it's to top to have hour on cnn news room. we're awaiting a briefing from the pentagon at any moment. this as the u.s. sees a major strategy shift by russia its invasion of ukraine. both the u.s. and ukraine see signs of russian forces starting to withdraw troops away from the ukrainian capital of kyiv. the russian ministry of defense confirmed that moscow will now quote drastically reduce military activity in kyiv, but

one russian negotiator clarified the deescalation is not a cease-fire. russia's comments follow today's so called deescalation talks between ukraine and russia and istanbul for tr first time, russia and ukraine say there is enough progress to warrant a meeting between ukrainian president and vladmir putin. there are word of caution from president biden and his top diplomats. >> we'll see. i don't read anything into it. let's see what they have to offer. >> what can say is this, there is what russia says and there's what russia does. we'll focus on the latter.

tell us about this deadly missile strike. >> reporter: the death toll climbed in the last hour. incredible. emergency services said 33 people were injured in that blast. let's start with the very latest on the ukraine, russia talks. i want to bring in diplomatic deaeditor. we're hearing optimism from both sides. >> yeah, there's potential of a road map forward. they have proven themselves to be untrustworthy in the past.

>> reporter: i've got to cut you off. we have to get to the pentagon. there's a press conference happening. >> i want to take a couple of minutes at the beginning of the briefing to talk about things in ukraine. there's been a lot of reporting on withdrawals and russian decisions. we have seen that russia has attempted now for going on a month to sell this war of theirs to its domestic audience as a quote lyiberation of the donbas. however, the intensified rhetoric over the last year and the lead up to russia's invasion

demonstrated the kremlin's real intent was to over throw the democratica ally elected government and annex portions of ukraine. the rapid advance to kyiv in the initial days of the war showed very clearly for all of us ta kyiv in the capital city was a key objective for the russians. we ought not be fooling ourselves by the kremlin's now recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near kyiv or any reports

it will withdraw all its forces. has there been some movement by some russian units away from kyiv in the last day or so? yeah. we think so. small numbers. we believe this is a repositioning and not a withdrawal. it does not mean it's over. we see that today with air strikes against the cap it will. mr. putin's goals stretch far beyond the donbas. recent talking points may be an effort to move the goal posts.

it's too early to judge what additional action the kremlin may take. that's not accidental. we talked about that a little bit. it's partly a result of the training an support. we and other allies over the last eight years have been given to ukrainian armed forces. united states together with partners and allies, we'll continue to provide that support going forward to meet security needs as they bravely stand up to this russian aggression. i thought it was important to set it straight on that. i've seen lot of reporting on the so called withdrawals. now in other news, this is a

long standing military exercise conducted between the u.s. and armed forces . exercise locations will consistent of three primary component pps a bilateral exercise as well as humanitarian and civilic assistance . last but not least, today, the

final covid-19 response team and active duty status supporting 59 cities across 30 states completed their mission at the university of utah hospital in salt lake city. more than 24,000 military members in active duty status have provided support. it included 58 medical providers that supported hospital and other sevcivilian medical facilities. in january of this year, the department activated more than 1,000 service members in support of the president's direction to mobilize additional military personnel. of those service members, dod deployed nearly 700 who supported 25 hospitals in 14 states from january to march.

the rest of the members were on stand by throughout the time period ready to deploy at the request of fema if they were required. it's important note that while the title 10 covid response may have come to a close, as of this morning, there's still more than 10,800 national service and airmen supporting covid-19 response efforts in 43 state, territories and the district of columbia. i also want to add north com remains deployed . with that, we'll take questions. bob. >> thank you. >> on ukraine, when you say you are seeing small numbers of russian troops moving, you say

they are repositioning, would that be less than battalion tactical group? >> this is a very early on, bob. we don't have a number estimate but it's not a significant chunk of the multiple battalion tactical groups that russia has amassed near kyiv. we can fon firm we seen a small number start to reposition but i'd really be reticent to get into an exact number of try to put a unit on it. it's not anywhere near the majority. sdm s >> are they moving north into belarus or repositioning for an offensive somewhere else? >> i would say at this early stage, we see the movement more northward.

we believe it's likely more repositioning to be used elsewhere in ukraine. where exactly, we don't know. i would note that the russians themselves have said in the same breath they are saying they're withdrawing, that they are reprioritizing the donbas area in eastern ukraine. that's a question better put to the russian ministry of defense if they will ever give you a straight answer. >> are they moving their own supplies? >> again, very early stages here.

they only recently made the proclamation. i don't have information on resupply efforts. >> just trying to understand something. if you're talk about small numbe number, do you think what you're seeing now or more numbers? you're saying they might be pulling out the forces to redeploy somewhere else. if they are small numbers are they going to make any difference if they were redeployed? >> it's a great question. i don't know. all i can see you is what we're seeing. we're seeing a small number

moving from kyiv. we're not prepared to call this a withdrawal. >> do they still have enough forces on the ground do run kyiv in case they decided to relaunch some kind of attack on the city. >> i'm not going to predict what the russian military plan is. my answer to bob, very, very small numbers that we see move at this point. they still have the vast majority of the forces they had assembled an kyiv are still there. as i said before, we assess they are in defensive posture. they have several days ago stopped trying to advance on kyiv and took up defensive positions. >> three questions, please. >> let me start writing. >> i'll ask them one at a time. the missiles launched in ukraine at this point.

