hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and right around the world. i'm isa soares in london and we are following breaking news coverage of the war in ukraine right here just ahead on cnn. >> reporter: kyiv remains under full-on attack by vladimir putin's army. >> it is of necessity to him to stop killing people. >> i was expressing the moral outrage i felt towards this man. i wasn't articulating a policy change. >> what has happened to the ukrainian soldiers defending mariupol. >> translator: they hold the line and they stand to the end, to the last drop of blood. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. thank you for your company. it's tuesday, march 29th. 9 a.m. here in london, 11 a.m.

here in ukraine and we'll begin this hour with a new tactic emerging in russia's brutal war on ukraine. russian forces are largely stalled on the ground so they are firing missiles at fuel depots across the country including this one in the western city of luntsk. in kyiv, meanwhile, the deputy defense minister said they're trying to establish a corridor around the capitol to block humanitarian supply routes. she said ukrainian soldiers and residents are defending the city making it very difficult for the russians and the mayor of irpin west of kyiv says ukrainian fighters have reclaimed that city. meanwhile, new drone footage shows really the utter devastation in the southern port of mariupol. the city's mayor is calling for complete evacuation of remaining civilians. an estimated 160,000 people still stuck there.

kharkiv in the east suffered brutal russian attacks. they were able to deliver medical supplies to the area on monday. meanwhile, u.s. president joe biden said he is sticking by his statement russian president, vladimir putin cannot remain in power. have a listen. >> i'm not walking anything back. i was expressing moral outrage of the way putin is dealing and the actions of this man with the brutality, half the children in ukraine, i had just come from being with those families. but i want to make it clear, i wasn't then nor am i now articulating a policy change, i was expressing moral outrage that i feel. nobody believes we're going to take down -- i was talking about taking down putin. >> president biden clarifying his remarks.

let's bring in phil black live from lviv, ukraine. let me start in mariupol. as we showed you in that drone footage, the situation on the ground is worrying as russian forces continue to close in and encircle the city. what do we know, phil, about who controls what and how many civilians may still be trapped inside? >> reporter: well, there's still thought to be about 170,000 civilians trapped inside. isa, they've been enduring terrible conditions for so many weeks as the city has been sieged, surrounded and under constant bombardment. every day we're seeing the utter destruction and devastation that has taken place there and yet the ukrainian military says it has forces that are maintaining what they call a circular defense, circular because they are surrounded as they have been for some weeks. yet it seems now after so many weeks of really fierce

resistance, it's looking increasingly difficult to see how the fall of mariupol can be prevented. take a look. >> reporter: russia is so close to taking the prize of mariupol. these soldiers are already celebrating. ukrainians peeled up. praise the almighty. the guys are in a good mood and we are working according to the order of putin. we get rare glimpses of russia's efforts to take the city street by street. these soldiers are from the russian republic of chechynya. mariupol's men tells me, the fight isn't over.

what happened or what has happened to the ukrainian soldiers fighting mariupol. are there any left? they hold the line, they stand to the end until the last drop of blood. it's not only ukrainian soldiers trapped here. there are still around 170,000 civilians in this devastated city and 90% of homes have been damaged or destroyed. valentina enters what's left of her only home she knows, she's been hiding in the basement. she doesn't want to leave. she knows she can't stay. but many will never leave. the council says almost 5,000 people have been killed during the four-week siege including more than 200 children. russia is so close to taking its prize that it will be a blackened shelf a city and it's

unlikely the people will ever forgive them. so there is no question, isa, that mariupol is the most bombarded of ukrainian cities but the ukrainian officials say they're still seeing the same tactics used all around. all of these cities are receiving indiscriminate bombing. you touched on reclaiming the suburb, irpin. they say they are in control there. as president zelenskyy said overnight, that doesn't mean it is secure. there was more russian rocket fire felt through the night. >> very fragile gains for ukrainians. phil black for us there in lviv. thanks very much, phil. right now ukrainian and russian investigations are in

