. now, obviously, they are on stand by right now but there are things that can be done even remotely. most critically, of course, is information sharing. there are some concerns about whether or not the chinese investigators on the ground and the u.s. team will have some problem sharing information because of bilateral tensions between the two governments but i think these are professionals who will do their job professionally and cooperatively. now, for the chinese investigators arriving at the scene, of course one of their most important tasks right now is to locate the two so-called black boxes. the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. these are the recorders that will hopefully provide very crucial information to the investigators in terms of how the plane behaved, and what was being said between the pilots in the cockpit in the final moments leading to this fatal accident.

now, given how this plane supposedly crashed, it is just very hard to imagine anyone survived. so, at this stage, even though the authorities still branding their mission as search and rescue, it is really increasingly turning into a recovery mode. so, all the responders and troops on the scene are now trying to really locate every piece of the plane's wreckage and all of that, of course, is going to help tremendously investigators piece together literally this puzzle along with eyewitness accounts, as well as video evidence including the one you played. now, this kind of investigation into accident involving a modern jetliner like the 737-800 which is, by the way, extremely safe and reliable, given more than almost nearly -- nearly 5,000 of them being delivered to carriers around the world. this is very complex. so, there are going to take their time. obviously, they are under tremendous pressure to draw a conclusion quickly because of the grieving families and the general public's demand for quick answers. but to do their job properly,

they need to take their time, john. so obviously, this is a dark chapter in china's civil aviation history because just last month, they marked this milestone of chinese carriers flying safely continuously for over 100 million hours. their last fatal accident before this one was back in august 2010. now, obviously, everything changed on monday afternoon. john. >> steven, thank you. steven jiang there, our beijing bureau chief with the very latest historic hearings in the u.s. capitol as senators get to know the first black woman ever nominated to the supreme court. when we come back, though, why some republicans say they have serious concerns. . while it's more unpredictable, its possibilities arare endle. from paying your people from anywhere to supporting your talent evererywhere, wewe use data driven insights to design hr solutions and services to help businesses of all size work smarter today. so, they can have more success tomorrow.

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when hurting feet make you want to stop, it's dr. scholl's time. our custom fit orthotics use foot mapping technology to give you personalized support, for all-day pain relief. find your relief in store or online. u.s. senators will soon begin questioning the first african american woman ever nominated to the u.s. supreme

court. ketanji brown jackson is expected to be confirmed, but before that happens, republicans are expected to falsely attack her experience and character. cnn's paula reid has our report. >> i do. >> reporter: on the first day of her historic confirmation hearing, judge ketanji brown jackson told lawmakers she was humbled to be the first black woman nominated to the supreme court. >> my parents taught me that unlike the many barriers that they had had to face growing up, my path was clearer so that if i worked hard and i believed in myself and america, i could do anything or be anything i wanted to be. >> reporter: judiciary chairman dick durbin kicked off the hearing by highlighting the significance of her nomination. >> not a single justice has been a black woman. you, judge jackson, can be the first. it's not easy being first. often you have to be the best, in some ways, the bravest.

>> reporter: jackson currently sits on the d.c. federal appellate court and was always considered the front-runner for the vacant seat created by the coming retirement of justice stephen breyer, for whom she once clerked. she would bring unique work experience as a former federal public defender and member of the u.s. sentencing commission. >> you will be the first public defender on the court. you understand our justice system uniquely through the eyes of people who couldn't afford a lawyer. >> reporter: monday marked jackson's fourth congressional confirmation hearing for various posts over the course of her career. >> i decide cases from a neutral posture. i evaluate the facts, and i interpret and apply the law to the facts of the case before me without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath. >> reporter: but republicans on the committee had several lines of attack against jackson.

some gop lawmakers signaled they will take on her judicial philosophy. >> it's not enough to say only that one would look at the facts and arguments in the case and fairly apply the law. >> i can only wonder what's your hidden agenda? >> let me say a few things that i'm concerned about, aspects of your record that trouble me. >> reporter: republican senator josh hawley has tried to paint her as being soft on crime, specifically sex offenders and child pornography cases. >> i'm not interested in trying to play gotcha. i'm interested in your answers. >> reporter: cnn reviewed jackson's decisions in question and found they weren't out of line with what other judges have decided and that hawley has taken some of her comments out of context. >> trust me, we'll get her on the record because there's a big story to be told that hawley is leaving out. >> reporter: monday's hearing provided a preview of what lawmakers will focus on tuesday when they finally have the chance to question judge jackson. the hearings will continue

through thursday before then moving on to a vote by the committee and then a vote by the full senate. democrats are hoping to wrap up the entire confirmation process before they leave for april recess on the 8th. paula reid, cnn, capitol hill. thank you for being with us this hour. i'm john vause. please stay with us. we'll be back live to lviv in ukraine with hala gorani after a short break. you're watching cnn. ♪ ♪

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>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome, everyone, to our viewers around the world and in the united states this hour. i'm hala gorani live in lviv, ukraine. it is just past 7:00 in the morning and we just heard an air raid siren ring out across this city. now, mariupol, ukraine, is refusing to surrender to russia, and now bombs have been raining down on the city, quote, every ten minute