>> i don't have an update on the missiles. we know since the beginning of this launch more than 1,000 but i don't have an exact number. >> okay. secondly, does the pentagon still consider russia a competitor? >> i think you can take way from what we talked about yesterday when we released the budget p has it changed. >> we consider russia as an acute threat. >> it seems like envision a security guarantee like article 5 with nato. my question is does the pentagon think that's feasible.

these are nay to countries. >> i think we're not going to get ahead of where ukraine and russia are on their discussions. russia should negotiate in good faith. they had an opportunity to end this war many, many times. the war could end today if mr. putin did the right thing and actually did withdraw all his forces from ukraine and respect ukrainian sovereignty. as for what that settlement looks like, that's really between russia and ukraine.

we wouldn't dictate the terms. let me go back over here. >> when you retreat and leave forces in place and recover the retreat, are the movements that you're seeing so far, are they consistent with what a retreat from kyiv would look like? >> too soon to tell on first question. this is only hours old that the russians made this announcement. we only seen very small numbers of troops begin to move away from kyiv. way too soon to make a judgment on covering forces and that kind

of thing. what would it take to believe it? move all their forces out of ukraine. get them out. negotiate in good faith. we're basing sochl that on the clear indications that they are reprioritizing in the donbas. >> diz that signal a change in russia's priority level.

it's remained a priority here at the department. if you're asking me to rack and stack it like a baseball card collection, i'm not going to do that. we assess russia to be a threat. it's pretty clear in the points we delivered since delivering the budget yesterday and in our strategy that russia remains a significant issue for the department.

>> could you talk about the conditions that led to the decision to end that. >> end the support? we were doing this in support of fema. the conditions are better in the country. remember what we were doing is taking the pressure off civilian practitioners so they can do the treatment. most of our medical personnel operating in hospital were not doing covid treat. that as appreciated and welcomed.

northern command stands ready in case there's need. we can flex. we didn't deploy all the troops we had put on readiness to do this mission. this pandemic is a needed thing. we're grateful for the chance that we had to contribute to this and we'll standby and stay ready. again, at the risk of sounding redundant, i want to point out the fact that you still have more than 10,000 national guards men that are at it. they're still at it in the states. >> have you seen any territorial losses and have you seen any change of the amount or type of missile strike russia has

launched on kyiv in the last fi days few days that you feel would be tied to this? >> we have seen ukrainians push back in suburbs to the west of dyiv where the ukrainians have taken ground. i don't have a list of the towns. we have seen them retake territories to the west of kyiv. we talked about this about a week ago, to the east of kyiv. i couldn't give you a number over the course of time. we to see kyiv being struck from

the air. the threat is not over. we don't have it but we continue to see strikes on kyiv. we're not kwconvinced the threa has been diminished. >> i've been very careful not to lay out russian operations.

it's not prudent for me to do it. we don't have exact details of where every tactical group is. i couldn't tell you how many tries are against kyiv and kharkiv. the force we saw is sdil there. we'll watch this over the course of the coming days. we have seen even before the russians said they were going to prioritize the donbas, we saw them pick up the pace there. more aggress ifr operations. more active cam taning against towns and villages in the donbas. that continues today.

we have seen the intensity pick up. where that goes rngs we don't know. we have seen ukrainians be just as baactive in the donbas. we have been talking about a month for three main axis. north and north ooets. kyiv and kharkiv. that whole northern grouping was really designed against the capital city . obviously day there's a lot ov heavy fighting still going on

there. you have seen that for yourselves. to the northwest out of crimea and an attempt of what we saw was an attempt to take a town which they have not been able to do. those are the three main groupings and three main lines of effort. up until recently, we still assess that was their plan was to, as i said in my opening statement to occupy and annex ukraine using approaches on those three lines. we see them prioritizing the east.

i couldn't quantify that for you. let me go to someone on the phone. i haven't done that yet. courtney. >> hi, thanks. can you talk a bit about president's comments yesterday when he said that u.s. troops, he said u.s. troops are training ukrainian military. what kind of training are they providing and how long has that been going on? >> courtney, i think general walters dealt with this pretty well in his hearing this morning in front of the senate arms service committee.

jane. >> thank you. >> i'll come back to you. i promise. >> one more question. >> do they think the russian forces were defeated in their attempt to take kyiv. >> i said as much in my opening statement. they failed to take kyiv. they failed to take kyiv. we believe that kyiv was a key objective. >> did you note those small numbers leading before the

russians made pun blic they proposal that this was being done in good faith. in other words, are words following actions you have seen taking place? >> i wouldn't give you a time exactly whether it was exactly the moment that the russians decided to announce it. we're not tabking anything they say at face value. i'm being as honest as i can. small number seems to move. we're not prepared to buy the russian argument that it's a withdrawal. >> i'm comfortable with the wap i characterize it. >> i want to take another whack

at it. i feel like you're describing, it sounds like you are describing it's been five week, almost five weeks now and it sounds very much like you're describing a failed military campaign. would you go that far or is that too much? what we're seeing now, is this a failed military campaign? >> i don't think we're prepared to slap a bumper sticker on this now. there are still people dying. there's still bombs falling. there's still missiles flying. they will still give and take on the battlefield. i don't think we're ready to call it one way or the other here. what i would tell you is, as i said in my opening statement, they failed to take kyiv which we believe was a key objective. you have to look at what they tried to do in the early days to see they wanted kyiv.

