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 as

battalion tactical groups, btg, the premier russian combat fighting unit. moscow is publicly claiming the main task of its special military operation as it has described it has now been completed. u.s. officials assess that russia will attempt to cover their retreat with continued air and artillery bombardment of the capital. they caution that putin's forces could reverse again if battle conditions allow. however, they see this as a long-term shift based on the on s obstacles russian forces have faced. we're also learning this morning that the russian ministry of defense says publicly moscow will, quote, drastically reduce military activities on two fronts including kyiv, the capital, and chernihiv. all of this as both sides met this morning in istanbul, turkey, for another round of negotiations. the ukrainian side has called

those talks constructive. that is new. this as we're learning there was discussion of a possible meeting between russian president vladimir putin and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. that would be a significant face to face. also, this just in to cnn, president biden will convene a call with america's european allies, just 15 minutes from now. they will have a lot to discuss. and look at these incredible images this morning out of the ukrainian city of mykolaiv. half of their regional administrative building demolished after a russian strike. that's right, what you saw there is a hole right in the middle of that building there. cnn's senior international correspondent ben wedeman is near the site of that attack. officials say at least three people dead, several others injured. this follows a pattern of russian attacks on civilian, not military targets, in and around ukraine. what are you learning there? >> reporter: yeah, this strike, we heard it at 8:45 in the

morning in mykolaiv, on the regional administrative headquarters. and when you see those images of the blast, something i haven't seen since baghdad, the beginning of the second iraq war. the latest we're hearing from the local administration is that nine people were killed in that attack. more than 20 people wounded. in fact, it seemed to have been almost a direct hit on the office of the regional governor. he put out a message on his telegram channel saying fortunately he had slept late and that's why he wasn't there at the time. now, mykolaiv was really front line city, but in recent weeks we have seen that the russian forces have been pushed back. in fact, i'm coming to you now from the village of lutsinki, under russian occupation, but now people are starting to move

back. in fact, this house right here, with the barking dogs inside, there is the remains of an air launched cluster munition in the backyard. the woman who was -- who lives here was telling us for days she was sleeping out in her potato cellar to take cover. and that when the russians came, she met them at the gate of her house, with her ukrainian passport, and told them to leave. and i think it is that kind of resistance on very personal individual level that has made this russian invasion of ukraine so difficult to sustain, which might be part of the explanation as to why it appears that they may be toning down this current offensive. jim? >> no question, ben. a good point there. the stand-up of the ukrainian people, how the ukrainian people

stood up to this, a part of the calculation there. ben wedeman, just outside mykolaiv, ukraine. i want to get to john berman, he's been reporting from lviv, ukraine. you spoke with john kirby earlier this morning, and seeming to give a consistent message now we're hearing here, not just from moscow, but u.s. intel assessments of a russian pullback in some parts of the country. >> yeah, that's right. i want to make one thing clear, something has shifted over the last two hours and at a minimum it is a shift in language, right? a shift in language from the russians, from the ukrainians out of these talks in istanbul, they talk about them being productive, the russians claiming that they're withdrawing from kyiv and chernihiv, you have your reporting that u.s. intelligence thinks they have seen evidence of some of the battalion tactical groups withdraw ing. i spoke to john kirby, before the meetings in istanbul broke up, but what he said is consistent with the spirit of it. he didn't go as far as your

sources did, jim, that said they saw troops leaving the kyiv area, but he made clear that the russian activity has changed around there over the last day or two. listen. >> 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 some 55 kilometers by the ukrainians and dug in sort in defensive positions to the north and northwest of kyiv. 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. >> all right, so you hear it there, the russians were certainly stalled before they may be withdrawing according to your sources, jim. this is all part of this consistent messaging now from u.s. officials and perhaps also from the russians and ukrainians. >> yeah, for folks watching at home, i think we should mark

this moment, by the way, things can change, it is the nature of war, we're less than five weeks into this war, a war in which russia greatly outnumbered, outgunned the ukrainian forces, where u.s. intel assessments early on is that russia was going to move and advance very quickly and ukraine has pushed back and now russia appears to be responding to that pushback and trimming down its ambitions in ukraine. >> that is the absolute message we're getting from them at least verbally. and maybe more than that, jim, according to your sources. if the troops are moving away from kyiv and chernihiv and i spoke to the mayor of chernihiv, a city encircled and a bomb went off, it would be welcome news to him if the russian troops pull back from that city, if it is happening, this is an important moment. >> it is. no question. to your point, right, it is still a war going on there, and people are still in danger and we have to watch that. these things don't -- they don't change in a day. but it is a marked change at

least big picture-wise at this point. john berman, great to have you. we'll have you back in a little bit. as we were noting, two u.s. officials tell me that russia is already beginning to change its military game plan and movements in ukraine. and that the u.s. is observing those changes under way. this comes as russia claims publicly that it plans to drastically reduce its military activity particularly around the capital kyiv and chernihiv. cnn's arwa damon joins me now from istanbul, where negotiators have been meeting once again in person, peace talks broker the by the turkish president. arwa, some signs perhaps and we take this with a dose of skepticism, but a sign of some progress there in terms of the outlines of a deal. >> reporter: at least a bit more clarity on what the ukrainian side might be moving towards as these negotiations do develop.

