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, ukraine. the american president, joe biden, wrapped up his trip to europe with a blunt declaration that vladimir putin needs to go. it was a shockingly candid remark, and it came at the very end of the president's speech in warsaw, and provoked a response from the kremlin. the white house quickly clarified that mr. biden was not calling for regime change in moscow. even as mr. biden was in poland, russian missiles struck another

fuel -- fuel facility, this time in lviv, not far from the polish border. and quite close to our position here. ukrainian forces claim they've recaptured several towns from the russians, including this village near the russian border. new video purports to show the ukrainians attacking russian troops holed up inside a school. ukraine's president, again, issued an urgent call for more military assistance from the west. >> translator: ukraine cannot shoot down russian missiles using shotguns, machine guns which are too much in supplies. it is impossible to unblock mariupol without a sufficient number of tafnks, other armored vehicles, and of course aircraft. all defenders of ukraine know that. all defenders of mariupol know that. thousands of people know that. citizens, civilians who are dying there in the blockade. the united states knows that.

all european politicians know. we told everyone, and they should be known as soon as possible by as many people on earth as possible so that everyone understands who and why we are simply afraid to prevent this tragedy. >> that was volodymyr zelenskyy. now, mr. biden's speech also pushed back against how russia has tried to frame the war from the get-go. the u.s. president described it as part of a larger battle between democracies and autocracies, and he urged democratic nations to prepare for a long fight on that front. phil mattingly is in warsaw. >> for god sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> reporter: tonight, president biden delivering a forceful and dramatic condemnation of vladimir putin. >> a dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people's love for liberty. >> reporter: the white house later clarifying biden was not

calling for regime change but an unmistakable message. >> ukraine will never be a victory for russia. >> reporter: as biden delivered a clear call to western democracies at the moment of the highest stakes, drawing parallels to eastern europe's emergence from soviet rule. >> it was a long, painful slog fought over not days and months, but years and decades. but we emerged anew in the great battle for freedom. the battle between democracy and autocracy. between liberty and repression. >> reporter: the speech, a capstone of the european swing defined by unity in the face of searing images of disaster just a border away. >> ukraine and its people are on the front lines fighting to save their nation. and their brave resistance is part of a larger fight for an essential democratic principles that unite all free people. >> reporter: biden's remarks

coming just hours after new russian strikes in lviv, just 40 miles from the polish border and as biden's caustic view of the russian president grows even darker. >> you are dealing every day with vladimir putin. look what he's he done to these people. what does it make you think? >> he is a butcher. >> reporter: and his warnings to the russian leader of nato's commitment grows even sharper. >> don't even think about moving on one single inch of nato territory. we have sacred obligation. we have a sacred obligation under article 5 to defend each and every inch of nato territory. with the full force of our collective power. >> reporter: in the final day of an urgent and hastily arranged trip to europe that brought biden face to face with dozens of western leaders, he sat down with polish president duda, pledging close ties for a nato country housing 10,500 u.s. troops. >> we do acknowledge that poland is taking on a significant

responsibility that i don't think should just be poland's, it should be the whole world, all of nato's responsibility. >> reporter: and more than 2 million ukrainian refugees. biden meeting some firsthand. and just hours after a surprise meeting with the ukrainian foreign and defense ministers -- >> since the beginning of the war, under any conditions. >> reporter: a face-to-face sitdown where biden pledged even more u.s. support. a welcome commitment for a country under siege. and western democracies facing a challenge now reshaping european power dynamics. >> it will not be easy. there will be costs but it's a price we have to pay. >> reporter: and the president is now aboard air force one, flying back to the u.s. but just because the european trip is complete doesn't mean this issue is complete or dissipating in any way. white house officials are very clear, they know it's a long

road ahead. it was really the genesis of the president's decision to make these remarks in warsaw, to underscore that the western unity that we have seen over the course of the last four months, it can't just be a one-time thing or one-month thing. it has to be sustained not for days, not for weeks, not for months, but for years, maybe even longer as the world, at least according to the president, has entered a very clear and very real inflexion point. >> phil mattingly, thanks very much. in warsaw. here in lviv, fire crews were battling a huge blaze after russian missiles struck a fuel stormg facility. cnn's don lemon was on the scene moments after the attack. >> you could hear the flames roaring and -- and what they are concerned about is another one of these tanks exploding, so they are pushing people back until they can get control of this blaze. you were mentioning how close it is to a neighborhood. it is really close to a neighborhood. it is on the other side, there is a little valley here and

