country is now in bad time. houses are broken now. >> when you're drawing, does it make dwrou you feel calmer? >> yes, about life. >> reporter: an entire g generation of children desperately trying to cling to their lives before war. i think what was so hard to see was that each of these children was trying to make sense of something that we can't make sense of as adults. an unprovoked war, a brutal, brutal invision of their country. they don't know if they will go home. they don't know if their homes still stand. they left behind their pets. but they also understand that their lives are forever changed. >> imagine like that boy told you waking up hoping for peace and that the soldiers will protect him. that was lovely. you keep showing us such an important side of life here in ukraine.

thank you so much. g "new day" continues right now. good morning to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. it is tuesday, march 29th, i'm john berman in western ukraine. b b backwe are talking at this moment. discussions in istanbul. this is the first time they met in weeks. no one should be overly optimistic. but there does seem to be more ceremony surrounding the talks today. we are watching them very cl closely. that as the reen lentless russian attacks intensify in some places. just before we came on air this morning, i was taking an interview with the my yoayor northeast of kyiv. you can hear an explosion nearby.

the mayor hardly flinched. that is life in ukraine. and you will hear from the mayor in just a moment. this just into cnn, russian forces hitting a regional state administration building. look at these pictures. destroying just half of it. it looks like there's a hole right in the middle of the building. most employees were able to get out, but rescuers are locking for eight civilians and three military personnel who may be under the rubble still. the mayor of kyiv tells cnn the shelling of the capital has been relentless. still russian forces a appear to be largely stalled in several parts of the country. that's target a senior u.s. defense official. and mariupol ukraine officials say 90% of the residential buildings in the city have been damaged or destroyed. 160,000 people still trapped there.

ukraine's president says that russian troops control all the evacuation routes out of of the city. in western ukraine, the russian bombed another fuel depot setting off a raging fire. they have now targeted fuel depots in several locations around the country in recent days. >> president biden is refusing to walk back his off the cuffen comment that vladimir putin cannot remain in power. he's offering no apologies. >> nobody believes we're going to take down putin. nobody believes that. the last thing i want to do is engage in a land war or nuclear war with russia. that's not part of it. i was expressing my outrage at the behavior of this man. it's outrageous. >> reaction from the kremlin was swift. a spokes mantling pbs biden'sen comments were quite alarming and a personal insult.

we're joined by senior international correspondent arwa damon in istanbul, what can you tell us about the expectations for today? >> reporter: on the one hand, there aren't necessarily these massive expectations in the sense that something would be signed that would perhaps be a long-term peace deal, put that being said, it's worth noting that what we have been hearing up until this point is that beth sidesen continue to reach what is being best described as a middle ground. in fact, turkish president did address both delegations prior to today's round of negotiations. and among the comments that he made was also one that spoke about how there was sufficient framework for concrete moves to be made forward. what does that actually mean?

that ween don't know. these are secretive gerkss happening behind closed doors. based on the schedule that we saw, it looks like it's intense negotiations and you are for half an hour to an hour and thn a break and they start again. we know and have been reporting that the ukrainian side is right now saying that they are willing to have this discussion about ukraine being a non-nuclear mutual state. it takes ukraine joining nato off the table. that is one of russia's key demands. poshlly very big ones. they might get tabled for later. and that is the issue of crimea in 214 and the fate of theton bass region. what ukraine has also said it's not willing to bargain or barter when it comes to the lives of its civilians, its sovereignty

or its territorial integrity. what a lot of people are actually and this is perhaps more realistically had optimistic about is issue of humanitarian corridors. we have been hearing from the ground about how vital those are. creating multiple secure avenues and spaces for people to safely evacuation. up until now, a lot of these humanitarian corridors have not been safe. people even though they believe they are able to take them to try to get to some sort of security have not been able to do so. then you have these growing unfolding humanitarian crises in a number of areas inside ukraine under siege. that also needs to be addressed. people need basic necessities and need to be able to be safe. >> especially in mariupol where 90% of the civilian buildings are bombed.

arwa damon, thank you. the pentagon press secretary is going to be joining us shortly. >> we have breaking news. we just showed you devastating pictures from the city in southern ukraine. half of the build ing just destroyed by a relentless russian air attack. we just got word that three people were killed in that attack. three people have been killed. 18 more pulled from the rubble injured. now in the hospital. so the attack on that building deadly. we'll have more as information comes in. in the meantime, 90 miles northeast of kyiv has seen relentless shepping since the war began, since russia invaded this country. we have this visit yoeft

extensive damage to the city. the mayor of the city was driving down the roads. had joined me early ier today. here's that conversation. >> mr. may yorks i see where you're standing and it's just destroyed. tell me what's happened to your city. >> translator: our city has been under attack from shells and airstrikes for more than a month. where i'm standing now, this is the site where a cruise missile has struck. the direction of this missile was from belarus. it came from belarus. we know this because the location is such that it couldn't have come anywhere else. this is the site of the cinema. and so we can say with confidence that the russian army is waging this war not against

the armed forces of ukraine, but against civilians. they are striking against civilians and they have been under sustained attack from morter shells and from airstrikes. the morters are striking from a long distance. and the shells are 120 millimeters. so we can say these are not high p precision. they are striking on civilian neighborhoods. we have enough proof so we can say that this is fascism and genocide. in the last three week, we lost 350 people. the vast majority are civilians. yesterday overnight, we had an attack on our residential neighborhood and we have

currently two hospitals, which are full of casualties. we have had 400 people in hospital now. and over the last day, 30 people went into hospital. that's the intensity of the attacks. and the vast majority of these are civilians. >> how many people are left living in the city? and how many people total have been killed? sgltsds. >> translator: sgltsz we had 290,000 people live hearing. now there are only about 110,000 left. the total number of people who died of these attacks, we estimate this at about 350 or somewhere between 300 and 400. we don't have exact figures the reason is because we can only account people who died in hospital.

but a lot of people toy as soon as the bomb strikes. so there's an explosion and the people are gone. we cannot identify them. we cannot state legally that they are dead. they are not counted either among the living or among the dead. and also people who get into p mortuaries, they are counted by the armed forces. so we estimate an approximate number of between 300 and 400, but it isn't really possible to tell you exactly how many people tied. >> do you have enough food? how long can you hold out? >> translator: we will definitely survive. we will hold on for as long as necessary until our victory. we will definitely survive and we shall not surrender. we will push the occupiers away. >> what was that?

>> translator: you have just heard an explosion. that means something has flown in to attack us. you can give this recording to your military and they will had tail light you this is not our explosion. this isn't us striking something. this is something that has come from the enemy side. >> mr. mayor, are you safe right now? >> translator: absolutely nowhere is safe in the city now because the city is under attack from the enemy and the enemy is striking everywhere. absolutely everywhere, this is not precision strikes. these are blanket fire. it is deliberately aimed all the the civilian population. they are exterminating civilians. >> i met a 15-year-old boy who was forced from his home yesterday at gunpoint. go ahead. >> translator: i'm sorry.

i can give you an example recently. a shell struck a line for bread. it was a bread line. people standing in line to buy bread and 14 people died immediately and 18 people were injured. >> mr. mayor, thank you for joining us. we hope help gets to your city soon. please stay as safe as you can. thank you. >> thank you. bye. that's the mayor. our thanks to him. so the breaking news this morning, ukraine claims that russian forces are withdrawing from the areas around two c cities. that city you were looking at didn't sound like they were withdrawing. the press saecretary will join s next. plus my exclusive discussion with a ukrainian soldier injured in the fight to defend his country.