it is worth noting that the ukrainians and the russians have called these talks constructive, while the turb irk foreign minister described them as being the most meaningful to date. this should, however, be prefaced by the fact that the bar for meaningful conversation is at this stage quite low. but, a number of potentially positive developments again as you have been mentioning there, we do need to take all of this with a grain of salt. one of the key sticking points is the issue of crimea and annexed by russia in 2014, and the donbas region. we don't know much about what they were negotiating when it comes to the donbas region, but when it comes to crimea, it seems like the ukrainian side at this stage is proposing kicking that issue another 15 years down the road. assuming that, again, based on the -- what the ukrainians have been saying that for the 15 years there would be no military activity in that area. now, when it comes to sort of a bigger cease-fire, there have

been talks about a humanitarian cease-fire at the very least to allow more humanitarian corridors to be opened up. no agreement on that just yet. and then you have what ukraine wants to see take place. and that is that ukraine is willing to accept this nonnuclear neutral status if there are certain security guarantees. and ukraine is not necessarily looking towards russia for those security guarantees. it is looking towards guarantor countries. and that is basically western concern tris, turkey also being included in that, to guarantee ukraine's own security if ukraine were to adopt this neutral status. now, that could potentially prove to be very tricky because even though in that case ukraine wouldn't formally be a nato country, what ukraine is asking for is the same sort of security agreement that nato countries have among themselves. and given the west's reluctance to get involved in a face to face confrontation with russia,

it is going to be difficult to see how ukraine is able to negotiate this and which countries will actually be willing to step forward into this guarantor status. but, given how badly things have been going up until this point, are those involved saying today went better than expected, yes, they are. >> of course, question is, ukraine has previously signed an agreement with russia, guaranteeing its security, back in 1994, when it gave up nuclear weapons. russia did not abide by that. arwa damon there on top of it. thanks so much. okay. joining me now to discuss what this all means, retired army major general paul eaton and jeffrey edmonds. yet to have both of you on. general, you hear the new reporting here that we have this morning about the u.s. assessing a major strategy shift by russia, already beginning to see some of those forces around kyiv move back, kyiv and a focus on

the south and the east. my sources tell me they see this as a long-term, not a short-term move. i wonder as you look at this, do you believe that? >> well, hard to say, jim. thank you for having me on the show here. when you have one unit, one side in contact, start to back off, trying to break contact, the other side needs to maintain contact, it doesn't mean that maintain contact can kill, it just needs to -- you need to make sure that you understand where your opponent is going. and at the tactical level, it just means that a break in contact to do something, either definitively to break contact and retire from the battlefield, does it mean to reposition so that you can re-engage or does it mean you're going to be moving to another location, perhaps donbas and reinforce there? unknown. but at a operational and

strategic level, it is a big change. >> jeffrey edmonds, given russia's losses to this point, if you take the higher estimates here, it already lost more than it lost in afghanistan, in ten years, even lower estimates, russia lost more personnel than the u.s. lost in afghanistan and iraq combined over 20 years, do you see russia with these moves and the public statements from the mod saying they are, in fact, moving away from places like kyiv as a recognition that they lost here, at least on their greatest ambition of taking over ukraine? sorry, sorry, jeffrey, as we check -- as we check jeffrey's audio there, paul eaton, i wonder how you view that. do you see this as russia recognizing the tremendous losses to its military perhaps? >> jim, at a strategic level, yes. this is perhaps an opportunity for president putin to declare

victory, that he's achieved his objectives and to retire completely from the battlefield. or as others have speculated, at an operational level move forces to donbas, there has been talk about a korea model coming out of this, but at a strategic level, we may see the president of russia show an off ramp to extricate himself from what had gone extremely badly. >> yeah. jeffrey, i believe we have you back here. i want to get your word -- your view on what appears to be at least a public ukrainian offer and that is to in effect acknowledge russia's annexation of crimea, at least for 15 years, in other words, put that on the back burner as a way to end the open hostilities. is that -- does that make sense to you? does that acknowledge the facts on the ground, one might say?

could that be a path towards peace here? >> i think it is a path towards making some progress in these peace talks, though, to be honest, i'm rather skeptical of the talks going forward, given, you know, the very disparate positions of both sides. the ukrainians are maintaining their position of territorial integrity. i think the ukrainians are really putting forth a good faith effort to try to make some progress toward some kind of deal they can live with. >> i want to ask about the question of nuclear strikes now. perhaps that question has receded. there is another school of thought that as putin is backed further into a corner, the chances of weapons of mass destruction rise rather than fall, we did have the kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov tell pbs news hour that russia would use nuclear weapons in an existential threat to russia. we also know that russian military allows for the use of tactical nukes, where do you stand on that threat today? it is one the administration took seriously, jeffrey edmonds.

>> yeah, i don't -- in the near term i don't see that happening in ukraine. i think the real danger of that comes if this conflict expands beyond ukraine and becomes a russia/nato war. >> general eaton, that was the worst case scenario to the view of nato and u.s. leaders, right, this escalates into a direct conflict between russia and nato. that's the explicit reason why biden and others resisted a no-fly zone that would put aircraft nose to nose in the air. do you think that danger of the expansion of the conflict beyond ukraine has for now receded? >> it appears to have receded. and to the nuclear question, when we were in war games in the cold war in the '70s and '80s,

the losing side fires nuclear weapons first. and the war games never ended well. there is an escalation that drips in, and you fire one small artillery round, and then your opponent fires four, and it escalates very, very quickly. so i believe that what we see right now, this tactical break in contact that we're watching, that may go operational, may go strategic, is backing away from the brink of this so-called shot fired and let's see what happens. >> well, if it holds and we'll watch it closely, if it holds this could be a momentous moment in this war. major general paul eaton, jeffrey edmonds, good to have your sound back. thank you for joini ingjoining. there appears to be some progress as we were noting in the negotiations between russia and ukraine.

how those leaders discuss those issues. we'll bring you an update as we get them. breaking news on the investigation into january 6th. don't miss this. "the washington post" obtained white house call records from that day, and there is a seven-hour gap, seven-hour gap in records of former president trump's communications. right in the thick of the attack on the capitol. why those missing calls. we'll have more. they're bank, with bank of america. the groom's parents? they just found out they can redeem rewards for a second honeymoon. romance is in the air. like these two. he's realizing he's in love. and that his dating app just went up. must be fate. and phil. he forgot a gift, so he's sending the happy couple some money. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do?