other side of a retention wall. peter, if you can just go around just a little bit and show them how close this is to a neighborhood quickly and then we will get back on the flames. so it's really, really close. this is a neighborhood where everyone has gathered all of the rescue people and they have done this on a number of different streets. so, if you will come back here -- so we're, you know, just -- um -- within a tenth of a mile or so, um, from where this is happening. but again, look at those flames. they are just roaring. black smoke coming out of there. and you can see them putting the fire retardant, spraying the fire retardant on this. but again, as you said, it is a chaotic scene here. running fire hoses through this residential neighborhood. the -- this retention wall, then to the other side of that valley and tanks. think of it, as you will, you know, for those of you who live near a chemical pant and you see these large-round storage facilities that carry the fuel or grain or what have you. that is what is happening here. this is a fuel storage facility northeast of the city.

again, we are told it's not anywhere near where that -- those -- that blast went off just a couple weeks ago when they hit that -- that airplane repair facility. >> that was don lemon. let's bring in cnn military analyst colonel cedric leighton. he is in washington. so, this isn't the first strike on the western city of lviv, where we are reporting from. we had one against the military training facility, against an aircraft repair hangar near the airport. now, these fuel storage tanks, and also we understand from the mayor a location was hit south of the city that appears also to have been some sort of repair facility. do you think this was a -- a message sent to biden who was just one border away yesterday? >> i do, hala. you know, it's very clear to me that the russians are sending a message, not only to biden, to nato at large. and that message basically is this, we can strike anywhere in

ukraine and will strike even close to nato. and we will have the precision munitions that are capable of doing that fairly accurately. so, you know, they are -- i think they are trying to counteract some of the reporting that we've done that says they use a lot of munitions that aren't precision-guided, that are, many essence, dumb bombs that go and -- and hit anything that happens to fall in their -- in their path. and that's -- that's kind of the difference. there was, you know, that part of the russian inventory that can do things quite precisely. but the vast majority of the russian inventory of weapons is not that precise. >> right. and it's not a huge surprise that they would target something like a fuel storage facility. i mean, the concern i had with the strike in the south is that really just a few meters away was a residential tower block. so, all you need is really one misfire, one miscalculation and

you are hitting densely populated civilian areas in a city as west as lviv, which has been relatively safe so far. >> yeah, that's true. and, you know, it doesn't take much to make -- you can type in the wrong coordinates, you know, if you are the weaponeer for a weapon like this. and not only in terms of, you know, the wrong target hit but especially in terms of civilian lives affected. and that's -- that's a very big danger in a situation like this. >> yeah. so, this comes literally it came a few hours after the russians claimed their phase one was over according to our sources. they are now going to concentrate on the east and liberating quote/unquote these eastern regions and that very day, they decide to strike at least two targets in the west. are they just plain lying?

>> yes, they are. what they are doing is, you know, it may be true that they are going to put a preponderance of their every day into the east. that was one of their original war aims. but their real aims also included going after kyiv, and going after kharkiv and other cities and also attacking in the south. so, they found it difficult to do all of that. and they may very well be concentrating on the east because that, you know, would make sense from a military perspective but they are not going to give up on attacking other areas because they want to keep the ukrainians guessing. they want to make sure that there is as much uncertainty as possible not only among the government in ukraine but also among the civilian population. and that's part of -- part of their effort. they are very good at deception and that's, you know, part of that plan. >> but i wonder -- i mean, does this -- and the president biden

did say that this was a long-term fight. does this mean that -- that -- that the russian military, rather than acknowledge that their initial goals have not been met, kind of try to face save by saying this was always about the donbas region and that they would come up with some sort of way to climb down from this. rather than that scenario, which would be the best-case scenario i guess, that really what they are doing is obfuscating and hitting targets outside of the areas that they've said they would hit and that this is really going to be a long-term, long slog and that we should be prepared for that? >> yeah, i think that's the case, hala. i think we should be prepared for a long slog, unfortunately, because that is kind of their way of -- of doing things. you know, they did, you know, indicate that -- that they wanted to, you know, attack these areas in -- in one way or the other. and they find it, i think, useful from their perspective to