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breaking news. we're getting word from istanbul that this round of discussions between ukrainian and russian officials has wrapped up, we are told. we are expecting a statement from president szelenskyy withi the next few minutes. we'll get a read out of what was discussed and if there was any progress. in the meantime, breaking just a few minutes ago, the general staff of the armed forces of ukraine claims that certain units of russia's military are withdrawing from the battle fronts around kyiv and from the northern city where we just spoke to the mayor and heard a bomb go off. joining me now is pentagon spokesman john kirby. thank you so much for being with

us. the ukrainians say that some troops are withdrawing. russian troops from the capital. what evidence are you seeing? >> we haven't seen anything to corroborate that. what we have seen and this is obviously some breaking news here. we're not able to independently verify any withdrawal. however, we have seenover the last few days that the russians stopped advancing on kyiv. they were trying to encircumsencircle it and couldn't do it. they got pushed back and dug in defensive positions to the north and northwest of kyiv. so not seeing a withdrawal. can't verify that. but what we have seen is they have stopped trying to advance on kyiv. >> one other bit of news. the russian defense minister put out a statement which seemed to be in line with what we heard last week. the first phase, he claims, of the russian operation is over.

now their focus will be on the east and the donbas region. my question to you, have you seen any evidence or what evidence have you seen of the russians refocusing their efforts? >> the russian general is being generous in terms of their ability to phase military operations. they were clearly not ready and not prepared and not able to take kyiv. they dug in defensively, starpted to experience counterattacks by the ukrainians and began to reassess whether they can move on kyiv. he call it is a phase. i think they were really surprised by the resistance they got from the ukrainians that way. we have seen indications that they are trying to reprioritize on the east donbas area of ukraine, which as you know they have been fighting over for eight years. ukraines have been in a hot war for a long time. there's a couple things up to that. they maybe trying to cut off ukrainian armed forces and pin them down so they can't come to the aid of their colleagues in the south or further away in the

west. it could also be a negotiating tactic. it could be that mr. putin wants to have some sort of success, some sort of ground taken so that we sit down at the table that he has some kind of leverage. we don't know how these talks went. or it could just be that he's now decide d that his larger goals clearly have failed and so maybe the donbas is an area where he can maybe achieve some success. i would tell you that we continue to see the ukrainians fight just as hard in the east. it's not a fore gone conclusion. they are fighting very hard. they are not willing to see an inch of their territory on the ground. that's for sure. >> so the white house yesterday clarified something that the president said earlier. in doing so, they said that u.s. forces are interacting regular ly with ukrainian soldiers in poland. what exactly does that mean, interacting how?

>> i think this probably refers to the manner in which we are helping provide material and assistance in getting that into ukraine. as you know, we had trainers on the ground and we had to move them outside of ukraine as the invasion looked like it was going to be eminent. we had some florida national guard not far from where you are and we had to move them outside the country. so there's no active training right now, but there's probably some interactions in terms of the shipments of material and assistance. >> so no active training in poland? >> our troops are training in poland. absolutely. >> training ukraines? >> the interactions are more around the transshipment of materials. there'ser interactions. >> have the russians been able to disrupt the supply lines?

have they been able to disrupt any of the supplies once they have come into ukraine as they move particularly through the western part of the country? >> we have not seen any interruptions, any attacks on the ground routes by which this security assistance is getting into ukraine. but you can understand we're monitoring that very closely. we're varying the routes as needed. we're being very careful on operational security so this material can continue to get in. the russians have a lot on their plate right now. as we said, they are dug in around kyiv and maybe even moving in the opposite direction. we don't know. certainly, they have a reprioritization in the east and they have stalled in the south. that's really interesting because in the early days, that's where they were making the most progress. now the ukrainians are clawing back territory in the south as well. they got their hands full on a lot of things. we're watching that closely because we the to make sure that this security assistance, these weapons and systems continue to get into the ukrainians' hands

so they can use them on the battlefield. secretary austin had a chance to discuss this with his counterpart last week in europe. pz and the minister of defense as assured the secretary they are grateful for the stuff they are getting and they are using it. >> we continue to see suffering in mair riupol and obviously th human toll is profound. what is the strategic value to the russians if that city falls into their hands? >> so it's difficult to know exactly what's in the russian mind, but if you look at a map, you can see how mariupol would be important to what they are trying to do. it secures land access between the donbas, the eastern part of the country and crimea. you kind of have to go through mariupol for that. it would allow them if their intention is to fix ukrainian armed forces in the east part of

the country and prevent their leafing, if you were able to come up from the noort and come down from a that town which they have move past, you can see where a pincher movement might be of value. and clearly, if you take the russian claim at face value that they want to reprioritize on the donbas region, mariupol sits at the south part so you can see where it would be important to them. you said it really well. the ukrainians are fighting hard to keep mariupol from fall ing. they are very bravely in the fight. and it's quite inkribl. with all the force and power that the russians have put on mariupol, they have not been able to take it yet. >> you have expressed to me and others concern over the last few weeks of russians considering or perhaps using chemical or nuclear weapons here. have you heard anything in the last few days sch provides information that this is

something they would be considering? >> no, sir, we haven't seen any indications that they are preparing to use chemical or biological weapons. we're watch ing this. you might imagine we're watching it closely, monitoring it the bst we can. there's no indications at this time they are preparing to use weapons of mass destruction inside of ukraine. you have heard the president talk about this. that certainly would force a response by not only the united states, but by the international community. >> john kirby, i appreciate you calling me, sir, but i have no rank but i appreciate it nonetheless. thank you so much. >> yes, sir. thank you. >> coming up, why senator mitt romney is warning nato about a 2024 donald trump presidency. and amateur radio enthusiasts tuning into conversations by russian troops being held over unsecure lines. we'll play for you what they picked up. jersey mikes subs day of giving this wednesday march 30th. where 100% of all sales will be donated to the

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in an exclusive interview with john kasich on cnn plus, senator mitt romney warns that a second donald trump presidency would cause nato nations to rethink their own national security. let's listen. >> do you think that the former president donald trump perm nntly tajed nato? >> i think what happened with nato is they have said can we rely on the u.s. and is this america first idea which is the president saying to everybody, go off and do your own thing. that approach is one that frightens other members of nato and they wonder are we committed to nato and our mutual defense, or are we going to go off on our own? so they wonder. >> are they going to get over that? >> they wonder whether we're

going to return to the policies we have had for the last 70 years or we're going to take the term that donald trump represented. if he were to come back as president, it would represent a pretty dramatic departure for rt world and they would rethink on whether they can count on the united states. >> so you think that the 2024 election will decide this question? >> i think if president trump were to return as president, the nations of the world would say they have to really rethink their own national security and the extent to which they want to be in line with us and be alied with someone else. you saw that happen during the time president trump was there. i have had conversations with leaders of other nations now, members of nato, and they raise this question. we're happy to see you committed to our mutual defense, but we don't know whether you're just committed short-term or whether this is a long-term and permanent commitment.