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these conversations? >> reporter: we know that president biden was scheduled to begin this call at 9:15 this morning and it is going to be with the presidents and the respective leaders of france, germany, italy and the united kingdom, all on the phone with president biden this morning, to discuss the ongoing conflict in ukraine. russia's invasion of ukraine. now, it comes at a pivotal moment, of course, not only as you're reporting that u.s. intelligence is assessing that russia is making military moves away from some major areas of conflict, including the capital city of kyiv, but also as we were seeing that there is progress, it appears, according to both the ukrainian and the russian sides, in these talks between the two sides in istanbul, the capital in turkey. so obviously there is a range of topics that could be discussed here. this is the group of countries that has been key in helping ukraine with military and economic support, humanitarian assistance as well, but also this is the group that has been leading the front here in terms of pushing back on russia and

punishing russia with financial and economic sanctions, all of that could be on the table here as president biden convenes this call. jim? >> we'll be waiting for updates afterwards. jeremy diamond at the white house, thank you. joining us to discuss, jill dougherty, former cnn moscow bureau chief. great to have you on this morning. we have a combination of events now, we have our own reporting that the u.s. is assessing russia pulling back from its designs on kyiv, and it is already observing some of the forces pull back because of the losses they have encountered. we have russia claiming this is the plan all along, we wanted to focus on the east and the south. we know that's not true, but big picture, do you see russia admitting defeat here? in effect for its goals of taking all or most of ukraine? >> they will never admit any type of defeat. i think that's impossible, politically, for putin. we all know that. i think what they have done here and this is why it gets

confusing is they have changed their goals. they have changed the goal post. so the definition of what they wanted, going way back, has really kind of changed. i was thinking of the word denazification, which is still huge, still talking about the nazis, quote, in ukraine. but denazification used to mean get rid of the government, maybe even kill or whatever, replace the government of zelenskyy. that's changed. now it is more like, you know, protecting russian speakers, rights, et cetera. that's gone to the side. i think where we are -- this is probably the difficulty for president biden and his allies, is to really figure out what is putin really doing here, you know. is this a feint? does it mean something? it feels big. it really does. but i think some of the crucial issues like neutrality, you know, and security guarantees,

those are huge. but we're in a war. so they have to be things like cease-fire, withdraw of forces. and maybe the russian -- what looks like pulling back could be the beginning of some type of sign, it is not a withdrawal, but a beginning of something. >> jill, i wonder, russia lies, putin lies, and he has a closed or largely closed information environment in his country, more closed than it was a month ago or so. is there any way he can sell this to the russian public? given all the losses and a lot of mothers there who won't have sons anymore because they were lost on the battlefield in ukraine, that he could sell this as what he had planned all along? >> well, he sold it so far. it seems. to some, you know, to some people in russia, who still believe in the president, president putin, he sold it. but i think what he has to do is, again, this redefinition, you know, he can say my goal was

to protect those russian speakers in the -- he wouldn't even call it of course breakaway regions, but let's say the donbas region, which russia now recognizes as independent states, he can say we went in there, they were in grave danger, there was genocide, et cetera, and i've gone in there and i've protected their rights and i've given the nazis in ukraine a bloody nose, we showed -- that type of thing. but it depends on how he defines what he wanted to do. and i keep going back to the fact that in my mind, it has shifted a lot. >> yeah. no question. even the public statements, jill dougherty, always great to have you on, thanks so much. there is more breaking news ahead here at home. lawmakers are now investigating a seven-hour gap in the records of former president trump's phone calls on the day, in the midst of it, on january 6th.

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breaking news, the january 6th committee has now obtained white house phone logs that show a gap of more than seven hours in records of former president trump's calls on the very day of the insurrection. this is according to new reporting from "the washington post" and cbs news. cnn has previously reported a significant gap in records of those calls and that white house records did not reflect calls made to or from the former president as the violence on the capitol hill unfolded that day, right in the midst of it. here with me to discuss, former federal prosecutor ren

renato marioti. to have a seven-hour gap, does that indicate to you evidence that laws were broken here? >> well, it may reveal more than that, jim. if, for example, there were other phones being used surreptitiously that were not only not being recorded and not being provided, but actually were being used for the purpose of hiding activity or communications. we do know that some of the other folks around the former president were using what is called burner phones, using phones that you -- that you would toss away. so it is certainly raises a lot of questions and i think what is going to be an important step for the committee is to make sure that they are able to talk to folks that were close to former president trump and see if there are witnesses that recall seeing him on the phone during that period of time. >> wouldn't using a burner phone

signify intent? you and i have talked about -- at every level of this investigation, the importance of intent, whether that be intent to interfere in the election or intent to avoid records of communications, from a legal perspective, would that indicate intent? >> it certainly shows an intent to hide activity. it is the sort of activity that is heavily associated with not only criminal activity, but knowing criminal activity. i used to get wiretaps on phones when i was a federal prosecutor and the folks that use burner phones were usually drug dealers, people involved in the drug cartel in some way, knew they had to toss their phone every 30 days to try to stymie the efforts of people like myself and law enforcement. so, i think it would certainly be astounding if something like that happened, and i think the explanation for the trump camp has to be he was off the phone

for seven hours straight, and really with investigators are going to need to establish is, first of all, was he the sort of person who could stay off the phone for seven hours and on that day can they establish through other evidence he was on the phone. and if so, where are the records? it reminds me of the nixon gap, but a much larger one. >> just quickly before we go, where is the doj on this? to this point, it is the january 6th committee, a political process, they will come up with a report that may be potentially damning, but criminal prosecutions or referrals, where does the doj stand on this? >> we don't know for sure. the fact that the committee was jumping up and down yesterday asking merrick garland and the justice department to act suggests they're not working hand and glove with the doj, which had been one possibility. and so either the justice department is waiting to see this -- waiting for this investigation to wrap up, which would be unusual in my view and

frankly concerning because that would mean that potentially evidence could get stale or leads could get lost while waiting for the committee to wrap up or potentially justice department really does not believe that based on what they have seen that there is a sufficient proceeedicate for an investigation, which i think would be surprising and i think the public has a right to know whether or not an investigation is being undertaken. >> no question. and throughout all this, the question, what rises to the level of punishable behavior here? hasn't yet. renato, thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up, the mayor of one of the hardest hit cities in ukraine says that russia is committing genocide, targeting civilians there explicitly. more from cnn's interview next.