istanbul for a new round of talks. russia's demands for a recognition of crimea's independence are major sticking points. ukraine's president zelenskyy said the obvious goal of these talks are piece as well as the restoration of normal life. ukrainian is ready to accept nonnuclear status with security guarantee. cnn has all of the angles. we have atika shubert in val valencia, spain. let's go to istanbul for arwa damon. i know the heads of delegation are on site. what can we expect to come out of this? i know president zelenskyy yesterday hinted at concessions but said he wouldn't compromise peace for territory. >> reporter: it's highly unlikely, isa, we'll see a signing of a document or more concrete outcome of the negotiations sadly although that

is one of the hopes that does exist. we heard from president erdogan who addressed both delegations saying that the groundwork is there for a more concrete outcome, but realistically speaking there are just too many issues that have still to be resolved. even though, yes, ukraine is, as you mentioned, open to this discussion about ukraine becoming a neutral state, there are so many other mechanisms that need to get put into place, not to mention what you were just speaking about there as well, which is what is going to be the fate of crimea and the donbas region. we have heard from the ukrainian side they will not negotiate when it comes to territory, civilian lives or sovereignty, but what one can really hope for is a bigger, broader, more solid, more reliable discussion about humanitarian corridors.

more humanitarian corridors who are at the very least safe and secure at this stage. >> stay with us, arwa. let me bring in atika. the gap is huge despite the fact that they're meeting. there is one person who can put an end to this, that's putin. how serious is russia to putting an end to this war? >> reporter: well, trying to read the mind of russian president vladimir putin may be an impossible task, but i think the very fact russia is there and willing to look at some draft agreement. clearly there is a piece of paper floating around with a lot of issues, but it's there and, again, there are some that are just not going to go anywhere. this issue of territory, for example, is impossible to resolve certainly today.

that's because russia says crimea is russian and that the donbas in eastern ukraine must be recognized as independent. this is something ukraine will absolutely not do. the one issue of neutrality could see some break through. what vladimir putin has said is ukraine must not be a part of nato. this is because russia sees any nato troops in ukraine as a threat to its security. if ukraine, it has signaled this, is willing to say we will not be a part of nato, we will be a neutral country, then that is something russia could in theory accept. there is serious discussion about that. while russia may see this as a signed, done deal, ukraine is saying, wait a minute, it's not just a piece of paper we sign, it's going to require much more because in ukraine's constitution actually embedded

that the country should join nato, it will require a referendum putting any agreement to a vote and changing a constitution. that's a process they have to understand would take months, possibly more than a year. really the hope for today is perhaps if they can come to some agreement we could see the terms and some sort of temporary cease-fire while those other issues are ironed out later on. >> what it sounds to me, atika, russia is not willing to compromise on much. let's talk about the russian billionaire and there was an incident where he suffered symptoms suspected of poisoning. what do we know? >> reporter: yeah. this is very strange. we don't have all the details. still confirmations coming in, but we do know he has been an

informal go between mediator flying between kyiv, moscow and istanbul. cnn spoke to several officials that on one of these trips, not sure if it was kyiv or istanbul, several strange symptoms developed. skin peeling, blurry vision, sore eyes not just to him but several other members of the team. we checked with -- cnn has tried to confirm this with ukrainian and other officials. they've said there's a lot of speculation. there is no evidence this could be a symptom of poisoning. these are symptoms we've seen in other cases like in the case of alexey navalny. there is no clear evidence there is a case of poisoning. when cnn brought this to u.s. officials they say it could have been, quote, environmental factors. so i think this is still, you know, very strange details.