they didn't get it. we'll see where this goes. they failed to take and hold any major population centers. they haven't taken kharkiv . they did not manage to take any population centers. the ukrainians have been fighting back hard. it's hard to see how they are succeeding in any one place

exsent at the death and destruction they are causing to these population centers and the civilian population. that's something we can lose sight of. >> on that note, that seems to be a good place to break and dig deeper on what we have been hearing. he said the pentagon assess is russian troops have repositioned around kyiv. they're no withdrawing. can you help us visualize what he was describing there? >> yeah. let's look at it this way. first of all, the ukrainians are not out of the fight.

we're going to move back like a video game. this is smiganything but a vide game. this area right here as a result of ukrainian forces, they reclaimed that. they've cleared out this area. these lines have remained in tact as has all of this. the russians now feel in this particular area that they are at risk not because they decided they will withdraw but ybecause the ukrainians are taking the fight to russians. this is a retreat under pressure .

>> you know what, it does feel different today. it's still unclear on the ground what exactly all of it means. they're saying some russian forces may be moving back towards belarus. they believe this could be some repositioning as well.

they were telling us in past couple of days there's been a considerable up tick in the firing coming from the russians. they believe the russians may be drawing their forces and want to leave sdcorched earth and maybe covering wanting to move away from positions. unclear whether or not that's the case. it's been a great deal of movement over the three days in terms of intensity of the firing going on .

they believe it could have something to do if the russians are repositioning to somewhere else and maybe could have something to do that that. >> it's so helpful to have you there to explain that of what's happen on the front line. nick, that leads me to you. what we heard is cautioning all of us not to fall for what he was characterizing as russian spin in terms of the russian foreign defense minister trying to claim we liberated the donbas achbd and that was our goal. >> reporter: the kremlin has to protect the image of prosecute putin.

i think to get a real sense where russia thinks fight is going and how it thinks it's going to fight and to get an idea of where their mind set is on the rest of the conflict going on. there's a ring of ukrainian defenders trying to defend that civilian population in a city that's so badly damaged by russian shell fire and missiles.

they said the way to get high man tear yan relief was for the ukrainian forces to surrender, put down their weapon. i think that told do you everything that we need to know about what the kremlin intends to do. its fight is carrying on. it will try to secure the southern corridor. try to secure donbas . >> what the message to the domestic russian audience versus what we can see with our own eyes. when john kirby says the russian forces are in a defensive posture in some places, what does that mean?

>> well, we saw the lead up to today's statement. the statement from the russians that they will back away from kyiv a few days ago. the pentagon said they are witnesses, that russian forces around kyiv instead of trying to go on adttack, they digging in perhaps for the long haul. it's easier to defend there and that's the position they are taking. we heard from fred that increased fire is right. it could be fire covering a retreat or simply continuation of the scorched earth campaign.

. moi it's waiting the see if it's repositioned to back up and reenforce the fight around donbas. ukraine has a significant portion of its fighting force in the east trying to push back against the russians and the p pentagon says it's where the russians will focus the fight. i will point out that it's interesting where pentagon press secretary john kirby started his briefing. generally he starts with tactical over view. he started by dispelling the russian narrative that they were only going after donbas. he pointed out this was always the role of russia. that has fallen apart. he wouldn't go to say it was a failed military campaign but he seemed to be hinting around the edges as russia shifts the strategy away from kyiv and looking at southeast ukraine. >> one more indication of what you're talking about is when we

heard john kirby say they russians haven't taken any major population centers. would you tell us at the beginning of this carwar, seeme they were going to take major population centers or the ukrainians were much more formidable than the russians ex expected. >> the russians had no clue. they were clueless in terms of the capability of the ukrainian military and the will to resist the ukrainiukrainians. they added inappropriate view of their own readiness.

the deal was that was an objective. they came hot and heavy and along these different axes. all of those have been individually isolated. there's no coordination among any of these. the repositioning of forces that might take place would have to take some route like that which will give a lot of intelligence indicators, the world would have a sense of what's taking place if there's a shift. this campaign is far from over nor is anyone in a positioning to say we got a victory.

the u.s. military assessment is rush sla appears to be repositioning its forces in kyiv. the spokesperson said nobody should be fooled into thinking putin plans to withdraw entirely despite some indications that some of the troops are moving back, pushing back or repositioning. your reaction to everything you heard. the kremlin basically saying mission accomplished. as you heard from our correspondents, something does seem to have shifted around kyiv today. >> nothing has changed. the ultimate goal of russia is to take over ukraine.

the ultimate goal of russia is to fight against it. nothing has changed. do you remember a few months ago when russia said they withdraw troops from ukrainian border, it hasn't happened. they waged a war against ukraine. the firgs goal is russia wants to show some the international community that they are ready to negotiate in so called good faith. john kirby said we expect russia to negotiate in good faith to stop the war. i don't trust this. russia did everything to wage the war.