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russia now says it will, quote, drastically reduce military activity in parts of ukraine, including the city of chernihiv in the north, which has seen some of the most intense shelling since the war began. the mayor took this video recently as he drove through the town. look at that there. you can see smoke rising, houses, those are houses on fire. not military targets. my colleague john berman joins me again from lviv in western ukraine. john, earlier today you spoke with the mayor there. he gave you such a gutteral

discussion of what citizens in chernihiv have faced. tell me what he said. >> he is said nowhere here is safe. he said the russians are hitting us everywhere. the mayor, this is vladislav atroshenko, i spoke to him before this information, this new reporting that russia says it is going to withdraw some of its troops from the chernihiv region, so he very much felt under attack there, he said the russians are hitting everywhere, including, he said, a cinema, a crumbled cinema he was standing there, and he talked about how civilians are the targets and civilians are suffering. listen. >> where i'm standing now, this is the site where a cruise missile has struck. the direction of the missile was from belarus. it came from belarus and we know this because the location is such that it couldn't have come anywhere else -- from anywhere else. they're striking on civilian

neighborhoods. we have enough proof, so we can say that this is fascism and genocide. we have -- in the last three weeks we lost 350 people. the vast majority of these are civilians. we will definitely survive and we shall not surrender. we will push the occupiers away. >> mr. mayor, 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 tell you that 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. >> and, jim, you can see the mayor, he didn't even flinch when that explosion happened.

when i'm bringing up not to say that he's somehow overly strong or anything, but just that that's life in chernihiv or has become life in chernihiv over the last five weeks, explosions just happen and you sadly get used to it. >> yeah. i remember before the invasion, i was told by a u.s. official to watch for activity in chernihiv because the russians looked at that as key to moving toward kyiv. they were blocked in that objective. the question has risen multiple times whether belarus will kind of back up the russians here, right, and send in forces from the north to help with the stalled assault on a place like the capital kyiv. is that still in play? >> a great question at this point. i don't know if the situation is changed because of the events of today, jim, if the russians are starting to pull back from kyiv and chernihiv, maybe makes it less likely that belarus will send troops in. i will tell you, the ukrainians i've spoken to, are you worried about the belarusians coming in

here, they're like, they're going to come in? if they come in here, they're going to get killed. they don't have high regard for the belarusian troops. i spoke to an exile, her husband in prison in belarus right now, and she said that the belarusians by and large including the military are actually on the side of the ukrainians. listen. >> our army doesn't want to participate in this war. because our people don't understand why they have to fight for one person, why they have to fight against our brother ukrainians, and they are really demoralized. we understand that without free ukraine, there will be no free belarus and vice versa. >> it will be interesting to see, jim, whether the ripple effects in belarus from what happens here in ukraine.

>> no question. and, by the way, shows you how the events are connected. russia's pressuring out of the opposition in belarus, including the opposition leader there, months before connected perhaps to its later assault on ukraine, hoping it could squeeze the country. that plan has failed. john berman in lviv, thanks so much. russia is intensifying its aerial assault on the northeastern city of kharkiv as it faces severe resistance on the ground. coming up, i'll speak with someone forced to flee that city amid the chaos. how it stands now. then own it support your immune systemem with a potent blend of nutrients and emerge your best every day with emergen-c throughout history i've observed markets shaped by the intentional and unforeseeable. for investors who can navigate this landscape,

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u.s. officials say russian ground forces have stalled in many areas across ukraine and have indeed, according to our new reporting this morning, made a strategic decision to pull back from targets in the north. we are seeing, however, devastating effects of russia's continuing aerial assault in kharkiv near ukraine's eastern border with russia. entire civilian neighborhoods laid to waste. volunteers delivering food and medicine to people stuck in residential areas but every day, the situation grows more precarious, more dangerous. joining me now is justin. i spoke to him a number of times since the start of this invasion including when he was hiding from the bombing in kharkiv. he's a freelance staff correspondent for jurist as well as a law student, had to flee kharkiv in the midst of the bombing. he's now in lviv, justin, good to have you on. we are seeing new video of kharkiv that just shows how

extensive the devastation is there. what do you think as you see destruction in the place you live and where you have people and loved ones? >> first of all, thank you for having me. this is a great pleasure speaking in a relative safety related to kharkiv itself. so i spoke to my friends who still stayed in kharkiv, people from my university. it's still extremely unsafe to be in here, and as russian officials said, pull out from kharkiv areas, becoming dangerous more and more. there's a relative safety in here, but it's still not resolution. >> no, no. listen, we've been showing pictures here to our viewers that show apartment buildings. civilian targets, civilian areas

and buildings. the targets, apparently, of russian strikes. given your time there and what you've seen, do you have any doubt in your mind that russia deliberately intentionally targeted civilians with these attacks? >> as i said during my first days of war, russians became desperately bombing the civilian areas, just domestic and hospitals and so forth, and still, they're continuing to do so. but as they got empty under personal armed forces, it's becoming more and more difficult for them to just continue pushing into those areas they said they are departing from right now. >> there is discussion now of peace. you have russians and ukrainians

meeting in istanbul. you have u.s. military officials saying russian forces are pulling back from some areas. i wonder, given what you've gone through there and the attacks you saw on civilians, would you trust a russian peace agreement or a russian pledge to stop the fighting? would you believe it? >> well, again, i personally think that russians are not blunt in their messages, so the main strategic idea that they wanted to share in here, saying that they're pulling out is that they do not have resources. that's what all of this is about. so they're pulling out because of the lack of resources, not because they decided to do so. as kharkiv, our mayor mentioned

today, kharkiv lives and continues working. so regardless of what russians say, we are still maintaining our position and that's basically it. >> well, justin, i'm glad you're safe. when i first spoke to you, you were huddling in a basement in the midst of russian bombardment. i'm glad you're safe and i hope your friends who are still behind stay safe as well. thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you very much. stay safe. the news this morning. a major strategy shift by russia in ukraine, u.s. officials tell me, pulling back troops in the north and instead, now focusing efforts on the south and the east. what that means for ukraine, is it lasting? that's coming up. in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to h help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. it's still the eat fresh refresh,