we still don't know a lot about this. we did also check with roman abramovich's team. >> atika shubert for us, thank you very much. arwa, thank you very much. keep us posted on the meetings taking place in the next few hours. ahead right here on the program, as a war in their homeland goes on, the families of fallen ukrainian soldier says good-bye. we'll have the story next. russia turns up the pressure with artillery and missile strikes. on the outskirts of kyiv, we'll speak with someone about what's happening in the region. that's next. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuelsls six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

the war in ukraine has been going on for more than a month with no end in site. according to numbers announced by president zelenskyy, at least 1300 ukrainian troops have lost their lives defending the homeland.

sadly before this conflict is creating work for priests as well as grave diggers. ben wedeman went to one soldier's funeral. ♪ ♪ >> translator: lord have mercy. >> reporter: another family drinks in war's bitter dredges. 47-year-old died on the 18th of march from wounds sustained in the city of miklaiv. his mother struggles through the ceremony. every day there is another funeral during this time of death, destruction, displacement. these are, indeed, the times that try people's soul. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: he was a volunteer, not a regular soldier. he was given full military

honors. beyond the customs of respect for a man who died in battle for a nation at war lies the trauma of the woman who brought him into this world. there can be nothing more painful for a mother than to attend the funeral of her child. son killed in a war not his choosing. he decided on his own to join the army. he hadn't told me. he was a good father and a goodson. says his sister elena, he was always a man of his word. uri lies with other freshly dug graves. after a month of this conflict, no one really knows how many soldiers and civilians have been

killed. the only thing of which anyone can be certain is that only the dead see the end of war. before this funeral ends, preparations begin for the next. ashes to ashes, dust to dust. ben wedeman, cnn, odessa. >> joining me from the outskirts of kyiv is the director of the eurasian democracy initiative. peter, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. i know you're on the outskirts of keefe. give us the sense of what you're seeing in the last 48 hours or so. >> what i've been seeing is a lot of artillery fire, a lot of rockets being launched at kyiv which are being intercepted and many of them but some continue to land within the city limits and that is basically contrary

to russia's pledge to regroup and try to concentrate on the eastern parts of donbas. what i've said all along, what my colleagues have all along said, obviously you cannot take putin at his word. you cannot trust anything that comes out of their mouth. whatever they state their intentions are, they may actually try to come in the east of ukraine because of the lack of being able to get kyiv. they're making life here true, true hell. they are hitting critical infrastructure targets. they're hitting oil storges. they are trying to destroy airport, civilian, military with the end goal it will try to bring ukraine to its knees by basically destroying all of its economic potential. >> yeah. like you said, you know, we've heard, peter, russia basically

saying that they have no intentions -- they don't have their eyes set on kyiv. from what you're saying, you don't buy that at all but we are starting to see as you hinted there at this new strategy that's being employed by russia, the targeting of fuel depots as of course the ground forces stall whampt does that tell you about the challenges they're facing? >> the challenges they're facing is highly immorallized part. they will be going in with a 19th century style of territorial conflict. they were told within three days they would be marching down the main drag of kyiv with a parade. now they have 15,000 military

dead, probably 50,000 wounded, deserted or taken prisoner. untold number of tanks destroyed. this is a whole different picture than the army was aware of going into it. so that is one problem. the other problem is supply. ukrainians have been very adept at hitting the supply lines and disrupting logistical networks. vladimir putin knows in order to up the game he has to conduct mobilization which he knows is going to be very difficult. russia's economy is suffering severely under sanctions. we have to make sure there are no bad actors to help russia bypass sanctions. that is something that's critical zelenskyy has said and in case our western leaders are listening, they need to make sure the sanctions regime stands

firm and russia is not allowed to circumvent it and one thing finally i will say, ukraine needs to continue to get critical supplies of ammunition. ukraine needs air defense systems, sk 100s, fighter jets. it needs everything to protect their air space. they need to kick out the invaders as soon as possible. >> this is something we've heard president zelenskyy ask for time and time again. the besieged city of mariupol, the drone footage is absolutely heartbreaking. we've seen scenes of intense fighting there. apart from the city that has been completely flattened, charred, how worried are you about the situation on the

ground in mariupol? >> we talk about a die hard of ukrainian fighters who are just -- they are fighting to the k death. the way it is going, i've seen scenarios in a few more days before mariupol folds to the russians. the question is, what are the russians going to do with mariupol? almost 50% of it is completely destroyed, 90% of the buildings have been damaged. untold carnage in mariupol. they're saying as many as 5,000 civilians, you know, are dead. this is a limited strategy to cut out -- try to conquer this land corridor to sell it as a limited victory.