they fail to encircle and take over kyiv. the third goal is to send a signal to some european countries that we're back on track on negotiating table. >> i appreciate this reality check that you're giving all of us. do you think that however they are spinning it because they haven't had success in kyiv that they are reassessing and maybe now they are more open to negotiating because they haven't been able to take kyiv .

i ask to ramp up sanctions. >> let me ask you this because lately your president, president zelenskyy has been talking about being open to a neutral ukraine. i know that you have been opposed and you said there can be no neutrality for ukraine.

just scquare that for me. >> i do support the efforts of ukrainian government deliver peace and stability. i want to remind your viewers in 2013, ukrainian legislation enshrined neutrality scheduled. what happened in the end in putin annexed crimea. with already paid the price for neutrality. i don't believe in any neutrality in this.

it's black and white. whether we're under the shelter of nato. russia will try always to take over ukraine. >> thank you. stay safe. we'll talk again. >> thank you. back here, the january 6 committee is reportedly missing more than 7 hours of white house phone records from the day of the capital insurrection. lawmakers want to know who president trump was talking to and when and about what. their challenge to figure that out now. that's next. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain peperforman. more brain performance? yes, p please! neuriva.a. think bigger.

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kherson. seven hours and 37 minutes, how much time is missing from former president trump's phone logs on the day of the capitol insurrection. this comes from documents given to the house select committee and on btained by the post. paula reed and former prosecutor jeff toobin. these logs are fascinating. about every eight minutes a phone call comes into the president or going out and suddenly stops about 11:17. and then almost an eight hour gap. >> exactly. massive gap at one of the most critical moments in u.s. history. knowing what we do about the former president's phone habits and what was going on at that moment, it seems improbable no

calls from coming to or from the president. they're looking at weather the former president used back channels to conceal who he was talking to. today, one committee member said look, it's possible that he was using the phones of his associate, using a different office phone, suggesting it is possible he was using a burner phone. jamie raskin also said there's a possibility somebody is suppressing release of this information. this is a point the committee does not know. but it is a line of inquiry they're pursuing. >> i am fascinated by the phone records. every eight minutes, steve bannon calls at 8:38, rudy guiliani, jim jordan, then it just stops. one thing to know, the former

communications strategist for the white house told us in an interview that she often tried to communicate him on signal, an encrypted app. will the investigators ever be able to find out what happened? >> i listened to paula's report. thought she said with elegant understatement improbable that he wasn't on the phone these periods. it is definitely improbable to the point of ridiculous, that the phone app -- they don't have a john dean who was the white house insider underwater gate who basically spilled the beans. they have a lot of very suggestive, very incriminating information that needs to be elaborated and explained. one of the things you learn as prosecutor, there's only so much you can do with documents.

you need someone on the inside to explain what the documents mean and what was going on. at least as far as i am aware, they don't have that insider yet and that's a big problem. >> another thing, sounds like members of the house select committee, january 6th committee are frustrated with the department of justice because they can only do so much. let me play what we heard from the committee members. >> the committee is doing their job, department of justice department must do theirs. >> they must act swiftly. i will echo what my colleagues already said but more bluntly, attorney general garland, do your job so that we can do ours. >> is it time for department of justice department to do something about this? >> the committee should do it themselves. they can hold hearings. they can release documents.

like let's go. all these bits and pieces are ko coming out. let's see the committee tell a story. that's the thing for anybody that's not a real junkie like we are following each development, you need someone or some hearing or some paper or something to lay it all out together in a way that ordinary people can unde understand. complaining about department of justice is a separate issue. the committee has a job to do and they should do it. >> paula, what about that? what's the next step. >> reporter: the committee would like it to be to move on the referral against former white house chief of staff mark meadows. last night voted to refer two more top trump advisers, peter navarro, dan scavino for

contempt. you have this judge in california, show a 44 page opinion that read like a legal memo to the attorney general saying yeah, it is more likely than not trump committed a crime. the attorney general is facing pressure from different areas. i agree that the committee can do a lot, but at the end of the day they can't do what it is they want to have happen, which is to seek consequences for people that have not cooperated in their investigation. only the justice department can do that. in terms of the call logs, one thing to see a call came in or went out. when you think of who he was talking to, if none of them are going to cooperate with the committee, you're unlikely to get any answers about what the president was saying at that time. >> that is so true. also think about the steve bannon situation, they did find him in contempt, but that's on a slow boat to no where, that case. all of the contempt proceedings

are likely to last longer than the democratic majority in the house. >> jeffrey, paula. thank you both. "thehe lead with jake tapper" starts after a quick breakak. because subway now has italian-style capicola on the new mozza meat and supreme meats. love the smell of italian food. subway k keeps refreshing and refres- i'm ben affleck and i want to thank you for joining me and supporting paralyzed veterans of america. i joined the navy to serve my country as a navy seal. i wanted to protect the people i love and the

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your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire the russians claimed they would not invade ukraine. why would anyone believe what they have to say this time. "the lead" starts now. the white house adding skepticism to russia's so-called strategy shift, claiming forces will retreat from the capital city kyiv. ahead, a member of ukraine's parliament helping push back putin's army as member of the ukrainian resistance. plus, as refugees flee ukraine, medical foot soldiers move in, offering their expertise in hard hit areas of russia's invasion.