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good morning, i'm jim sciutto. major breaking news this morning. russia shifting its strategy in ukraine. u.s. officials tell me that the russian military is already starting to withdraw some troops from around the ukrainian capital city of kyiv. the u.s. has observed some of russia's premier combat fighting units leave the area. this as moscow claims the main task of what is called a special military operation than an invasion has been completed. this morning, the russian ministry of defense confirms that moscow will now, quote, drastically reduce military activity in kyiv as well as in

the northeast of there. the russian defense said its military will announce more on reducing hostilities. this comes as ukrainian officials call the latest round of peace negotiations with russia, and this is unusual, they call them, quote, constructive. cnn's john berman in lviv in western ukraine. cnn senior international correspondent arwa damon is in istanbul where those talks are taking place. people are under threat. you've been hearing air raid sirens in lviv, when missiles are coming. >> reporter: yeah, i know it's a sound you're quite familiar with here, jim. the air raid sirens went off. people are told to take shelter. this is happening periodically every day. we get two or three of them over the weekend. there was a strike. it was just past that hill behind me. so people take it very seriously and this goes to show, whatever progress, whatever constructive talks might be made, this is a country still very much at war and still very concerned about

the possibility of a new russian round of attacks. you have your reporting from intelligence officials, senior u.s. intelligence officials saying they're seeing evidence that the russians are withdrawing from around kyiv and cherniv, to the northeast. i spoke to pentagon john kirby and it's before the talks in istanbul were released but the military too has seen clearly the russian military advance on kyiv is stalled. listen to how he described it. >> 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 some 55 kilometers by the ukrainians and then dug in defensive positions to the north and northwest of kyiv. certainly, they've got reprioritization in the east and then in the early days, that's where they were making the most progress and now the ukrainians

clawing back territory in the south as well. >> reporter: you hear it there from john kirby and in your own reporting. this notable shift in the military positions, in the military situation around these crucial key cities, especially around kyiv, jim? >> and we should note, this is not because they found god, it's because in the u.s. view, they had such tremendous losses and were not able to make the gains they had hoped for. arwa damon in istanbul where diplomatic negotiations are going on. the ukrainian adviser said there's been progress and arwa, this is unusual because there's been a lot of talks in recent weeks that have gone nowhere. what's exactly the progress you can see there? >> reporter: this is fairly low but that being said, any sort of progress is certainly a welcome development.

what we know from the ukrainian side is key issues such as the fate of crimea as we now know well and russia back in 2014 that they're proposing to table for 15 years during which there will be bilateral talks. the ukrainians have also, as we have been hearing, talking about accepting ukraine having a non-nuclear neutral status. this would, of course, mean that any sort of nato membership would be off the table for the foreseeable future. the ukrainians have also made other proposals that we can understand the russians are taking back to their side for further negotiations. when it comes to something that is very key for ukraine, and this is not part of what ukraine is negotiating with russia but rather what ukraine is negotiating with western countries plus turkey. and that is ukraine's wanted security guarantee. what ukraine wants to see from these guarantor countries is an agreement that is similar to what nato countries have among

themselves. which, to simplify it, would basically have a mechanism in place, should ukraine down the line in the future, be attacked, these guarantor countries would then come to ukraine's defense. its land defense, the defense of its airspaces. now, this is where this could all potentially get extremely tricky, because which countries are going to actually step forward and be willing to act as these guarantors and how much will ukraine actually be able to rely on that? there's still so many hurdles before this actually moves forward to a phase that the ukrainians mentioned, yes, they could potentially see the presidents of both sides sit down face-to-face, and then of course, you have another key issue that was discussed, jim, and that is of a humanitarian cease-fire, although, there was no concrete agreement on that just yet. >> no question. and listen, through all of this, we'll remember, russia has broken security guarantees to ukraine before, going back to 1994 when it gave up nuclear

weapons. what's going to prove they stick to agreements now? arwa damon in istanbul and john berman in l aviv. president biden discussing as the u.s. intel assessment that russia having faced so many obstacles, now pulling back some forces around the north to focus on the east and the south. jeremy diamond is at the white ho house. do we know the content of these conversations and is russia's potential retreat in ukraine part of that discussion? >> it certainly could be, jim. we know officially the topic of this phone call between president biden and the leaders of france, germany, italy and the united kingdom, they are discussing russia's invasion of ukraine and the latest on the ground there. of course, president biden just got back a couple of days ago from a meeting with many of these leaders in brussels for

this extraordinary nato summit that was held over there. and all of these countries not only involved in supporting ukraine with military, economic, and humanitarian assistance but they've also been involved in pushing back on russia and leading oligarchs and companies for the russian invasion of ukraine. we know president biden while he was in europe announced joint task force with transatlantic officials to wean europe off of oil and natural gas over the next year or so. and of course, this phone call is happening as we are seeing these signs of progress that you were just discussing between the russian and ukrainian officials in istanbul, turkey. all of this could be potentially on the agenda right now, but this is the first call between president biden and these key european and nato leaders since he returned from that crucial trip to europe this past weekend. >> jeremy diamond at the white

house, thank you so much. joining me now to discuss, senator tammy duckworth of illinois, member of the armed services committee and author of the book "every day is a gift," a memoir, incredible personal story. >> good to be on. >> i want to discuss ukraine if we can because there's a combination of events today, evidence about russian pullback, even the russians saying they've completed what they wanted to do in the north. so we know there might be some cyn involved there. when we look at developments in negotiations in istanbul, do you see a turning point in this war? >> i see the start of something, but the start of some sort of an agreement really begins with the heroic efforts of the ukrainian people and the ukrainian military, pushing the russians out of kyiv and pushing them away from the goals they attempted to achieve and could not. i do think that ukraine is in a