he has to justify this untold number of deaths. like i said, thousands. mariupol is a crucial component. once again, putin doesn't care about the city, he cares about the land. mariupol has ceased to exist as we know it. as long as russia occupies it, there's no chance in rebuilding it. >> as our correspondent on the ground in lviv said in the last 26 minutes or so, there are still thousands of people trapped inside. we are watching the screen of mariupol and what it looks like now. putin has not achieved his objective. he's not getting the political victory he dreamed of. do you expect any compromise of any of the peace talks taking place in turkey today? >> i do not -- i'm very -- i'm very skeptical of any compromise. so far we see russians have used

these speech talks as ways to stall, as ways to regroup, as ways to present a good face to the public. they are nothing but mere window dressings so far. vladimir putin has not shoni attempt to back down. only ukrainian resistance will persuade putin to negotiate. >> mere window dressing. you heard it here. thank you very much. still to come, evacuees fleeing the violence in mariupol. despite the devastation they've left behind. we'll bring you the details when we return.

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on monday local officials a true

success to reclaim the city west of kyiv. though cnn cannot independently verify the claim. meanwhile, the kremlin is responding to new pressures of weapons saying they will only use them in russia poses an existential threat. >> there is no reason for a usage of a nuclear weapon. only when there is a threat for existence of the state in our country we can use and we will actually use nuclear weapons to eliminate the threat for the existence of our country. >> let me take you back to mariupol. more than 400,000 people lived in mariupol before russia's invasion. less than half of them remain. cnn's ivan watson spoke with residents who made it out who

are unsure of their next move. >> reporter: shattered by russian artillery. the windshield of a car that a ukrainian family used to make their two-day escape from the besieged city of mariupol. we meet natalia shortly after her family reaches relative safety in the parking lot of a super store on the edge of the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia. the day before yesterday an artillery shell hit our house, she says. half of the house is gone. this is what was left. >> translator: if russia sees this, i want them to know they aren't defending us, they are killing us because they seem to think they are defending us and that's just not true. >> reporter: this parking lot an unofficial fwat way to ukrainian controlled territory for more than 70,000 ukrainians who officials say fled mariupol. the evacuees look shell shocked.

there are signs that say children and they're draped in white rags. some show up in yellow school buses. they were bombing us, she says. bombing us with planes and tanks. a lisa's aunt said she suffered from a concussion for days after a strike hit her home. >> translator: i walked among corpses. there were bodies and soldiers without heads, without arms. they are lying there. nobody is gathering them. there was such fear, like i felt like i was underwater. i wanted to wake up and now i am here and this feels like some kind of a dream. >> reporter: inside the super store volunteers and the city government are trying to help. >> newly arrived evacuees are welcome at this "sportscenter" where they're offered more meals, access to medics and

information about how to travel deeper into safer parts of ukrainian territory. there's also a bulletin board here where some people are offering free repair of shattered car windows and there are also postings here looking for information about missing loved ones. for some who survived russia's modern day siege, this is the first hint of safety they've had in weeks. outside julia and her son sta stanislav have just arrived. he is chatty. when they were bombed the family hid under the dining room table surrounded by pillows. >> translator: when the plane flew past we were sheltering in the zone ter of town. until now my ear still hurts from the shock wave. >> reporter: the unlikely safe haven provided in this parking