try to keep the ukrainians off balance. that's -- that's, in essence, what's happening here. um, but they are, you know, clearly doing things that, you know, indicate that their first plan has really failed. it's -- it's really, you know, kind after sequencing issue for them i think more than anything else. they've -- they thought that they could conquer ukraine very quickly. that did not happen. so this is, in essence, plan b, a corollary to plan a, which was to take the whole thing. >> but -- and lastly, i mean, that's -- obviously, this is plan b. but it's -- it's going to -- i mean, this costs money. they are not able to raise as -- funds in the way they were before. now, they're ostracized from the banking system. the their central bank can't raise funds. the ruble is collapsing so they do have gas and oil money coming from some countries. not all of their previous customers, but so how long -- what is the staying power of the russian military here?

>> well, that's a really good question. we're not quite sure, to be honest, hala. that's something we are not quite sure of. but you know, if i were venture to make a prediction here, this is something that they will definitely run out of time but they are racing against the clock. but they are betting that they can withstand anything caused by the sanctions and by other efforts to keep them boxed in. and they think that they can withstand that long enough in order to create the situations that they want in ukraine, which is to destabilize the government and possibly to let it fall and then to take over at least a portion of the country so that they can say, look, we have accomplished our aims. whether those are the real aims or not. that -- that is what they are going to say and it's, you know, going to certainly cover up for any malfunctions and disappointments, you know, to

use their term, in this situation. >> well thank you very much, cedric leighton, as always. pleasure talking to you this evening. or this morning. this evening your time. this night your time i should say. thank you so much. russia claims one of its cruise missiles destroy add fuel depot in mykolaiv, ukraine, on saturday. the city near the black sea has been devastated by fighting with homes reduced to rubble in russian air raids. despite the violence and despite the danger, some families in mykolaiv are trying to hold on to some semblance of normalcy. cnn's ben wedeman has our report. >> reporter: once more, the people of mykolaiv can have their daily bread. i see a change, says maxine, now it's getting back to normal and i really hope it will last. the ukrainian army and volunteer fighters have pushed russian forces east. sparing this port city, blocking

russia's push to seize the country's entire western black-sea coast. the supermarkets aren't fully open. even if some shelves are empty, fresh milk still missing. al stan alexander and his family seem to savor the mundane task of grocery shopping. he begins to tell us the russians have been stopped when his wife svetlana interrupts him to say we are still afraid. on the surface, life seems to be resuming most of its regular rhythms. but that's just the surface. all over the city, there are piles of these old tires intended to be set alight to obscure the vision of invading russian forces. and there are also, among the tires, molotov cocktails. around the city, signs of destruction. this empty hotel struck several days ago in the early afternoon.

natasha was at home nearby when it happened. in this predominantly ethnic russian city, she scoffs at the idea russia is waging war on her behalf. >> not for our country and not for russian people. >> reporter: the red cross has turned this wedding hall into a center providing medicine, diapers, and other supplies. what they can't provide, however, is a sense this nightmare is coming to an end. ben wedeman, cnn, mykolaiv, ukraine. and still to come. a norwegian paramedic would not stand by while people flee for their lives in ukraine. we will have more on the lifesaving service he and others are offering. we'll be right back.

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the war began. while in poland, president biden met with ukrainian refugees at the national stadium carrying a ukrainian girl, at one point, in his arms and offering comfort to those who've been displaced. despite the millions who have already fled ukraine, there are countless others still trying to escape. one norwegian volunteer paramedic is bravely making daily trips to ukraine to help as many -- help as many people as he can flee to poland. cnn's ed lavandera has his story. >> reporter: at any given moment across ukraine, there are countless people on the streets doing whatever they can to help in the war effort. so, when missile strikes happen near a populated area, like we saw on saturday in lviv, that sends shivers down the spines of all those people trying to help. the air-raid sirens no longer startle diederich. >> the sirens are telling us it's no danger anymore.