i think it's long-term and permanent. >> joining us now is the host of "the source" with kasey hunt. congrats. it's a very big day for cnn and for you and for show. this is a great interview you're share ing with us. it really sounds like senator romney thinks that the damage is already done, but more damage can be done. >> thanks, it's a real honor to be part of such a major launch for cnn. broadly, it's a really important thing for the entire company. very excited about the show as well. the conversation with mitt romney was so interesting because he essentially brought up the idea that trump could win reelection and that would have international consequences unprompted. i was asking him about what happened in the past. he took it straight to what could happen in the future. and i think that really tells you a lot. especial as we're looking at the new way in which the world is

operating in the wake of vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. you have seen the europeans, frank ly, stand up and take charge of their own defense in a way that surprised even many observers. the way that germany raised their spending on their own defense, the way that european union nations responded to president zelenskyy's pleas that they were willing to go as far as they did with sanctions. they had u.s. leadership and president biden has been working the phones and try ing to get al those people on board, but i thought it was very interesting he would say to me and to the world that senator romney would say, you know what, they are still concerned this wasn't an aberration. that president trump's presidency was the future direction of the united states of america and they still have these questions about the u.s. commitment. and he seemed to be telling me that the only way nato is going to feel secure in u.s. leadership and feel like they can count on us if it's clear

that president trump is not coming back. and that does seem to be an open question with him seeming to be the front run arer for the republican nomination in 2024. >> that's really interesting. because he's bringing that up unprompted. it's safe to say if there's something that keeps senator romney up at night, this is one of those things. so what is his read on whether trump will be reelected? it sounds like he's afraid that will happen. >> certainly, that's how i took it. he's hesitant to talk about it. we talked a little bit about the possibility of the presidential race. i asked him directly if he was thinking of running considering what he says the stakes are. here he was very insistent that he is not running for president again, but i could tell this is something that weighs on his mind. what is the future of his party going to be. and he was the lone republic who voted to convict president trump in the first impeachment trial and the withholding of aid to

the ukrainians to basically blackmail them. to blackmail szelenskyy directl. so i think romney, and there are a handful of others in the republican party, but they view this kind of an issue as the most, how to put it, the most important reason why donald trump should not be put back into office. obviously, january 6 is another piece of that, but mitt romney's first floor speech was about the importance of our international alliances and our position on the world stage. it has been something he's been consistent about throughout his time in the senate. he clearly is very comfortable criticizing the former president and being on that ground, which romney is not necessarily -- he's deliberate about those kinds of choices. he doesn't do this kind of thing off the cuff. so the fact that it was so easy for him to come out and say that tells you how front of mind it is for him. >> that's what's on his mind. that's what he wants to talk about. incredibly telling. thank you so much.

it's a great interview. you can watch the full interview with mitt romney starting today. the "source" with kasie hunt streams on cnn plus and will always be available on demand. we haven't been able to hear much from ukrainian soldiers fighting on the frontlines for obvious reasons. they are too busy trying to save their nation. working around the clock. which is why we thought it was really revealing to hear from one soldier from his hospital room. listen. >> we haven't had a chance to talk to many people who were on the frontlines fighting the russians. can you just tell us what it was like? >> translator: we were deployed into the direction of mariupol. we attacked the convoys of russian vehicles that we saw in the region of mariupol.

for me as a veteran that took part in the battles of 2014, it was a bit easier compared to those who joined recently. but this war differs a lot. this time we are attacked not just by terrorists, but by russian army tanks. to be honest, it was difficult. among my so-called adventures was a defense of one village. my platoon and i were defendeding it until we ran out of ammo. we had to withdraw and part of our unit was encircled, including myself. when we broke through the encirclement, i thought we would get some rest, but we had to fight the enemy. then i got injured. >> how were you injured? >> translator: we set our fighting position in the ruins of a house. in some houses there were civilians. we tried to evacuate them, but they wrefused to leave their home. despite the danger.

they were afraid to leave their homes. they were saying that they are already old have and have nothing to lose. they didn't want to go anywhere, but they were just civilian who is had no protection from aviation and artillery. so we hid inside the house and were shooting at the enemy's infran fan try. then two tanks approached and started destroying buildings on that street. one of the rounds hit our house. our medic and i ended up under a pile of bricks. i felt pain in my shoulder, but my arms were working and there was no blood. so i decided i just got a bruise and continued fighting from other positions. i was helping other injured to get to the evacuation point. i continued for several hours, more or less. i can't tell exact timing because the feel ing of time feels slow during moments like this. later, i got confused. i passed out after some time. and then i woke up at the evacuation point.

>> when recover, will you rejoin the fight? >> translator: yes, undoubtedly. i serve in naval infantry. this is my duty. >> again, a unique perspective that's been hard for us to get what the fight is like right on the frontlines. we have brand new recordings of russian troop communications easily accessed because those troops are talking over unsecure devices. the new reporting, ahead. plus more on the breaking news. half of an administrative building demolished this morning. three people there killed. our special live coverage continues, right after this.

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in ukraine are relying on unsecured communication devices like smart phones and push to talk radios. this has allowed radio enthusiasts to tap into conversations that reveal troop frustrations. listen to this. joining me now is "washington post" intelligence and national security reporter shane harris. shane, how is this happening? what's going on here? >> to put it mildly had, there seems to be a pretty remarkable breaktown in discipline among these troops, who are not exercising the kind of secure practices you would expect for a military run ning an invasion. we have seen a number of potential causes for this. one being frankly that the russians didn't expect to be in ukraine this long and to be fighting such a ferocious resistance. they expected to come in in a

matter of days and take over the country. thousand they find themselves spread out having to coordinate sophisticated military strikes against an ened a investigator tear. i don't think they prepared to be there that long and the kinds of systems that they brought with them are not really what you need for that kind of long-term fight. >> is this just a case of russian ineptitude, or is this something that ukrainians are doing to sort of facilitate that? >> there's both. we have had a couple reports from our sources, one instance, or multiple instances actually, russian troops stealing the cell phones of local people after their own fonts were confiscated by the commanders. and then those local citizens report to officials that their phones were stolen and the ukrainians then know which phones to monitor for those communications. so that's been pronounced in some areas. and certainly, we have also seen nato giving technology to

ukrainian forces that allows them to interfere with russian signals, which can then force those russian forces to use more less secure devices. it's been a mixture of factors on top of that pretty undies disciplined behavior. >> you'd think this is the easy stuff. easy, but so crucial and something that's hampered their advances. check out shane's reporting in the "washington post." really appreciate you being with us. >> thank you. new insight into the rise of russian president vladimir putin. the great granddaughter sat down with sara snid zider in. >> if confirms every single thing they have said, the west is out to get him. they destroy russia. it always.