and the january 6th investigation committee wraps up its investigation. zeroing in on a suspicious seven hour gap in trump call logs as rioters storm the capitol. welcome to "the lead." i am jake tapper. start with breaking news on the world lead. president biden and top administration officials making clear they will not believe russia's newest claims of deescalation until they see it happening on the ground in ukraine for themselves. >> we'll see. i don't read anything into it until i see what their actions are. >> there is what russia says and there's what russia does. we are focused on the latter. what russia is doing is brutalization of ukraine. >> we are not prepared to call this a retreat or withdrawal, we think what they probably have in mind is repositioning to prioritize elsewhere. >> earlier today after another

round of negotiations ukraine, russian officials claim they plan to drastically reduce military assault on kyiv and the northeastern city of chern he have. they're seeing some signs of a shift in russian strategy, including withdrawal of some russian troops around kyiv. but u.s. officials believe it is just repositioning of troops, not a withdrawal, and the apparent change in strategy does not mean the russian assault on other parts of ukraine let up in any way. video shows the moment a strike hit a government building in a southwestern town today. local media said at least 12 ukrainians were killed in that attack. let's get to chief international anchor christiane amanpour. there are so many reasons for the world to be skeptical about what putin's true intentions are at this point. >> reporter: jake, that's absolutely right. i think the best one can say

now, whatever has come out of the kremlin, the u.s. is right and the ukrainians see it. there's no evidence of major scale retreat. and to be fair, the russians haven't said that. they've actually said they're going to maybe back off a little bit in terms of the big cities like kyiv, because why? they have not been able to take it, and reposition and redirect their forces to where they are pretty well manned up, which is in the eastern part of the country, which they already occupy or part of it, and they want to consolidate that and expand that piece of territory along with in the south. the best you can really hope for now is a shift or at least the best kyiv can hope for is a shift. i was outdoor with one of the key lawmakers, a parliamentarian, but right now, everybody is with zelenskyy and the government and the country. she told me on no account will

this city or will they let it fall. day 34 of war and the sounds are all around. >> there we go. yeah. that sort of disturbs your day all the time but you learn to live with it. >> reporter: she says after a month of this, she like her president and country folk believe the russians will never take this city. though fighting does continue in the suburbs. she wanted to meet in the square where ukrainians stood up for their rights in 2014 and brought down putin's wrath and revenge. given his battlefield setbacks, i asked whether his shifting demands make a diplomatic compromise easier for ukraine to accept. now there's word we don't know whether it is going to bear fruit but that they might allow ukraine to join eu as long as they renounce nato. is that a compromise ukraine would accept? >> all of this started 34 days

ago because one country cannot declare itself more sovereign than another country. and russia tried to do just that. we cannot go for that compromise because that compromise to putin would also mean a compromise of the general framework of defense and security of the world. giving in to dictators means incentivizing them. >> reporter: the resistance surprised the world, including vladimir putin. >> three days they gave us, putin thought he would be here in a matter of hours. we are doing this for our very survival and when the survival instinct kicks in, people can do amazing things. people become superheros. this is what you're witnessing in ukraine. >> reporter: she's armed with guns, the ak 47 is at home today, but shows me her pistol, held close to her heart. >> reporter: when we spoke first week of the war, you said i've got my machine gun and you tweeted i also have my

manicures. your resistance takes many, many forms and you're actually carrying your pistol now. >> i do have it with me. i carry it with me all the time. >> reporter: did you ever imagine as an mp in 2022 in ukraine you would be forced to carry a gun around? >> never. i am anti-gun. it causes problem because to recharge it, you have to do this thing and with the nails, i have beautiful long nails, it was impossible to do so. they had to all come off. >> reporter: so people are clear, the idea of beauty, self maintenance is also resistance. >> yes. all jokes aside, it is an important element for all women fighting alongside the men folk here. the women still want to be beautiful, they still want to have dignity as women. >> reporter: and to be human.

you said to putin you don't exist. >> we say life goes on, we carry on living. your fighting against us is in the background now, we'll go on fighting for it as long as we have to but we will go on living at the same time. >> reporter: she's still an mp, parliament is still passing laws. and since an army marches on its stomach, this, too, is their fight, their war effort. so the ordinary becomes extraordinary, feeling car atmoots as if they were stacking bullets. chopping onions with efficiency and purpose. do you feel you're going to win? >> of course. he said you must destroy the russian army. >> reporter: they helped turn out 600 meals a day and counting for the army and territorial defense, the hospitals and shelters. outside, she shows me pictures

of her three young children who she had to send away for their safety. >> this is my baby from this morning. >> reporter: how old? >> ten months in a couple of days. >> reporter: that must be painful to be without her. >> it is. she's looking at me like really, mommy? really? you're going to be away from me? >> reporter: staying on the front lines with this struggle comes at a huge personal cost, but lessia has no doubts. >> i am where i have to be. things happen for a reason. there's a reason i was collected in 2019. we have a task, a duty, and we will complete it and then we will see where life takes us. >> reporter: so jake, just as we have been speaking, air ride sirens in kyiv have been going off again. it is clear that activity is still, you know, heavy around this area. the mp is going to france to try