good negotiating position. much better than they would be had they not been able to push the russians out of kyiv. >> tremendous bravery. and by the way, some former american service members like yourself to join the fight there, when we were in ukraine. a bipartisan letter to urge biden to expedite sales with m-182 tanks to shore up the eastern nato allies, we're learning the defense department is stepping up production of the shoulder fired missiles we've seen so much on the ground in ukraine. javelins and stingers. do you think the u.s. is doing enough today to both help ukraine defend itself and defend the east of nato? >> i think we're doing everything possible for ukraine in terms of sending in as much equipment as they need. they need those javelins. they need those stingers. they need those 300, s-300s, which are not american made but getting those from our nato

allies. i'm very proud that for the last year, the illinois national guard, the third infantry combat brigade was in ukraine to train the ukrainians and, yes, we need to do more to make sure we provide poland with everything they need. they are on the front lines in terms of nato of this fight and they've done a remarkable job. >> it's great point you make there. there was u.s. nato training of ukrainian forces in the years leading up to this and we may see some of the benefits of that. if it is true, and i always inject elements of skepticism here with russian public pronouncements but the possibility that facts on the ground can change in war but if it's true that russia is pulling back from its grand designs on taking over all of ukraine, sit possible that the u.s. and nato got the balance right here, arming ukraine while avoiding a shooting war with russia? >> well, i think it was important to avoid a shooting war with russia where u.s. forces on russian forces that have led to significant

escalation. i think that what we did right, the biden administration did right, force nato allies to pull together, even before they did it and get all the resources that the ukrainians needed. it's not over yet. the russians fires and killing innocent civilians, bombarding without any discretion and so we need to continue to fight and push to send as much resources to the ukrainians as possible. >> i want to ask about your book because in your book, among many things, you write about your own personal sacrifice, the rpg that hit the helicopter that left you disabled but earlier than that, growing up for a time in k cambodia in the midst of war. protecting you from bomb blasts. cambodia took many years to recover. what happens after the war is over, hopefully, in ukraine?

how long does it take for ukraine to recover? >> well, i think we and our nato allies must make the commitment to help the ukrainians recover. it's going to be decades. they have absolutely, cities have been absolutely flattened. there is a lot of work to do to rebuild their infrastructure. what can come out of this is a unifying of nato, and nato realizing, oh, boy. other nations of nato than the united states need to step up and do their job. the germans committing more of their budget towards their defense is important. but we are going to be providing aid to ukraine for the foreseeable future and they deserve it because they did not initiate this war. the russians brought this war to them, and i'm so proud of the ukrainian people, but we have a lot of work to do. for decades to come. >> and you have so much experience with war both in cambodia and your time and service and injuries as well, to this day. i do want to ask you before we go, because we have quite remarkable news about what the

january 6th committee has found and that is a more than seven hour gap in presidential phone calls on the day, january 6th. and you talked about this before given your military service that you've been so sad to learn that many of the folks who took part in the assault on the capital were also military veterans as well. if it is confirmed that the white house hid presidential phone calls in the midst of the january 6th capital assault, what should the consequences be for this president and other involved and do you see a law broken here? >> well, i think if a law is broken and that's what the commission is supposed to do and that's what our courts systems are supposed to do and many cases are moving forward right now, if it is found that the former president broke the law, he should be held accountable. that's why i served in uniform. i wrote in my book about what's important about america is no one is above the law, and no one is truly above the law. and if president trump committed

crimes, then he should be held accountable for those crimes. >> but the sad fact is that all evidence we've seen so far on a number of levels, interference in the georgia election, looking for votes, seems to be the deliberate hiding of presidential call records on the day, the big lie, it seems that he's getting away with it, right? and that the law is not the same for everyone. what do you say to folks at home who say, you know what, he's going to get off again. >> what i tell them is we are doing everything that we can, i know that the january 6th commission is doing its job. be patient. let the system work. in the meantime, exercise your right to vote. the most american and patriotic thing you can do is speak up and exercise your right to vote and just because people are trying to disenfranchise you, doesn't mean you don't show up to make sure your vote counts. >> you went to war to defend those rights. every day is a gift.

senator tammy duckworth, led that by the life she led. thank you. >> thank you for having me on. >> inside the moscow mindset. what to make of the russian shift in strategy on the ground in ukraine and why russia could find it valuable to withdraw forces around kyiv and chernihiv. new pushes and new details on what we were detailing there. the seven hour gap for then president donald trump on january 6th. new details ahead. in where it starts. like those nagging headaches. uncomfortable period pains. and disruptive muscle aches. you cacan count on fast, effectctive relief with motrin. here's to real flavors... real meals. real good. all of knorr's high quali pasta and rice sides are now made with no aificial flavors or preservatives. knorr. taste for good.

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president biden on the phone as we speak with european allies. sources tell me russia is now implementing a major strategy shift around the kyiv region frankly because of losses there. moments ago, secretary of state antony blinken reacted to the news of potential progress in negotiations in istanbul between russian and ukrainian officials. >> that's what russia does. we're focused on the latter and what russia is doing is they continue the brutalization of ukraine, and its people. and that continues as we speak. the fact that the ukrainians are being extraordinarily courageous and willing in determineation,

not only to stand up for their future but with a gun to their head speaks volumes but i'd look to them to see if there's anything meaningful coming. >> bianna golodryga joining me from new york and nic robertson in brussels. nic, if i could begin with you. we've got a lot of signals here. my own reporting about the russian pullback from kyiv focused on the south and east, progress in diplomatic talks and even the russians now saying publicly, hey, this is as far as we wanted to go all the time even though we know that's not true. does that lay the groundwork for a path to the end of this war? >> i think what we've seen in istanbul today is a possible map of a possible path. the fact that the ukrainians have put forward quite a number of proposals, it's a lot there for russia to swallow because russia is being told per the ukrainian proposals that they