s regime change. biden has been insulting him for quite some time. so for putin's propaganda, it works quite well. on all tv channels or the kremlin connected tv channels, it is what they are going doink. they can't control themselves. they are there because everybody is out to get russia. we are at war against the world. >> you're saying -- >> joining me is the host of big picture on cnn plus, now online which launches today, congratulations. it's a big day for you. big day for cnn. cannot wait to see the entirety of this. but i think it's so fascinating that you interviewed nina to talk about this. her great grandfather put down a revolt in ukraine so many years ago. what dother insights did she have? >> her great grandfather was also basically loved ukraine. he got in a little trouble because he loved ukraine so much. her great grandmother is from

ukraine. she talked about putin and some of his -- the way that he is, he talked about who he is. i never heard this before. but she said he had a nickname he was called and he was called the moth. i said what does that mean? she's like, he's like a moth. he's in your closet, he's very quiet. it's dark. you dpo to get your sweater out and there's a hole in it. but then when he's asked to do more, you go to get your sweater out and he's ooeten the whole thing and there's no sweater at all. he's quiet, thoughtful and he goes after things when he's asked to or when he thinks it's time. so i thought that was a really sbrst ing thought. he's calculated, but i think he may have gone too far this time. he doesn't know how to get himself out of it and still save face. the big worry here is that he is going to do something like he did, which is scorched earth, tryied to destroy a place like

kyiv, which would be unthinkable for her great grandfather because it was such an important place for russian history. he says putin is trying to create his own kind of russia. not the ssr, but his own version to look she there some incredible insights on who he is and how he is viewing this. and she did say that when listening to biden's comments, that he will use that to his advantage, he can tell the public because they shut down so many ways for people to try and talk about things and learn about information outside of russia, he is going to use that use that to his advantage, using that as and i told you so, the west is out to get us. >> i think nina and some others were surprised by how widespread this invasion has been and so in a way it is sort of to her point of eating the entire sweater, you're seeing it isn't just always putin doing what he did

before, this is on an incredible scale that sideswiped so many people's expectations here. sara, can you talk about your personal experience at the border? >> yeah. it was devastating to see just the number of women and children. you know, oftentimes, and that's me there at the border with poland, just on the other side. if you look behind me, you can see the lights and the people standing in line, and it was the number of women and children who you would see. at first just in cars and then suddenly they kind of opened the border up and you saw them coming over, walking with one bag. some of them told us they had to leave their other things behind because it became too heavy and the lines were too long and they just couldn't carry them. they're carrying children, they're carrying their dogs, they're carrying one bag and their kids have like one little backpack. and it was frigid, terribly, terribly cold, we're talking about zero degrees or lower temperatures. and to watch them and wonder

where they're going, each one of them when i said where are you going, what is your plan, everyone was resourceful, they had some semblance of a plan, but they never knew how long they could stay somewhere, if the person was going to do come pick them up, many of them were trying to figure out where their next move was and here they are, with their children with them, as they're trying to figure this all out. and the one last thing that will really stay with me forever is the silence of the children. they were so quiet, and, you know kids, normally, hot, cold, uncomfortable, walking a long way, it was the stunned silence of the children that really, really got to me and bothered me because it shows that they have gone through so much trauma that they weren't even able to be kids at that moment. >> just the uncertainty of the moment, the uncertainty of their futures too, for their parents. sara, thank you so much. and, of course, we're looking forward to "the big picture," which is going to stream each week day at 9:00 a.m. eastern on cnn plus and it will always be

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there has been an alarming rise in asian-american hate crimes in several major cities. recent high profile incidents have asian-american women in particular living in fear. what makes them feel so vulnerable? cnn's amara walker is joining us with more. >> reporter: three asian-american women living and working in new york city. three friends who are unwittingly bonded by their encounters with hate. >> when you're being attacked like that, it feels so lonely. and it feels like if people don't do anything, that they're

agreeing with it. >> reporter: amanda says she's been verbally harassed several times by complete strangers since the start of the pandemic. each time she's relived the trauma of when she was followed by a man yelling racial obscenities at her. >> he kept following me for a whole block. this man, he came up next to me was, like, do not worry. i'm right here with you. i'm going to walk you straight there. and i couldn't thank him in the moment. but i'm so grateful he was there. >> i was thinking about, like, yeah, so many times it has happened to me this past year. >> reporter: there is empathy amongst these women because they know what it is like to feel dehumanized, to be targeted as asian-american women. >> it is the stereotypes around asian women that make us more likely to be hunted, right? we're supposed to be submissive, we're obedient and there is, like, hypersexualization around

us as well. >> she started aggressively walking toward me. >> reporter: ann kim says last march she was leaving her friend's apartment in manhattan's upper west side when she was accosted and forced to seek safety in the building's lobby. >> even having your mask on or other clothing on, i was targeted, a woman came towards me saying you asian -- i'll [ bleep ] kill you, i'll chop your head off, and she kept saying it as she started approaching me. >> reporter: carolyn kang, an actress and activist, wrote about her encounters on social media. she says a stranger screamed at her on the subway in 2020, blaming her for the pandemic. then three months ago, this happened. >> i was walking in brooklyn, and suddenly as i was walking past these two men one of them punched me, they started screaming at me, made up asian words. >> reporter: all of these attacks were unprovoked, these women say, just like the others that made headlines in the past

year. a 67-year-old asian woman in yonkers, new york, beaten and punched more than 125 times. the suspect allegedly called her an asian -- michelle pushed to her death in front of an oncoming subway train in times square by a man who is reportedly mentally ill. six asian-american women killed in a spa shooting spree in atlanta. not all have been deemed hate crimes, but with major cities like new york and san francisco reporting a steep rise in anti-asian hate crimes, asian-americans are living in fear, especially asian-american women. according to stop aapi hate, a coalition that tracks incidents against asian-americans and pacific islanders, nearly two-thirds of the reports came from women, between march 2020 to december 2021. >> over 74% of the respondents said that they had experienced some kind of discrimination or harassment in the last 12 months. >> reporter: even a member of

congress, grace mang, isn't immune to the reality. >> i try not to go anywhere alone. >> reporter: why? >> i'm scared that something might happen to me, and we are equally if not more afraid of things that might happen to the most vulnerable in our community, our grandmothers, and our mothers. these are the folks that have come to this country, and sacrificed so much, and now they're being attacked and killed. >> reporter: in the meantime, carolyn avoids the subway when she can. >> i'm making sure my back is against the subway wall or standing right next to a pillar so that no one can come and push me into the tracks. >> they were luckily there to open the door for me. >> reporter: while ann remains hypervigilant. >> i have asked strangers to walk me home. >> reporter: amanda is dreading the warmer weather. >> everyone is, like, spring is

here, and i'm -- part of me is happy, part of me is so anxious to be shedding these layers and letting my features show. >> reporter: and amanda is referring to her facial features. she admitted to me that she felt safer in the winter because she was able to actively conceal her identity by wearing a mask, a hat and sunglasses and i can tell you, i want to point this out, there are so many people, asian-americans, who are watching this piece right now, who can absolutely relate to what these young ladies are going through right now. >> so important to hear what they have been through in their own words. thank you for that report. "new day" continues right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm john berman in lviv, in western ukraine. brianna keilar in washington this morning.