lot is precarious. ukrainian officials say russian troops are positioned barely a half hour's drive away from here. ivan watt sovereign, cnn, zap z zaporizhzhia, ukraine. don lemon went to an orphanage to find out how the children and the perspective parents were coping. >> reporter: it was after midnight when the children arrived to lviv. >> translator: they were very tired and seemed to be lost. some of their friends were separated. they were scared arriving in a new city. >> translator: a train full of children fleeing the war. it took two days. they were stopped by shelling alerts at several stations. >> translator: now they are relatively safe in this orphanage outside of lviv, but their journey to find permanent

homes is halted by the war. >> reporter: is the prosets slower now because of the war? >> translator: definitely, yes, because all of their files and court filings are in donetsk. >> reporter: one of those children in limbo is mari. >> we had the paperwork in donetsk region to adopt and a day and a half after we had everything to submit putin invaded and all the kids in the orphanage had to be evacuated. what's this been like for you? >> i've been here five weeks, yes. >> they are pushing the biden administration to allow about 300 ukrainian children hossa dopgss are pending to come to the u.s. temporarily for their safety while the war is raging. right now 73 u.s. lawmakers have signed on to a letter asking the state department and president

biden to make it happen. until then, thompson remains in lviv bringing supplies to the orphanage, visiting mari when she can and worrying about her when she can't. >> i'm messaging her. yesterday she spent almost six hours in bomb shelter. we had missile strikes near both of us so it's scary enough to have that happen but when you can't physically be there to know your child is okay and to help protect them and all the other parents who are some in poland, a lot back in the u.s., they're getting the same phone calls i'm getting. it's scary. >> mari waits for the chance at a new start. >> reporter: are you ready for a new life in america? >> yes. >> reporter: tell me why. >> translator: with her new m

mom -- don lemon, cnn, lviv, ukraine. >> still to come right here on the show. hollywood superstar will smith says sorry for his oscar slap. is that enough to put the incident behind him? we'll have that story for you next.

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are your vows gonna make me cry? yes! babe. (chuckles) look at that! another write off. that's a foul! what kind of call is that!? definitely “not” watching basketball. not us. i wouldn't do that. allies for former u.s. president donald trump keep stalling and refuse to testimony. the committee is suggesting they charge two with contempt of

court. they will be the third and fourth extrump aides to face charges as opposed to the 750 people who have cooperated. >> this committee is doing its job. the department of justice needs to do theirs. >> the department of justice has a duty to act on this referral and others we have sent. >> meanwhile, sources tell cnn the committee will seek an interview with ginni thomas after her back channel communication before and after the riot became public. the she had urged the trump white house to find ways to overturn the election. trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, is said to show up before the committee and give voluntary testimony. the academy awards show drew

a large audience. the show drew an average 15.3 million viewers for abc on sunday. that's a 56% increase from last year's show which brought in just under 10 million 1r50u viewers, all-time low. it's not sure if there was a surge in viewership after smith slapped chris rock. he called his behavior, quote, unacceptable as well as inexcusable. he also wrote i would like to publicly apologize to you, chris. i was out of line, i am embarrassed and i was wrong. there is no place for violence in the world of love and kindness, he wrote. this apology is not the end of the saga for smith. the motion picture academy says it is launching a formal review into his conduct. cnn's stephanie elam has the story for you.

>> reporter: a slap to the jaw that had jaws dropping all around the world and the academy condemning will smith today announcing a formal review for formal reaction and consequences after he confronted chris rock on stage. >> gi jane 2, i can't. >> watch jada pinken smith's face. their mood changes as the joke sinks in. >> wow. will smith just smacked -- -- >> wow, dude. >> yeah. >> it was a gi jane joke. >> the doll by theater crowd stunned. denzel washington stepped in to counsel smith as shawn combs called for calm. >> we're going to solve that