to keep mobilizing international support. they still need as much support as possible. they need weapons because clearly they're using them all day and every day to stave off the russians and need them replenished and done fast. >> christiane amanpour in kyiv, ukraine. thank you so much. today, president biden spoke with key european allies before hosting prime minister of singapore where they discussed support for ukraine and ways to better deter further russian aggression. president biden also addressed whether or not he believes the kremlin is serious about the idea they will de-escalate around kyiv and another northwestern ukrainian city. mj lee is live at the white house. president biden officials are pushing back on the idea that russia is scaling back in any way, it is overall offensive on ukraine. >> reporter: that's right, jake. even as russia says it is going to drastically reduce some military attack in some cities in ukraine, including capital city of kyiv, ukrainian

officials say they're beginning to see some withdrawal of russian troops. the u.s. is making it clear this afternoon that there's reason to be cautious and skeptical when president biden was asked about the developments earlier this afternoon. he said it is simply too early to tell. >> i am not reading anything into it until i see what their actions are. meantime, we're going to keep strong with sanctions, continue to provide the ukrainian military with capacity to defend themselves. and we are going to continue to keep a close eye on what's going on. >> reporter: since biden made the comments, pentagon and white house officials have further elaborated to say any russian military movement is currently seen by the u.s. as a redeployment, not withdrawal, and that the threat to kyiv remains very real. there could even be possibility of a new major offensive coming from russia in the coming days.

the white house just said, quote, we are not going to take their word for it, we'll wait to see what their actions look like. all of this coming as president biden had a jam packed day meeting with the prime minister of singapore where ukraine was of course a major topic, and earlier today he had a call with european leaders, including leaders of germany, france, italy and the uk. i should note quickly on that call, the white house coms director said comments that president biden made over the weekend that vladimir putin cannot remain in power, those comments didn't come up in that call with european officials. jake? >> mj lee at the white house, thank you so much. russia may be claiming to reduce the footprint near kyiv but that's not the part in other parts of ukraine. and breaking news out of israel. a deadly shooting near tel aviv as fears broke about possible resurgence of isis. stay with us.

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continuing with our world lead. we turn our focus to southern ukraine where russian forces continue brutal relentless attacks on the ukrainian people. surveillance video shows the incoming missile highlighted here. the building shakes and a plume of dust and smoke begin to rise. the nine story building is still standing but a huge hole in it, 12 killed at least and others wounded. it has been the focus of russian attacks. yet ukrainians remain there, including the individual with those individuals, ben wedeman. ben, where were you during this morning's attack and what have you seen in the aftermath? >> reporter: jake, now we're hearing an air raid siren. we were in this hotel at

8:45 a.m. local time when we heard a large blast. it was at the headquarters of the regional governor which is really right in the middle of the city. it would appear this was very intentional. this is a regional governor who has been very outspoken, very active during this last month of bloodshed here in mykolaiv. they have been pushed back, but as we see with the siren wailing outside, as we saw from the strike on the regional governor's office, they still have the ability to lob missiles and bombs into this city. now, in the area around the governor's office there are lots of people, lots of residential buildings, many of which all the

windows were shattered. it was just a few hours later we were there for quite awhile. people were sweeping up the glass, trying to get back to normal life. many people have fled mykolaiv, but for the most part the population is sticking it out. this afternoon, we were outside of the city and we saw that there was more outgoing ukrainian fire than incoming russian fire, and the ukrainian forces have made significant progress to push the russians away from the city but not quite far enough, jake. >> ben wedeman, thank you so much. joining us from lviv in western ukraine to talk about the attack on ukraine, she's on leave from doctors without borders, currently the emergency communication coordinator in ukraine.

you're not a doctor, but what are your people who are doctors and nurse and the like seeing on the ground, what range of wuouns are they treating? >> it is incredibly impressive. i would say what we're seeing in the ukrainian health system that surgical teams, surgeons, nurses, they are in the hospitals that we are able to access. you have to bear in mind, there are a number of places we cannot access where they're encircled or where it is far too volatile for us to be able to send teams. following mariupol, chern heave, kherson, but in other cases we are finding an appetite to prepare for mass casualty influx of wounded people at once. surgeons are interested, keen to learn from an organization like us that has experience of war

surgery, triage in situations like this. they've been doing a lot of training with them and helping them with supplies. while staff are there, they are overworked but on the job. they indicated to usu that they lack medical supplies. that's one of the things we're offering. >> talk about medical supplies. i know that's something the ukrainian people and medical professionals are in dire need of, things like oxygen, medicine, bandages. how are you getting that equipment in? it is still possible to bring supplies in through various routes through poland, slovakia, tricks to navigate the security environment. the train system seems to be working well. that's another way we are able to move shipments to and from, so it is sometimes far too

difficult. i will tell you, there was a convoy of supplies we were working with other organizations to reach mariupol and it was far too dangerous on the road leading to it, littered with land mine's that perhaps a car could get through, but not a transport truck with significant amounts of cargo so it is also of course a dangerous and volatile environment. sometimes you reach a place and you have to hunker down while you are assessing allowed us to go further. what's also happening, if we can bring it to a warehouse, central place accessible by hospitals that requested supplies, sometimes they're sending cars with their own drivers with doctors to come pick it up from us. we're just making do the best we can. >> what about medical care for noncombatants, how are civilians with serious health problems getting treated? >> incredibly difficult because