we do have breaking news. the talks between ukraine and russia in turkey, this fifth round of discussions, face to face, have just ended. a top russian negotiator says they were constructive, and a negotiator for ukraine says there have been enough developments to justify a meeting between volodymyr zelenskyy, the ukrainian president and vladimir putin, the russian leader. meanwhile, russia's attacks on several ukrainian cities, they are escalating this morning. just before we came on air, i was taping an interview with the mayor of chernihiv, a badly damaged city north of kyiv, when there was an explosion nearby. the mayor hardly flinched. that is life in ukraine. overnight, russian forces bombed

mykolaiv's administrative state regional building, demolishing after of it. most of the employees were able to get out. at least three people, though, have been found dead in the rubble. 18 hospitalized. the mayor of kyiv tells cnn the shelling of a capital has been relentless. still, russian forces appear to be largely stalled in several parts of ukraine. pentagon press secretary john kirby told me moments ago they have seen evidence, clear evidence, that the russian advance on kyiv has been halted. in mariupol, 90% of the residential buildings in the city have been damaged or destroyed. 160,000 people there still trapped. and ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy says russian troops control all the evacuation routes. brianna? >> in the meantime, president biden is refusing to walk back that off the cuff comment he made that vladimir putin cannot remain in power. and he's offering no apologies. >> nobody believes we're going

to take down -- i was talking about taking down putin. nobody believes that. the last thing i want to do is engage in a land war or a nuclear war with russia. that's not part of it. i was expressing my outrage at the behavior of this man, it is outrageous, it is outrageous. >> a putin spokesman calls biden's comments alarming and says they are a personal insult. i'm joined now by cnn senior international correspondent arwa damon, who is live for us from instan b istanbul, where the talks are going on between ukrainian and russian representatives. how is it going there, arwa? >> reporter: well, it is actually a bit tough to tell because, brianna, the talks ended in person. but our understanding is that they will be continuing on line. as you were mentioning there, the russians have said that they were constructive, the ukrainians have said that it could potentially be the point where the leaders of both countries could be meeting, but that being said, no agreement

has yet been reached. we also do understand that a lot of the discussions have been centering around some sort of a humanitarian cease-fire to allow for more humanitarian corridors to open up, especially ones that would hopefully at least be more secure than the ones in the past have been. we also do understand that the ukrainians have begun discussions at a medium level, let's say, with potential guarantor countries. what is all this about? ukraine wants certain countries, eight of them, to guarantee ukraine's security should any sort of agreement move forward, especially since as we have been reporting ukraine has been open to discussions about it becoming a nonnuclear neutral state. but ukraine is very reluctant to do that without these security guarantees that would be upheld

by these guarantor countries. that is potentially going to be very tricky moving forward, but at this stage it does seem as if both sides are maintaining something of an optimistic tone, keeping in mind, of course, that this is all relative, although no clear firm agreement at this stage has yet been reached. >> all right, arwa, sounds like maybe they're dealing with some of the immediate concerns, corridors would be amazing if they could work that out, longer term concerns going to take a while. arwa damon in istanbul, thank you. joining us now is sergi lashenko, a former member of ukraine's parliament. thank you for being with us. you're the first government official we have had a chance to speak with since these discussions in istanbul wrapped up. can you give us any update on the status? >> you know, it is difficult to say more than people who are

present on the ground talking about this. but for sure the main topics now of negotiation are still the same. ukraine is looking for guarantees of our independence and initial security and permanent members of u.n. security council have to be present -- some countries around ukraine, maybe italy, maybe canada. canada is not close to us, but they -- also would like them on the list of guarantors. if they have security measures, which ukraine can have, being neutral state, but difficult for nato, so guarantors would support ukraine, to defend ukraine in case of any aggression against ukraine. that is why this topic is very sensitive and there is -- it is

also very important to understand that ukraine was number three country in the world with nuclear weapons. we signed a memorandum in 1994, over 30 years ago, and this memorandum was considered by ukraine as a guarantee. and when war started in 2014, no real support ukraine got from the guarantors. that's why new document has to have real measures in secure and safety and independence of ukraine. we need proper document with proper measures by guarantors. >> sergi, we did get some information just in. it is a claim from moscow, an official claim, they say they will drastically reduce military activity on two fronts, the fronts in kyiv and chernihiv, this is according to the russian military of defense in a telegram channel, i wonder what your reaction is to that.

>> of course, we need the de-escalation and cease-fire. we need humanitarian corridors. we need to stop the brutal bloody war as soon as possible. to continue negotiation in a healthy environment, with less bloodshed on the ground. what is going on at the same time today, regional administration of mykolaiv was attacked, people died, so this has to be not just a statement, but real measures taken by russia. what is also important that these measures can be resolved, very active, contrunterattack o ukrainian army, which is very successful. let's say it was -- before, but yesterday president personally confirmed that one of the towns around kyiv called irpin is liberated from russian aggressors. crucial point for russia because

it is very close to kyiv and it can be considered like a temporary base, but that is why after liberation of irpin, such attack on kyiv is much less possible. that is why they have less and less ability to attack kyiv because ukrainian army is brave and effective to defend capital of ukraine. so we support any measures taken for cease-fire, any measures taken to stop this war. at the same time, this has to be taken not only in kyiv, cher chernihiv, the regional center, it is a shame because chernihiv is one of the oldest cities in ukraine, very beautiful landscape and very beautiful sites, churches from 1918, one of our heritage is destroyed

now. cannot imagine. almost like mariupol. so this measure has to be taken not only about chernihiv and kyiv and also this has to be taken about donbas cities, about kherson, about melitopol, about izyum, all the citizens under strong pressure of russian army and ukraine defended ourself, by the way, being not neighbor of nato and having modest support from our partners in sense of weapons supplements. we expected much more weapons to be brought into ukraine when war started. but we very much appreciate all support. >> sergii, would ukraine ever accept a cease-fire with russian troops still on ukrainian land? >> cease-fire is just one step. one step toward peaceful

agreement with guarantors. and because russia is not guarantor, there has to be proper guarantors including what mentioned, members of security council of ukraine and some countries which are ready to provide security and so on. and cease-fire is just only one step. after cease-fire has to be taking measures for let's say immediately start negotiations on the presidential level. president zelenskyy called putin many times. these open negotiations, president zelenskyy believes this is not negotiation can be taken by mediators. has to be negotiation when all claims directly to each other. and i believe this negotiation has to start as soon as possible after cease-fire, and after

cease-fire and negotiation we can discuss about withdraw of russian tanks in our territory. by the way, they have to -- for soldiers, killed, died in ukrainian territory. also issue. this horrible topic but a lot of lo bodies of russian soldiers just lay on our ground, with horrible smell, with horrible conditions, if you heard president say dogs eating them, the bodies, it is horrible, but it is true. and russia does not take measures to stop it, to prevent it, to take bodies of their soldiers back home. it is 20th century, going on in the middle of europe. it is in the interest of the withhold whole of russia to -- and take back home in russia and --

>> sergii, i appreciate your time this morning. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> all right, much more on what could be an important development, russia claims it will reduce military activity in two key ukrainian cities. what is behind this? even so, the bombing does continue. ukraine says the russians have hit a government building in one city, three people reportedly killed there. the new video ahead. and back in the united states, brand-new reporting from "the washington post," on a seven-hour gap in president trump's phone logs on the day of the january 6th insurrection. the house select committee is now investigating. i'd like to invite you to jersey mikes subs day of giving this wednesday march 30th. where 100% of all sales will be donated to the 2022 special olympics usa games. it happens every four years where special athletes come togetherer to compete.