>> reporter: with that, he eases the nerves of a mother and her two children he's just picked up at the train station. tonight, he will drive them to poland. diederich struggles to explain how a 27-year-old from norway has found himself driving an ambulance through the streets of lviv. >> that's the most difficult question actually. >> reporter: he is part of a volunteer team evacuating critically-ill hospital patients and refugees from ukraine. >> i just wanted to help do something, not sit at home and just look at everything on the tv. >> reporter: most days, diederich drives into lviv from poland with an ambulance full of medical supplies, and distributes the loads to hospitals facing grave shortages. the medical director of the saint nicholas hospital in lviv, she says since the start of the war, her hospital has been overwhelmed treating everyday

seriously ill patients. >> he bring us some medicine, some equipment which we need so much. that's why we are thankful for him and his team. it's really dream -- dream team. >> reporter: hospitals are struggling to handle all the patients needing critical lifesaving care. that's where deiederich's team comes in. >> we have gjust delivered a lo of equipment to that hospital and to another hospital. and we went to the train station and picked up a few refugees, as well. >> reporter: he's lost count of how many patients and refugees he's driven out of ukraine. >> i have helped a lot of kids, women, and children who needs to go out of the country and in the places we are getting the people, they don't have anyone else. for right now, they only have us. >> reporter: diederich and his team of paramedics and nurses have spent almost three weeks crisscrossing the city. answering any call for help that comes in.

how stressful is it to drive around ukraine right now? >> oh, my god. it's horrific and it's not possible to explain. >> reporter: this area of western ukraine has seen just a few russian air strikes since the war started nearly a month ago. but russian forces have targeted hospitals and civilians in eastern ukraine. diederich knows he's driving into potential targets. it's a risk he's willing to take. is doing this worth dying for, for you? >> yeah, it is. because it's so meaningful what i'm doing. when i see these crying children who are really sick and needs to get out, i -- i feel a responsibility. >> reporter: for diederich, it feels like the road to saving ukrainians goes on forever. i spoke with diederich just moments after that explosion happened in lviv on saturday. and he told me that he happened

to have three patients in the back of his ambulance at that very moment, that they weren't too far away from where the explosion detonated. he says it took him a little while to figure out exactly what the sound was, and where it was coming from. but as soon as they put it all together, they stopped everything and -- and started driving straight to the polish-ukrainian border. and he tells me that they all made it across safely late-saturday afternoon. and in his eyes, it's three more people that he's been able to evacuate safely out of this war-torn country. >> that was ed lavandera. and still ahead. the mood appears to be improving in some parts of kyiv, though we are using those words carefully still. as ukrainian troops press forward with a counter -- counteroffensive around the capital city. we will bring you that story, coming up.

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and right now, you can get 3 months of apple tv+ free when you sign up. just say “try apple tv+” to get started. it's a movement. with xfinity, it's a way better way to watch. welcome back, i am hala gorani reporting live from lviv in ukraine. well the fire is still raging at a fuel depot here in lviv following multiple russian strieks on saturday. take a look at the scene during the day as flames and thick black smoke rose from one of the targets. ukrainian officials say at least five people were hurt in this attack. lviv sits close to the polish border, and so far it's largely been spared the relentless

bombardment we have seen in many cities, though it suffered a few attacks. this assault came as the u.s. president joe biden was in poland just a few-hundred kilometers away wrapping up a four-day trip to europe aimed at rallying western support for ukraine. he capped off his visit with a powerful, yet apparently unscripted, rebuke of the russian president vladimir putin. listen. >> for god sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> those comments -- this was one of the last things he said but obviously they made the headlines. they sent shock waves around the globe. but the white house later tried to clarify, saying mr. biden was not calling for regime change. however, the u.s. president did deliver a stark warning to vladimir putin, should russia's attacks extend beyond ukraine's borders. >> don't even think about moving on one single inch of nato territory.