in a context like this in a situation of war often the authorities -- >> we're having. could you give that answer again? oh, there we go. >> i'm sorry, the air alarm. >> go seek safety. we appreciate your time. >> i will finish the answer. >> no, go seek shelter. talk to you soon. once refugees make it out of ukraine, figuring out life away from home, how that process is proceeding is next. (music throughout)

in our world lead, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy warned of an address vladimir putin wants to ensure after the brutal assault, nothing but ruins and refugees will remain. the european union says children makeup half the more than 3.9 million people that fled russia's bloody attack on ukraine. they're homesick and heartbroken while their husbands and son

remain to defend the country. >> reporter: they fled from russian missiles, now wait for polish papers. all they want is to be in ukraine. we have been waiting four hours yells a woman out of frustration. i have a special needs child. but every refugee here, almost all women and mothers, has needs. more than 2 million ukrainian refugees in poland have to show documents if they want a polish national identification number for official services. >> you can work. >> reporter: she and her two children waited since 3:00 in the morning, six hours later they got that national number so she can work. i wish i could continue my old life, she says. there she had a job, family. her husband now fights in the war. it was taken away, she says of her life.

i have to live here by force. while she's grateful to build a safe life in poland for her children, i want to go to ukraine, she says. you hear the story repeated again and again from women pulled from their lives, stuck in a purgatory of passing time while the war rages at home. this is where you live? this cot is her life. >> i work in ukraine. i am police. >> reporter: she was. she now grabs a kneon vest instead. she arrived in early march. most refugees leave in days for temporary housing or for other countries. it has been a month and she refuses to, unless it is to go home to her life in kyiv where

her brothers are on the frontlines. do you think you'll see them again? >> no. . >> reporter: yes, she says, they talk twice a week at most. i think everything will be fine, she says. at least i hope for it. not just my brothers but everyone. but life outside the war doesn't stop. she wishes it would. if i have to, she says, i'll do it. we'll start. the extraordinary thing talking to all these women, every single person we talked to believes this is temporary, this life in poland. they see the same news you're delivering on the program, they're seeing the images,

having to explain to their children. when you ask them, they believe this is all temporary, they'll be able to go back home to ukraine and pick up life where it stopped. jake? >> kyung lah in warsaw, thank you so much. also breaking in the world lead, another deadly attack in what's become a disturbing series of terrorist incidents in israel that left 11 people dead in 8 days. at least 5 people killed in the latest attack today near tel aviv. israeli media says there may have been multiple assail anlts on motorcycle. isis claims it was behind two other deadly attacks on israelis. one on sunday that left two people dead and another last tuesday that killed four. in the wake of the attack on israelis, they're placed on the highest alert level. coming up next, the key questions lawmakers are asking

about the january 6th insurrection and reported seven hour gap in white house call logs as the capitol riot unfolded. stay with us. - wooo. - wooo. wooooo!!!!! woohooooo!!!! w-o-o-o-o-o... yeah, feel the savings. priceline. every trip is a big deal.

the january 6th house committee investigating the deadly insurrection is zeroing in on seven hours and 30 minutes, the amount of time missing from president trump's call logs according to "the washington post." cnn first reported a gap in his phone records in february. as paula reed records, house committee members are looking to see if he was using someone else's phone or burner phone to

get in touch with allies while the capitol building was being violently assaulted by his supporters. >> reporter: a key mystery for the january 6th house select committee to solve who was talking to then president trump during the insurrection and why is there a gap in the official phone records. >> could be a burner phone for all we know. also the possibility that somebody is deliberately suppressing release of the materials. we just don't know. >> reporter: cnn previously reporting records turned over to the committee show no calls to or from trump several hours as violence unfolded on capitol hill. "the washington post" reporting that gap stretched for seven hours and 37 minutes. bob wood ward was one of those that broke the story. >> he is a telephone addict. the idea that nothing happened in the afternoon on the phone

january 6 is unlikely as the sun not rising. >> reporter: all of the revelations adding to pressure on attorney general merrick garland to pursue investigations or even bring charges against trump or his allies. >> attorney general garland, do your job so we can do ours. >> reporter: monday night, members of the january 6 committee venting frustration with the justice department which still hasn't acted on the house's criminal contempt referral against former white house chief of staff mark meadows. now the full house will vote on the committee's recommendation to refer two more top trump advisers who are refusing to cooperate to the justice department for possible prosecution. dan scavino, peter navarro. >> department of justice department has a tduty to act o this and other referrals. without oversight, no

accountability, not for the former president or any other president, past, present or future. >> reporter: also monday a federal judge in california writing trump more likely than not committed a crime when he and conservative attorney john eastman tried to block congress counting votes on january 6. the 44 page opinion in a case over the subpoena for eastman's emails reads like a legal memo to garland, with the judge writing the illegality of the plan was obvious. trump spokesperson calling that ruling absurd. benny thompson praised it saying. >> this ruling is a clear victory for the rule of law. >> reporter: when we reached out today to the justice department, they referred us back to garland's speech where he said the department is committed to holding january 6 perpetrators at any level accountable. son-in-law and former adviser jared kushner will appear voluntarily before the house select committee.