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it's an opportunity for all of us to be part of helping these athletes raise up to their very best levels. so please, join us wednesday march 30th and make a difference. all right, i'm john berman live in lviv, in western ukraine. so, russia just moments ago claimed that it will reduce military activity in two of the key cities that have been under heavy bombardment, kyiv, the capital, but also chernihiv, which has been encircled and in some ways devastated. the u.s. military confirms that russian troops appear -- the ukrainians -- well, i just spoke with pentagon press spokesman john kirby, who does say there is evidence that the russians

have stopped advancing on kyiv. listen to this. >> we're not able to independently verify any withdrawal, however, we have seen over the last few days that the russians stopped advancing on kyiv. they certainly were trying to encircle it, couldn't do it, got pushed back to the east by 55 kilometers by the ukrainians and then dug in in defensive positions to the north and northwest of kyiv. so not seeing a withdraw, certainly can't verify that, what we have seen over the last couple of days is they have stop tried to advance on kyiv. the russians have a lot on their plate right now. they are, as we said, dug in around kyiv, and maybe even moving in the opposite direction there. we don't know. certainly they got a reprioritization in the east and they have stalled in the south. that's interesting because in the early days, that's where they were making the most progress. now the ukrainians are clawing back territory in the south as well. so they got their hands full on a lot of things, we're watching that very, very closely because

we want to make sure this security assistance, these weapons and systems continue to get into the ukrainians' hands so that they can use them on the battlefield. secretary austin had a chance to meet and discuss this with his counterpart last week, when we were -- and minister reznikov assured the secretary they're grateful for the stuff they're getting and they are actually using it. >> joining us now to talk about this, we have the former ambassador to ukraine, william taylor, and julia ioffe, founding partner for "puck ." this just in, let's try to figure out what we can about this. we heard from kirby, he said evidence that russian troops stopped advancing on kyiv. the russian ministry of defense put out a telegram they're going to reduce military activity in chernihiv and certain units are withdrawing from battle fronts in kyiv and chernihiv. what is going on here? >> what we know is the russians had a really hard time.

that is the ukrainians have done very well. ukrainian military has outperformed any expectations and as admiral kirby said, they pushed back, they counterattacked and pushed the russians away from kyiv. so that is a very good sign. and if the russians are now saying that they're going to reduce their activity around these two cities, chernihiv and kyiv, that's a good signal. we will believe it when that actually happens. >> what do you think? >> well, we're seeing evidence of this on the -- some evidence of this on the ground yesterday. we heard that the ukrainian army pushed russians out of irpin, i believe, and like the ambassador said, they outperformed in the same way that the russians have underperformed. everybody expected this to be a blitzkrieg, we now know that the russian soldiers brought dress uniforms with them for military parade. they thought they would be blazing a path right to kyiv in the first few days.

and it has been over a month now, they're stuck. and they can barely hold on to what they have. they're meeting fierce resistance from civilians. it is kind of incredible. >> the question i would have, in looking at chechnya as a model, is this russia maybe finally kind of pulling back, regrouping, and just going to start up this meat grinder again or is it potentially a shift away from trying to take kyiv, and perhaps it is too soon to know the answer to that. >> i agree. it is too soon to know the answer. we'll believe it when they actually pull back. but they're doing badly. they're doing badly. their military is not in good shape. they may be looking for some way to -- they already said they reduced their goals, their objectives and they're only looking at the east, they say. if they indeed pull back, and continue to pull back, and don't do the grodzny model, there is the possibility there could be a

negotiation. >> if they're looking for a way to pull back, there are talks going on now in istanbul, what are your expectations and maybe even hopes for what could come out of this? >> the hope is that they have figured out some kind of cease-fire and some kind of workable solution where they, you know, split the difference on what has been taken now. but the issue is the russians are saying, yes, we're pulling back from here, pulling back from there, they're still sending cruise missiles to lviv, in the far west of the country, and still fighting to keep the east. mariupol is devastated, chernihiv is encircled. my worry is that like you said, that this is just a temporary -- they're taking a beat before they regroup because this is still so existential to moscow. i was talking to a source in moscow yesterday, and the way they see it for moscow is they either win everything except the east and -- the west and leave this land-locked western state

or russia is going to be the world's doormat. i worry, even if they're not capable of it, i worry that they're going to just regroup and keep pushing forward. >> these negotiations, though, are talking about specific issues. and they're talking -- the ukrainians in particular are talking about security guarantees. they're willing to think about an austrian model that is in the eu, but not in nato, somewhat neutral, but they need guarantees from neighbors, and the united states, and germany, and the security council members. they need these guarantees, not just what they got in 1994 with the budapest memorandum, assurances. they need guarantees. they need in law, they need in treaty. >> they're seeing what assurances are worth. >> yeah. but it is also interesting, if they get guarantees, hypothetically speaking, right, that now does achieve the opposite of what putin ostensibly wanted. it brings nato and everything right to his doorstep because if

they do get these guarantees, they have to be right there. so he doesn't really accomplish what he set out to do. >> that's a question i have, because it isn't nato, it is not nato membership. but in a way isn't it the kind of protections that vladimir putin is opposed to fundamentally anyways? >> he would be a signatory as well. he would have to sign up to be a guarantor as well. and you're right, it is not nato, it is those guarantors, the nato member guarantors as individual nations making those guarantees. >> but let me ask you this real quick, as a signatore to protect ukraine against what? >> if anyone invades the other nations, the other guarantors will be on the ground and in the air to defend ukraine. >> they have so far to go. i think that is what is so clear about these talks, they have so much to work out. maybe they can work out something on humanitarian corridors. julia, ambassador, always great to have you both. thank you so much.

a top white house economic adviser warns russia's invasion may reinforce inflation back here in the u.s. and we have some more on this breaking news, the russian ministry of defense saying it will drastically reduce military activity on two key battle fronts. how is ukraine responding? we'll check in ahead.

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consumers around the world are paying a price for russia's invasion of ukraine. and now a white house economist says the war may worsen the already high prices in the u.s. cnn chief business correspondent christine romans joining us now with more. felt like we saw this coming, and here it is this key acknowledgement. >> that's right. until russia's invasion of ukraine, issue number one for this white house was fighting rising inflation, right? inflation running at a 40-year high and then putin's war comes in. now disrupting supply lines, gray markets and global energy supplies. cecelia rouse thinks the war in ukraine could accelerate

inflation in the near term. >> this may well put upward pressure on energy and food prices. that in turn could reinforce inflation, which was already an issue prior to the invasion due to the pandemic, supply chain constraints and a strong demand for goods. >> now, some economists are already raising their inflation targets and lowering growth forecasts because of putin's war. inflation shot up to 7.9% in february from the year before. mostly driven by big cost increases for the basic necessities. and that data, brianna, was collected before the fallout of russia's invasion could be calculated in the number. now, the u.s. economy overall, of course, important to note, quite strong. coming off the best year of growth since the reagan administration, the jobs market is humming, wages are rising, it is why the official inflation fighter, the fed, is comfortable raising interest rates to tame prices. now, ironically fighting inflation will come with a different cost for consumers, higher borrowing costs on credit cards, auto loans and mortgages and the fed is likely to keep

raising interest rates all year. if you're in loamarket for a lo now, lock in the rate. the budget blueprint came out yesterday, he has $6.9 billion in there for nato to counter russian aggression. covid lockdowns in shanghai drove oil prices down 8% yesterday, down again overnight. that could cool gas prices for consumers in the u.s. in the near future. at least that's the hope, brianna. >> certainly hope that is the case. christine romans, thank you. >> you're welcome. all right, we do have breaking news. the russians claiming they're going to reduce military activity in two key areas around the capital of kyiv and also northeast of that in chernihiv. i want to read you a full statement from the deputy defense minister, and what is notable in this is that this statement was made after the current round of negotiations

taking place between the russians and ukrainians in istanbul. so listen to this. he said, quote, due to the fact that negotiations on the preparation of an agreement on the neutrality and nonnuclear status of ukraine as well as on the provision of nuclear guarantees to ukraine are moving into practice, taking into account the principles discussed during today's meetings by the ministry of defense of the russian federation in order to increase mutual trust and create necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the ultimate goal of agreeing on the signing of the above agreement, a decision was made to radically at times reduce military activity in the kyiv and chernihiv regions. again, that statement from the russian deputy defense minister. i want to bring in democratic congressman alisa slotkin of michigan. thank you so much for being with us, congresswoman. if you can hear me, and if you heard that statement, and following this development, i want your take on that.