we have sacred obligation. we have a sacred obligation under article 5 to defend each and every inch of nato territory with the full force of our collective power. >> meanwhile, ukrainian troops say they have recaptured several towns near the russian border, including this village in northeastern ukraine where soldiers engaged in a fierce firefight with russian troops reportedly holed up inside that building, which is -- or was, i should say, used as a school. we are also seeing ukrainian troops making gains around kyiv, though intense fighting continues near the capital city. our fred pleitgen is in the capital. >> reporter: massive battles continue here around the kyiv area. while it seems, though, the russians might be somewhat on the back foot and ukrainians are certainly saying they are pressing what they call a counteroffensive, especially toward the northwest of the

ukrainian capital kyiv and also toward the northeast of the capital as well. the ukrainians claiming that they took some area back. for instance, if we look at the suburb of irpin, ukrainians say that they have about 80% of that area right now. however, they also say that they are still being shelled by russian forces. now, needless to say, despite these gains, this city is still very much on a war footing because, of course, the ukrainians understand that the gains they've made so far are very fragile. there are still a lot of checkpoints here inside the city. cars being checked, especially by the territorial defense forces. but what we do see is that there are more people who are out and about. there is some shops that are opening. and also, there seems to be a lot more traffic than there has been in the past couple of weeks. while we also see the territorial defense forces -- they are still preparing for if the russians might come back and might enter the city. in fact, we saw some were practicing throwing molotov cocktails in the most effective way. still, they say right now, the

mood here in the city is improving. >> old businesses are returning to work. more and more shops open every day. and you can see even, you know, even traffic is becoming much, much more dense than even two or three days ago. >> this was strong city with strong citizens and we defend it a lot because this is the capital and this is, like, logical that they would try to attack us more, once again and again. >> but you will win? >> yes. no doubt. >> reporter: while the folks from those territorial defense forces certainly seem to be very confident, um, i think it's still pretty clear to the leadership here that the gains that they have made so far, especially around kyiv, are things that can be reversed. there still is a massive army standing essentially at the gates to this city. and certainly, going to be some pretty tough battles still ahead. fred pleitgen, cnn, kyiv.

thank you, fred, for that. that's going to do it from me for now. let's go to kristie lu stout in hong kong. >> hala, thank you. and hala will be back at the top of the hour. but just ahead, women and girls in the afghan capital are taking to the streets. find out what recent taliban decision triggered this brave backlash. and u.s. officials -- health officials -- they are expected to sign off on a second covid booster shot. we'll discuss who will be eligible. policies to farmers, you could save yourself an average of seven hundred and thirty dollars. (customer) that's something. (burke) get a whole lot of somethihing with farmers. ♪we are farmers.bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum♪ stuff. we love stuff. and there's some really great stuff out there. but i doubt that any of us will look back on our lives and think, "i wish i'd bought butan even thinner tv,f us found a lighter light beer, or had an even smarter smartpne." do you think any of will look back on our lives

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girls and women hit the streets of kabul to protest on saturday just days after the taliban in afghanistan reneged on a promise and made education for many young women difficult, if not impossible. the demonstrators chanted against the taliban's decision to keep girls above 6th grade out of school. it's supposedly until sharia appropriate school uniforms are designed but demonstrators -- they are not buying that. >> translator: unfortunately, by the advent of the taliban, all our schools were closed. we, girls, are allowed to study like boys. islam has given us this right. but the taliban has taken this right from us.

>> the move quickly drew international condemnation, and the u.s. cancelled planned meetings with the taliban. paula newton has more on the growing outrage. >> reporter: the taliban' decision to bar afghan girls above 6th grade from returning to school has triggered a concrete backlash. american officials say wednesday's decision could be a potential turning point in engagement, as they cancelled planned meetings with the taliban in doha. >> the decision by the taliban, if it is not reversed, will profoundly harm the afghan people, the country's prospects for economic growth, and the taliban's ambition to improve their relations with the international community. >> reporter: for the first time in more than seven months, afghan schools re-opened wednesday for a much anticipated return but it was a day that ended in heartbreak, tears, and anger for many. after the taliban announced girls above 6th grade must stay

home. that decision came just hours after schools had re-opened. many eager female students arriving back, only to find they wouldn't be let inside. >> translator: why are they playing with our future? we have rights. we are humans from this country. we want to be free. we just want to continue our education. is it a sin that we are girls? >> a taliban news agency said the delay is so uniforms can be designed according to sharia and afghan customs. but the decision is viewed by many as an excuse. as condemnation rings out across the globe. >> this is of grave concern at a time when the country greatly needs to overcome multiple intersecting crises. >> no country can grow by excluding women and girls from education. i mean, the fact that we still have to say this in the 21st century -- >> in recent months, the taliban have repeatedly insisted they would not go back to how things