have to pull back to the pre-invasion positions. i can't see the kremlin going with that. putin has already essentially got its fingers burned in kyiv. he's going to want to hide that from the russian population. further concessions. you know, the indications from sergey, the russian defense minister today saying that russia will continue to go after its objectives, those objectives, they stated, were the donbas region and that's the greater donbas region, not the tiny bit of donbas region that the separatists had controlled, the russian-backed separatists had controlled before. i think there are a lot of pitfalls of a lot of stumbles on the path ahead, but this is a potential path, jim. >> bianna, you've covered russia for so many years. born in russia as well. putin staked himself on this. we should be clear, before the invasion, putin didn't say, i

only want crimea in the east. he denied ukraine existed as a country. he made the case this is part of a rejuvenated russian empire. that's a key there. largely closed information environment sell this as anything short of a loss to the russian people. >> as of right now, putin can still do whatever he wants at home, right, so in terms of saving face, i think this goes to nic's point that this had always been viewed and described as a special military operation, not a war, and this was an effort to reclaim the eastern part of the country including donbas and obviously finally get some solidified results in terms of crimea and having ukraine acknowledge that crimea would be part of russia. in terms of justifying this to people at home, i still, as a rational person, don't understand how you explain the death upwards of 20,000, if not more so soldiers to accomplish

this feat and perhaps that is why as brutal as it sounds, you have zelenskyy and others in ukraine continue to press the point that the russians are not reclaiming their dead soldiers. they're just lying around on the streets. that having been said, he maintains a lot of power and obviously popularity amongst russians right now and though they may not agree with this war, they would probably agree that this has been achieved, the special military operation and agree to move forward with it as it stands, if this is where things end. that's a big question. >> nic, what gives, potentially, ukraine as well as the u.s. and nato allies confidence in any possible security guarantees? because russia's track record on treaties and security guarantees is bad, particularly with ukraine. how do you get to a point where you believe those commitments? >> reporter: that's always the hardest point in negotiations is the trust position and i think

what kyiv has done is put something on the table here for the russians that's going to test their trust in ukraine and test their trust in the international community as well because they're saying, let's discuss crimea over the next 15 years. let's not make a decision today. let's leave that as a bilateral issue and we'll continue to discuss it as long as there's no military hostilities. remember, going into this war, even at the beginning, russia's message to ukraine and the international community was, don't even mention crimea. that is ours. that's a forgone conclusion. it has never been recognized. russia's illegal annexation has never been recognized. i think if russia can take that, then that proposition from ukraine on future negotiations, then that's something. but what ukraine is asking for from the international community is a lot, but it's nothing that hasn't already been said so many

times. the respect and backing for ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity has been given so many times and that underpins the basis of the security guarantees that ukraine is looking for, but itmaximalis. >> i was just going to apologize from moving your birthplace to moldova. go ahead. >> i was just going to say the russian state media is already spinning this and some of the headlines we're seeing as a win for them, by saying that ukraine has agreed to not retake crimea and donbas by force. obviously, president zelenskyy has reiterated that was never their intention, that they were never intending ongoin going in those areas and fighting with the russians, they're taking it back by force, but i want to go back to a point that zelenskyy made that stood out to me over the weekend with those four

russian journalists where he said he believed, 99.9% that vladimir putin thought they would be greeted with open arms, with smiles, right, and that this would take place in a matter of two days and that didn't happen. so how does putin react now? what happens next? >> a massive misreading, right? of what, one, the welcome that never came for russian forces but quite frankly, the strength for the military and advance. bianna, born in moldova, and nic robertson, thank you so much to both of you. a seven hour gap. "the washington post" reporting this morning a massive window, missing presidential phone calls from white house logs as the insurrection at the capital unfolded. the house committee with the attack looking into a potential cover by the white house. we'll have more on that ahead. . like those nagging headaches. uncomfortable period pains. and disruptiveve muscle aches. you can count on fast,

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seven hours and 37 minutes on january 6th. that is the time gap former president trump's call logs from the day of the u.s. capitol attack. this is according to documents given to the january 6th committee and obtained by "the washington post." we should note, cnn first reported a significant gap in these presidential call records back in february. sources also tell "the post" the committee is investigating

whether trump communicated that day instead through back channels, potentially using phones that belong to aides or even burner phones. cnn law correspondent whitney wild, this is an incredible gap, hours on an incredible day that seems to violate presidential record laws here. what do we know? >> well, jim, the committee is trying to figure out if they got everything because as you point out, the gaps are just so obvious. last call is recorded at 11:17 to an unidentified person, extremely vague. the next call recorded occurred at 6:54 p.m. to dan scavino. senators mike lee, tommy tuberville and then another missing is from former vice president mike pence in which

he's accused of a last ditch effort to pressure pence to overturn the election results and could not be done, he could not do it. there are logs speaking of top allies with rudy giuliani. prior to the riot, attempting to contact david purdue, mitch mcconnell and josh hawley prior to the riot. after the attack, he's shown speaking with white house counsel and then kayleigh mcenany. this comes on the heels of an explosive court ruling in which a judge in california said plainly, this is more likely than not that the former president did commit a crime when he tried to overturn the election. so certainly a lot of questions going on. the main questions, jim, where are those call logs, why were they not recorded? >> senior republican leadership accusing the president of possibly committing a crime.