>> yeah. well, listen, it is positive, but when you're dealing with the russians, it is, you know, it is reagan, it is trust but verify. the number of times in the recent weeks that they have agreed to something like a humanitarian corridor, with the ukrainians and then gone ahead and bombed it, we need to actually follow up and make sure they're doing it. so it is a positive step, but they actually have to do it in order to celebrate anything. >> yeah. look, absolutely. the russians have repeatedly lied and i don't use that word lightly from before the invasion through the last six weeks as they have been striking civilians and what not all over this country. still, nevertheless, the ukrainians haven't pushed back on this notion. the ukrainians are giving the sense that more -- that some progress at least was made in these talks. i wonder what your hopes are for the next few days. >> i thought what was interesting out of the announcement, one, that the ukrainians seem right now to be

confirming the reports, but secondly there was clearly discussion of other countries, individual countries providing some security guarantees to the country of ukraine, right. looking at that list, i think they said canada or turkey or israel, just like an interesting list of countries. it is not nato, right, it is some members in nato, it is some that are not, so i think it is just an interesting development. we all knew that once putin went in and invaded like this, he completely changed security in europe, security frankly globally. and we knew there was going to be a lot of different things happening after this was finally resolved and i think we're seeing interesting data points of just a very different security architecture in that area. >> look, there is a lot of new information coming in, we're all trying to process is, i appreciate you rolling with us on this, trying to process it at the same time. you've been working on your own proposals on sanctions, and the reason i bring this up is because the ukrainian president zelenskyy, this was all before wherever we are at this moment

in the negotiations, but president zelenskyy's concerns have been that the sanctions aren't coming quickly enough. what he basically said yesterday was that my understanding is there will be more sanctions if there is a chemical weapons attack. why do i have to wait, he says, for a chemical weapons attack for more sanctions on russia? >> yeah, you know, i think there is a number of us who feel like you could have had a more steady drumbeat of sanctions just sort of ratcheting up week after week. and that when we made the decision, which i think reflects where the american people are, that we weren't going to send american sons and daughters to fight for ukraine, that we had a responsibility to use those sanctions as our muscle, and i think that we could have done more, certainly naming of oligarchs, naming of their wives and mistresses, sanctioning them, seizure of material, things that would have created the steady drumbeat. it was not the decision made by the administration but i sympathize with zelenskyy, he's trying to do everything he can and not waiting for a weapon of

mass destruction to be landing on the heads of his people. >> if there are productive talks and i use that word lightly, i don't know what that would even mean, if talks are ongoing, should sanctions or new sanctions wait while talks are ongoing? >> that's fair. i think we need to take our cues from president zelenskyy, right? he was asking for more sanctions maybe 48 hours ago. let's see what he's asking for now that there seems to be some positive movement on negotiations. you know, we need to take our cues from the head of this country that is being attacked, but i do think that we have to actually see some action from the russians before we sort of have a celebration that maybe this is the beginning of the end. >> that's a great point. just because they say they will radically reduce their troop presence around kyiv and chernihiv, doesn't happen until it happens and john kirby at the pentagon says they haven't seen any evidence of it yet, but we're watching it very closely.

congresswoman elissa slotkin, we really appreciate you joining us this morning and rolling with us on this. >> thank you for having me. another development just in, russia also floating the possibility of a meeting between vladimir putin and the ukrainian president zelenskyy. stand by, things are moving fast here, our special live coverage continues after this. ♪ baby got back by sir mix-a-lot ♪ unlimited cashback match... only from discover.

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all right, we do have breaking news. john berman here in lviv in western ukraine. this news coming largely from exec discussions between the ukrainian and russian delegations in istanbul. it does seem at least according to the russians at this point that some progress has been made in these talks. the russians are claiming they're taking two concrete measures. the first they say they will have a substantial reduction of military operations around kyiv, and also around chernihiv, which is northeast of kyiv, which has been demovastated by bombing, s

reducing military operations there. and they also floated the idea of a meeting between volodymyr zelenskyy and vladimir putin. that all developing in the last few minutes. we're waiting for the ukrainian version of this. no question that the russians are flat out stating they will reduce their military activity in these key locations. i'm joined now, i hope, by cnn chief international anchor christiane amanpour, who is in kyiv. christiane, if you can hear me, if you had a chance to see these developments, again, the russian side, i wonder your take. >> well, yes, i have, and this to be honest with you is important if it actually sticks and it is actually confirmed by the kremlin after these, you know, this press briefing by the delegation in istanbul. it is very important. and it actually builds on what we have been seeing as a trend over the last several days. and that trend has been different comments coming out of the kremlin saying that russia

no longer, for instance, demands this or that or would be, you know, willing to do the other. the most important was from a russian mod spokesman, this weekend, who said that their operation, as they call it, special operation, phase one, has succeeded and they were going to turn their attention to the donbas, the eastern part of ukraine, as you know, occupied in part since 2014. they said they were going to start moving back perhaps from places like this capital kyiv. we hadn't seen any evidence of it, and now we're hearing from the official delegation that that seems to be what they say they're going to do. so this does in fact represent a dramatic shift as we are in day 34 of this war. if in fact it holds. and it comes obviously after 34 days of massive and unexpected ukrainian resistance, coupled with massive and unexpected incompetence by the russians on

the ground. they have managed as you have seen and we have all seen to hit by the air, to hit by long range artillery civilian structures and other such things, cruise missiles into places like fuel depots in lviv over the weekend. in terms of taking and holding territory, which was what their aim was to begin with, they have not been able to succeed and now they're saying that's not what they wanted anyway. they have already said that they no longer demand the removal and the regime change of president zelenskyy here in kyiv, and now they seem to be at the negotiating table, you know, moving that up even a step further. it is all based on leverage, and their leverage at this precise moment is less than the ukrainians, who have had much more success than anybody expected and who are being supported by various other countries. >> we're waiting on to be completely clear here is the ukrainian version of this, more

fulsome version of this from ukrainians, what happened in istanbul, how they see this, if they believe or have seen signs of a russian withdraw from these key cities. one ukrainian official said he believes they're withdrawing some units from around kyiv. we're waiting on all that. the russians raising this possibility, and they use some flowery language of a putin/zelenskyy meeting. what do you see there? >> well, look, again, if that was to be the case, it is another major concession to president zelenskyy. who has asked from the very beginning, even before the invasion, to have face to face talks with president putin. up until just yesterday, or the day before, the kremlin was saying there is no -- not enough progress in these talks. ie maybe not enough perfect gres for progress for them on the ground to have that kind of meeting. if they are floating that now, that is something that president zelenskyy asked for. he kept saying, he said it to me before the invasion, when we were in munich, he said, i don't

know what putin wants, that's why i want to have a face to face meeting. putin pooh-poohed that, he wanted to talk to other world leaders, he would love to talk to the united states. but he pooh-poohed that and now if it is true, that they're raising that, that is another important move. the real bottom line is how to get putin off this ledge. how to get him out of the corner that he's painted himself into, and it looks like by their restructuring, reconfiguring their aims and their next goals they may be able to declare some kind of victory and go home. however, the go home thing is not entirely clear, because they still have that part of eastern ukraine, still have crimea, and the ukrainians said we will not accept that that is ever to be an internationally recognized part of russia. so that is still the territorial issue will still be an issue and let's not forget the civilians here are the main victims.