like family. >> a reference to the head shaven character from 1997's gi jane. over the years though she has spoken publicly about her struggles with alopecia. it causes hair loss. it's unclear if he knew this when he made the comment on stage. when smith won best actor later in the night, the world waited to hear what he would say. >> i want to apologize to the academy. i want to apologize to all of my fellow nominees. art imitates life. i look like the crazy father, that's what they said. >> obviously missing from his apologies, chris rock. >> it dates back to the mid 90s. >> when rock appeared on the fresh prince of bel air but it was in 2015 that he took aim at the smiths for them djokovicing

that she wasn't invited anyway and poking fun at the size of smith's paycheck for wild wild west. it's unclear if any of that fed into the oscar's fiasco. smith later joining the party circuit with oscar in hand dancing to one of his own songs. stephanie elam, cnn, hollywood. >> three people were killed in a massive multi-vehicle pileup on a major interstate in pennsylvania. video captured the terrifying minutes. and multiple vehicles seen there crashing into each other even as some drivers scrambled away from their cars to safety. an official says about 20 people were transported to hospital. at least 40 people were involved. drone video shows the aftermath of monday's devastating crash.

all lanes of interstate 81 in that area were closed following the collision. another severe weather pattern is threatening to slam parts of the u.s. that are still covering from the major tornadoes. pedram javaheri has the response. >> we have another day of severe weather across the area here. over the next 24 or so hours the energy begins shifting to the east and impacting some of the areas we saw severe weather in last week. that's the risk moving forward from tuesday into wednesday, upwards of 20 plus million americans from des moines, north of austin where the highest risk for at least straight line winds. some large hail possible here. when you get to the red territory, it's a level 4 in wednesday afternoon's forecast. on a scale of one to five, potential for several strong

tornadoes. that would be an ef-2 or greater. a lot of the areas are similar to the areas we saw last week with the ef-3 tornado. so we'll watch this carefully and watch for the significant amount of rainfall in store going in for the latter half of the week. excessive rainfall is widespread across the landscape. mild days, very cold days and rebounding again over the next several days. high temps, very cold. look at the maximum high temps on monday. la guard yeah, bridgeport, central park. warming trend in store. we see the temps tied at 76. isa? >> thank you very much, pedram. now royal gathering here in london today. maybe queen elizabeth's first

public event in months. the latest on the memorial to prince philip coming up next with anna a stewart.

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london met police are referring 25 to the met gate scandal. a series of parties were held at downing street. cnn is reaching out to downing street. they have not named any of the persons and we'll have that story here. the world will be watching to see if brittain's queen elizabeth will be attending a memorial service for her late husband, prince philip. she had a confirmed case of covid last month. for more on this let's bring in cnn's anna stewart in london. anna, this will no doubt be an emotional service for the queen we haven't seen in six months or so? >> reporter: yes. i think this will be an emotional day for the queen. this is where she married prince

philip over 70 years ago. i think the service we see today will be the service they would have liked to have had for his fun lals year but couldn't as a result of the pandemic. we won't forget that stark image as she sat in a pew by herself in a chapel with less than 35 people i think it was and no singing. today will be different. we'll see hundreds of people arriving to westminster abby. people from overseas, friends, hundreds of people that represent all the charities and organizations that prince philip was a patron of. we will see the entry route here and the duke of edinboro and today very much a testament to prince philip's life, his life of public commitment and we are, we are told, expecting to see her majesty, the queen, on hand.

that was slightly in doubt. she had to cancel a number of events before this largely because of mobility issues and she had covid-19 last month. she's often seen using a walking stick. a great opportunity to celebrate the life of prince philip. >> and the day, of course, anna, the service he really wanted. anna stewart for us. thank you very much. good to see you. that does it for me on the show. i'm isa soares in london. breaking news coverage from ukraine continues next on "early start." you are watching cnn.

welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i'm christine romans in new york. >> i'm laura jarrett. a lot to get to this morning. we have john berman live on the ground in lviv, ukraine. good morning. >> good morning to both of you. this morning russian forces seem to be largely stalled in several parts of ukraine, including around chernaiv, mikolaiv and they say