whitney wild, thank you so much. still ahead. as we see, the devastating effect of civilians of russian attacks in ukraine. we hear inside ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy's inner circle and their reaction to russian troops withdrawing from some areas around the cap capital, kyiv. that's coming up. felite. >> tech vo: this customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home... ...so he schededuled with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to his house... ...then we got to work. we replaced his windshieldld and installed new wipers to protect his new glass, while he finished his meeting. let safelite come to you. >> man: looks great. thank you. >> tech: my pleasure. that's service on your time. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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the breaking news this morning. we have learned that russia in

the view of u.s. intelligence is shifting its military strategy in ukraine. in fact, withdrawing forces. that said, as it happens, russian forces still shelling, bombing several ukrainian cities including civilians. just this morning, russian forces hit a regional state administrative building in mykolaiv. a hole in the middle of the office tower. nine killed, we're told. others trapped in the rubble. john berman is in lviv in western ukraine. john, you spoke earlier today to someone who advises the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and right after the talks ended, what did he say about the progress in negotiations? >> reporter: i spoke to him minutes after the statements started coming out from the istanbul, russian and ukrainian delegation. so it wasn't totally clear whether he had an inside line on exactly what the administration position would be, but i think he had the reaction that most

ukrainians would have which is, that's progress, it's nice if the russians are truly withdrawing some of their troops from the regions around kyiv and chernihiv. that's a positive development but they want to see proof and certainly wants to see more. he felt very much like he needs to see more of that around other besieged cities. listen. >> what's going on at the same time today, the regional administrational public destroyed, people died. not just a statement but by russia. these measures have to be taken not only in kyiv but donbas, kherson, all the cities with very strong pressure. >> reporter: pointed out, jim, you heard right there, these

discussions hannppening and mad as a hole was blown in the building in chernihiv as we were speaking to the mayor there this morning. i think it will be very interesting to see, i think everyone wants to see the next few days, is there perhaps intensified fighting in places russia is allegedly pulling back from? will things quiet down a little bit? will there be visible evidence of these promises that the people are now getting from the russians as part of these negotiations? everyone wants to wait and see, jim. >> visible and sustained. russia could pull back and find another opportunity later to attack again. you spoke to a soldier who was injured in the line of duty and i'm just curious how he described the fighting. >> reporter: you know, it's interesting, jim, i'm sure you saw this when you were here, but it's hard to have conversations with the regular soldiers fighting on the front lines because they're too busy. they're too busy and far away

from lviv, by and large, and in the middle of it all. we were able to track down this soldier who had fought north of mariupol. he was injured. so he was home being treated, which is how we found him and he said the fighting is just intense. he described the scene battling russian tanks and he had backed off to a building and the real difficulty was in most of these towns and cities, where the real fighting is taking place, there's still so many civilians and the russians aren't letting up because of civilians there. there's evidence in some cases, the russians are targeting civilians but what ivan told me is the difficulty is he was trying to fight back against the russians at the same time he was convincing elderly ukrainians in their 80s to evacuate and they just didn't want to go. they didn't want to leave their homes. they wanted to stay because that's where they lived and it was their own form of defieance in the face of this russian onslaught. >> so much pride and courage from soldiers, certainly, but also ukrainian citizens. john berman in lviv, thank you very much. >> thank you.

still ahead this hour, an alarming trend in this country. anti-asian attacks rising in major cities since the start of the covid pandemic. stories of three young women who experienced it firsthand. that's coming up next. >> when you're being attacked like that, it feels so lonely. and it feels like if people don't do anything, they're agreeing with it. obviously, we got termites. well, first thing is, you gotta know what they're bitin' on. hey! i told you to hire a pro. i did get a pro. an orkin pro! i got is. got termites? don't call any pro, call the orkin pro. orkin. the best in pests.

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harassment and hate. it is an alarming trend that asian americans are facing in several major cities across this country. it is specifically impacting asian american women. many say they're now living in fear. cnn's amara walker reports. >> reporter: three young 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 shi says she's been verbally harassed by complete strangers, since the start of the pandemic. each time relived the trauma of when she was followed by a man yelling racial obscenities at her. >> kept following me for a whole block and then this man, he came up next to me and was like, do not worry. i am 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. >> just thinking about, so many times that's happened to me this past year. >> reporter: there's empathy amongst these women because they know what it's like to feel dehumanized, to be targeted as asian american women. >> it's 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's like, hypersexualization around us as well. >> started aggressively walking towards me. >> reporter: 25-year-old anne kim said last march, she was leaving her friend's apartment in upper west side when she was accosted and forced to seek safety in the lobby. >> even having your mask or other clothing on, i was targeted. a woman came towards me saying,

you asian bit hch, i'll [ bleep kill you and kept saying it as she started approaching me. >> reporter: carolyn king wrote about her encounters on social media. a stranger screamed at her blaming her for the pandemic and 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 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 bitch. michelle go, pushed to dth in front of an oncoming train by a man reportedly mentally ill. six asian american women killed in a spa shooting spree in

atlanta. not all have been deemed hate crimes but 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 mary, isn't immune to this reality. >> i try not to go anywhere alone. >> why? >> i'm scared that something might happen to me. we are equally, if not more afraid of things that might happen to the most vulnerable of our community, our grandmothers and our mothers. these are ths 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 no one can come and push me into the tracks. luckily, they were there to open the door for me. >> reporter: while anne is hypervigilant. >> i have asked strangers to walk me home. >> reporter: amanda is dreading the warmer weather. >> everyone's like, spring is here and i'm, part of me is happy but part of me is so anxious to be shedding these layers and letting my features show. >> jim, just think about that. amanda there admitting she felt safer during the winter because she could actually hide the fact that she is asian under all those layers, wearing a mask, a hat, zbsunglasses and a scarf.

it's alarming to a lot of people, to hear these statistics. four to five fold increases in these cities when it comes to anti-asian incidents but it's widely believed that it doesn't capture the true scope of the violence and harassment that asian americans, especially women, are facing on a regular basis. in fact, those ladies admitted to me that they did not report some of those incidents because, number one, they've gotten accustomed to the harassment they faced over many, many years and the frustration that they have not been taken seriously when they have reported these racially charged incidents, jim. >> no one should feel accustomed to that sort of harassment. great reporting, amara walker, thank you so much. thanks so much to all of you for joining us on this busy news day. i'm jim sciutto. "at this hour" with kate bolduan starts right after a quick break. rapid wrinkle repair® smsmooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles goodbdbye! neutrogena®

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this is cnn breaking news. hello, everyone, i'm kate bolduan. we begin with major developments on the war in ukraine. russia said it will drastically reduce military operations near kyiv and the city of chernihiv as there are signs in progress and talks between russia and ukraine in turkey today. both sides have even discussed the possibility of meeting, a meeting between putin and zelenskyy, but there are countless reasons to be very skeptical. russia continues its relentles