were in the late '90s and early 2000s when women and girls were banned from working or going to school. it has been seven months since this now-iconic scene of thousands stranded at the airport in kabul, desperately trying to leave after the taliban's takeover. now, those left behind seeing human rights withering away. among them? the tearful schoolgirls, whose hopes of an education are now shattered. paula newton, cnn. >> older adults in the united states may soon have the option of getting a second covid-19 booster shot. the food and drug administration is expected to authorize a fourth dose of the pfizer and moderna vaccines for those older than 50. that decision is expected as early as next week. and soon after that, the centers for disease control and prevention is expected to follow suit with a similar recommendation. the u.s. is limiting the use of

a particular covid treatment due to a more contagious subvariant. the food and drug administration says that the monoclonal antibody treatment called sotromivab has been successful keeping people out of the hospital but does not seem to help people who contracted the omicron subvariant, known as ba2. the fda says ba2 is now the dominant strain in at least eight states, two territories, and is rising elsewhere. it's also driving a surge in cases in parts of europe, particularly the uk, germany, and the netherlands. and joining us now is anne rimoin. she is a professor in the epidemiology department at the ucla fielding school of public health, and she joins us now, live, from los angeles. professor, thank you for joining us. let's talk about ba2 and what we know about the new omicron variant. it is apparently more transmissible than ba1 but does it cause more severe illness? >> thanks for having me, and this is a good question. so ba is a -- appears to be more

transmissible. maybe even 50 to 60% more transmissible but it does not appear to cause more severe disease, so that's good news. >> very good news. and look, we know that cases caused by ba2 remain relatively high, relatively speaking, across asia. there is also this new wave of ba2 infections happening across europe and we are starting to see a rise in ba2 cases in the u.s. um, is this going to be another surge in the u.s. some? >> well, not really, no. what we are starting to see here in the united states and in northern -- in north america, in general -- is an uptick in wastewater surveillance so we are starting to detect it in greater and greater quantities here. it's now becoming the dominant variant here. we've started to see in new york city, for example, an uptick in cases and in certain parts of the united states. but it's really unclear what kind of an increase we are going

to see. are we going to see a surge as we saw before? are we just going to see a smaller wave? it really depends upon the -- the kind of immunity that we have here and -- but -- but interestingly, what we are seeing in the uk where they did also have a very large omicron surge, they do have a very high rate of cases, hospitalizations are starting to increase there, as well. so we need to be watching these indicators very closely and be ready to act if we start to see a large increase. >> yeah, and that action could also take the form of an additional booster shots, you know, in the u.s. um, the fda set to approve additional booster shots for adults over the age of 50 next week. um, i'm already boosted here in hong kong. my folks in america, already boosted. but will we all need another booster shot? >> well, we are all going to need another booster shot. i think it's pretty clear that the -- that the immunity that we get from -- from the vaccine in terms of preventing infection is -- is waning. although it is still doing a good job at preventing severe

disease, hospitalization, and death in most people. n now, immunocompromised people need to be very vigilant about getting these doses as they are recommended but we are still looking at the data and trying to understand how important is this next dose? when does it need to happen? and what kind of long-term benefit are we going to see? so, we are still looking at the data but it's great that these doses are going to be available. i think that is a very prudent thing to do, given that even if ba2 -- this omicron subvariant -- doesn't create a very large wave, this virus is going to continue to spread. when it spreads, it has opportunity to mutate and we need to be ready for the next surge. >> yeah, and as the virus continues to evolve, continues to mutate and perhaps additional subvariants could emerge, are we seeing a scenario that we are going to have to take booster shots the same way we take a flu shot every season? >> i think it's very reasonable to expect that we'll need to have a regular -- a regular

shot, like a flu shot, and likely we are going to start to see these vaccines updated on an annual basis, based on what we see circulating. you know, so i think, you know, right now, we are seeing this -- the vaccines prevent these most severe outcomes but we really don't know how long that is going to hold out and don't know what variant is going to arise that could evade the immune response that has been elicited by these vaccines to keep people out of the hospital and from dying. so we are going to have to watch it very closely and be ready to act and everybody should anticipate sooner or later we'll need another dose. >> and i got to ask you about the risk of reinfection. you know, what if someone contracted a previous variant, could they become reinfected with ba2? >> absolutely. we've seen people who have been infected with previous variants get reinfected with the omicron variant. we've seen people who have been fully vaccinated and boosted get