and any cease-fire could not come soon enough. humanitarian corridors, humanitarian aid, needs to get to places like mariupol and elsewhere, where the civilians have born the brunt of a frustrated and stalled land offensive. >> i understand that president biden will be speaking with european leaders this morning in half an hour at this point. i imagine what has just transpired will very much be a topic of discussion, and that discussion with the european leaders will be largely backing up ukraine on whatever they want here, yes? >> yes, because everyone has said and when i was in brussels when the president came to that extraordinary summit of nato, just last week, and also he was invited to the eu summit and a g-7 summit, just to say that all those allied leaders are committed to not pushing ukraine into any position. that it has to be a ukrainian decision. obviously there is advice and

you can help your ally decide and this and that, but, yes, they believe that this is ukrainian decision to make on the terms of peace, as long as they can, as far as they can, as far as they have the leverage to be able to do so. and that's potentially why now is a really important time for some kind of second phase to this. we don't know whether it is peace, we don't know whether it is a cease-fire, we don't know what it is. whatever it is, right now, ukraine has the advantage. right now russia is at a disadvantage. so putin has less leverage. unless he wants to escalate and reinforce and we have seen no evidence of that. the longer it goes on, though, it is potentially possible that that could happen and that zelenskyy's leverage would go down. so it is a very, very good time, you know if all of this is -- bears out to be true, for some kind of resolution to at least this phase to take place. but, you know, it does come

after those -- where the allies have stood strong. >> absolutely they have. and the whole world saw it and vladimir putin saw it. look, christiane amanpour in kyiv, thank you for talking about this with me. we don't know for sure what it all means, what we do know for sure is there has been a shift in language. a pretty big shift in language over just the last few minutes, so we're following it very closely. thank you, christiane. more on this potentially significant development in just a moment. but, first, back in the united states, just in from "the washington post", the january 6th committee is now investigating a seven-hour gap in president trump's call logs the day of the capitol riot. when we found out our son had autism, his future became my focus. lavender baths calmed him. so we made a plan to turn bath time into a business.s. ♪ ♪ find a northwestern mututual advisor at nm.com

before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? breaking news out of the white house, where jeremy diamond is covering all this. what can you tell us?

>> reporter: we just learned from the white house that president biden is set to convene a call with some of his key counterparts in this important transatlantic relationship. president biden set to speak with the french president emmanuel macron, the german chancellor scholz, as well as the italian prime minister, the prime minister of the united kingdom as well. all of this to discuss according to the white house the latest developments regarding russia's invasion of ukraine. there are several possible avenues of discussions here, first among which is the progress that appears to be happening in istanbul now, where russian and ukrainian officials have just concluded a series of meetings and there appears to be progress, not only from one side, but from both sides of this, talking about potential paths to de-escalation and also a potential meeting that is becoming more and more realistic it seems between the russian president vladimir putin and the ukrainian president. and, of course, beyond the progress of those talks we know that president biden just returned from that trip to europe, where he met with many of these leaders in person.

and, of course, all of these leaders vowed to continue to ramp up the pressure on russia. even as there is potential progress in the talks, we know they vowed to continue ramping up the financial and economic levers of pressure as well as diplomatic pressure on russia to have it halt its invasion of ukraine. brianna? >> jeremy, we'll be awaiting the results of that call. thank you so much, jeremy diamond at the white house. more breaking news we're tracking this morning, "the washington post" and cbs news reporting that former president trump's white house phone records that were given to the house january 6th committee show a more than seven-hour gap in the calls on the day of the attack. cnn reported last month that the logs do not reflect calls made to or from the former president while his supporters were swarming the capital that day. we certainly do know that he was talking to people. cnn's elie honig and cnn senior political analyst john avlon

joining me now. elie, let's start with you, the key takeaways from this reporting. >> there is a phrase that prosecutors have called consciousness of guilt. that means whenever a person takes steps to hide their communications, to keep them off the radar, so to speak, they do it for a reason. that's what jumps out to me here. if you look at the pattern, using the normal white house phone subject to the logs all morning, all up until 11:17 a.m. then he stopped. and it looks like he made a decision i'm going to take this offline for the next 7 1/2 hours. to me, that's really compelling evidence of his state of mind. >> avalon, i wonder what you think about it. we look at 11:17 a.m., these logs, which have been obtained by cbs and "the washington post." the the president talked on a phone call to an unidentified person. even on a cell phone, you're supposed to have a record of it here in the daily diary and here we don't. >> that's right.

seven-hour gap in the presidential record during an attack on our capitol by his supporters. one more time, you know, donald trump makes nixon look like a piker. there were 18 minutes that were mis missing. this is seven hours. if you look at the daily diary published as well, apparently the only thing that president trump did during the attack on our capitol was meet with his valet. it is absurd on its face. and it does seem like it is evidence of an additional attempt to hide, obstruct and as elie says perhaps consciousness of guilt. this is a very big deal. and it is just more evidence of bad faith by donald trump and an attempt to overturn an election, hiding apparently trying to hide what he was doing, who he was talking to in those critical hours. >> and elie, let's be clear, we know he called, i think accidentally senator mike lee, who was trying to get tommy

tuberville, right? and we know that he talked to kevin mccarthy, the house minority leader. we know he was talking to people. there inquirywere questions of jordan, but there is a huge void. >> exactly, brianna. these are the key communications that the committee and the american public has to know about. the committee still can put this jigsaw puzzle back together at least partially, they have to do a little bit of reverse engineering and have to be aggressive. what they have to do is go out and figure out what other phones was donald trump using, reportedly he used dan scavino's phone. okay, subpoena dan scavino's phones, don't be shy about that. there has been some hesitation, should they subpoena scavino's phone. of course they should. it is supposed to be on the log. see who scavino is talking to, his phone at least during the key hours and subpoena that. and also bringing up another point, they need to -- the committee needs to be aggressive

in subpoenaing people who are in communication with the president. jim jordan, kevin mccarthy, tommy tuberville and the rest, even if they're members of congress, even if it violates some unwritten code of we go light on each other here in congress, this is too important and that's the only way to get this information. >> judge carter yesterday, who said that likely committed felony obstruction also said if there is not accountability we will be inviting another january 6th. this is a time for accountability, information, no excuses. >> he said, elie, he doesn't know what a burner phone is. >> i know what a burner -- i know what a burner phone is. i was a prosecutor. it is what drug dealers use, what criminals use when they're trying to hide something. he didn't know, maybe he knows now. >> it is important to note certainly some parallels here. i think we all know about there being occasional cover-ups and things and this is raising a lot of questions about what they're trying to hiding. we know there were phone calls.

we also know sometimes the former president spoke on the phone using other people's phones. that should still be in the daily diary just to be very clear here. john avlon, elie honig, thank you to both of you. we have more on this breaking news and more on the breaking news of the war in ukraine. president biden set to speak with european allies just moments from now as russia says it is going to reduce military activity in two key cities. cnn's coverage continues right now. good tuesday morning to you. i'm jim sciutto. we are following significant breaking news this morning, a major strategy shift by russia. u.s. officials tell me this morning that russia is already beginning to withdraw some forces from the area around the ukrainian capital kyiv. the u.s. observing some of those units already withdrawing. these include what are known a