infected with the omicron variant. the big question is is if you have had omicron, will you get reinfected with this ba2 subvariant? and the answer is it's possible. data study recently in -- in preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, has suggested that you can get reinfected from ba1 to ba2. those -- though those reinfections are rare. >> all right. professor anne rimoin, we will leave it at that. thank you so much for lending your expertise to our audience. take care. >> my pleasure. you are watching "cnn newsroom." up next, firefighters in the u.s. -- they want to help colleagues in ukraine who also fight the flames. after the break, the americans are collecting all sorts of equipment the ukrainians might also need. we will talk to guys at the firehouse that started it all.

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firefighters in new jersey are also joining the aid efforts. they're collecting everything from helmets to boots and tools from around the u.s. to send to fellow firefighters in ukraine. cnn's alexandra field reports dozens of fire departments have responded to the call.

>> everything that you see here in this trailer is going to be get shipped out to ukraine. >> reporter: where emergency responders on the front line badly need it -- >> i need more. >> reporter: ten tons of firefighting gear and supplies have already been boxed up here in clifton, new jersey. they're en route now to the war zone. the plan is to send it all to the polish fire service, which will pass it over to ukrainian firefighters. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: the collection effort nothing short of monumental, was the idea of oleg, who was born in central ukraine and moved to the u.s. when he was 14. three years ago, he joined clifton, new jersey,'s, fire department. >> seeing how the brotherhood runs through the fire department, that was run of the reasons. >> reporter: when russia invaded his home country, he said he knew his ukrainian brothers needed him too. >> you see the brotherhood not

just in the united states but all over the country, and including overseas. everybody comes in at once in the time of need. >> reporter: what started as an effort to collect a few sets of turnout gear to send over quickly turned into 1,100 sets and so much more. >> we wanted the focus on firefighter personal protective equipment, which would be your coat, your pants, hood, helmet, and gloves and boots. then we branched out just a little bit further and told people we would need hand tools. then we branched out a little bit further onto the medical side with backboards. >> reporter: to date, the donations mostly retired gear but perfectly usable, have come from more than 100 fire departments across the country. >> we were getting contacted by departments in colorado and minnesota and wisconsin, and ohio. that's what firemen do. >> reporter: the deliveries haven't stopped.

on this morning, a load comes in from parsnipny, new jersey. >> when i heard about this from facebook, i brought it up in our meeting. we had some gear we were going to get rid of anyway. let's just donate it. >> reporter: another truckful from hal aden, new jersey. >> we brought bunker gear, jacket, helmet, gloves, boots. you got to help out one another. >> reporter: the money to send the gear is being raised by a nonprofit, new ukrainian wave passaic, which is relying on a gofundme page. getting it there quickly is now the biggest concern. the shipments will include ukrainian flags with the insignia of the departments that donated stitched on them. >> hopefully someday eventually i'll find the pictures of the flag and the gear making it to the front lines where they need it right now. >> reporter: what do you want to say to the people who will wear this gear? >> the people who wore the gear before you, just know that they stand behind you. >> reporter: alexandra field,

cnn, clifton, new jersey. i'm kristie lu stout in hong kong. we have more of our breaking news coverage live from ukraine in a moment.

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>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. welcome, everyone, to our viewers around the world and also in the united states this hour. i'm hala gorani live from lviv in ukraine. u.s. president joe biden has just landed at joint base andrews outside washington after his trip to europe for a series of summits over russia's war on ukraine. but before leaving, he delivered a blunt declaration that vladimir putin must go. the shockingly candid remark came at the very end of the president's speech in warsaw. a kremlin spokesperson ridiculed the comment, saying it was not mr. biden's decision to make. the white house pretty quickly clarified that mr. biden was not calling for regime change in moscow. even as joe biden was in poland, russian missiles struck another fuel facility, this time in lviv, not far from the polish border and even closer to our position here. ukrainian forces claim they've