the white house said it will not assert executive privilege over his testimony, that's consistent with how they handled other former white house advisers. jake? >> thanks so much. let's discuss this with senior legal analyst, former u.s. attorney for southern district of new york during the obama administration. back in february, cnn reported about a large gap in trump's call records on january 6, they're investigating if he used back channels, other people's phones, burner phones. if the committee received full logs that day, if trump engaged in a possible coverup. if they can prove those points, what might be the ramifications. >> not a good look for the former president of the united states. >> clearly hiding something. >> yes, there's some nuance. i think it is a fundamental matter. it shows that he and others around him didn't want people to know what they were up to. it would be part of the report

the committee puts forward are. also the predicate for any criminal case the justice department may bring, we don't know if they're in processor orf there is a process. trump's people say it was the former president's practice to use other people's phones, not keep records. a pattern and practice of his over the four years. they will say so there's no particular effort or attempt to cover up this particular few hours of phone logs, that's just the way the guy was. i don't know how far it gets them. practice of not maintaining records and sometimes records are flushed down the toilet, ripped up, sometimes they find their way to mar-a-lago. basically shows a president of the united states that wanted to conceal lots of things across a lot of issues. i don't think the argument i expect will be helpful to them. >> you referred to the justice department criminal investigation in addition to the january 6th investigation.

according to "new york times," federal prosecutors are focusing one tweet from december 19th might have become a catalyst for insurrections, part of trump's message in the tweet read big protest in d.c. on january 6th. be there. will be wild. how much weight can one give this in a criminal case against the president, that could be interpreted any number of ways. >> as prosecutors say when they sum up cases and open kacases, is the sum total of evidence. republicans defending donald trump like to cabin that inquiry to a couple hours. justice department looks at the big picture, this day he sent this tweet, another day called an official in georgia, another day, let's find the votes, another day conspiring with steve bannon and other people. that particular tweet on its own in a vacuum doesn't say a whole hell of a lot, but in combination with lots and lots of other things, you see a

timeline, keconnecting the dots becomes a meaningful story. >> trump sat for an interview asking putin, a clear adversary of the united states, for help to get damaging information on president biden and his son hunter. take a listen. >> why did the mayor of moscow's wife give the bidens, both of them, $3.5 million. that's a lot of money. she gave them $3.5 million. so now i would think putin would know the answer to that. i think he should release it. i think we should know that answer. >> just to be clear what he is talking about, a report showed that the wife of the mayor gave $3.5 million a decade ago to a company that hunter biden said he had no affiliation with. but more broadly what do you make of this? here is trump asking an

adversary of the united states, fully engaged in attack on an ally now, ukraine, to give information to damage the president of the united states and his son. this is exactly what he was impeached but not convicted for. >> i think what any normal person of reason would. a person that acts crazy, trying to deflect attention from himself because there's a lot of attention, 7 hours 37 minutes of logs missing. they're beginning to prove and make the case he was involved at a more significant way than previously known. you have a judge in the last couple days who in parallel proceeding made a point there's evidence that donald trump and others conspired to violent criminal law, meaning certain documents have to be released on the crime fraud exception. this is what he does. the fact he is doing it now with a country who is at war in ukraine of an ally,

indiscriminately bombing and killing innocent people and children is i think something of a new level. >> i remember a republican senator saying after the first impeachment where he did something similar, he learned his lesson. he learned the lesson he can get away with it. thank you so much. appreciate it. up next, recent extraordinary weather event that appears to be a first, not a good first, and has experts taking note. stay with us. new dove shower collection is infused with hyaluronic and peptide serums to make your skin feel smoother and more radiant. new dove body love. face care ingredients now in the shower. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

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president biden signed into law a bill that makes lynching a federal hate crime. the emmett till anti-lynching act named after the black boy brutally murdered by white men for allegedly when istling at a woman. his mother requested an open casket to show the world had done to her son, what racism had done. president biden remarking on the significance of the signing a few minutes ago. >> to the till family, remain in awe of your courage to find purpose through your pain. to find purse to your pain. but the law is not just about the past, it is not the present or the future as well. >> the bill passed with

overwhelming bipartisan support. chuck schumer said congress tried and failed more than 200 times to outlaw lynching on the federal basis. ine earth matters, scientiss were shocked this month when a research station in antarctica reported a temperature 70 degrees above normal for this time of year, equivalent of what might be a 130 degree day in washington in march. bill weir joins us. take us through why the reading has scientists so worried. >> a lot of it has to do with where it is. south pole has been stable, north is the point of worry, melting, disappearing ice there. but this is completely off the charts. they're flabbergasted by the nims. look at the numbers. it is a station and the archity ka. it has never been warmer than minus 30 degrees. got up to zero there.

they're overshooting records by 30 degrees and in other parts. the cause is atmospheric river that held moisture in. what happened in british columbia, you see the red blobs on the map that held a heat dome that turned out to be deadly in the northern hemisphere, in the sous, unprecedented stuff. wree written what they knew about science. the saddle shape is the average temperature mean. that spike is not a typo. that's where the temperature was for a couple of days. it is really a game changer trying to understand what a warmer planet looks like. >> and ice shelf in antarctica nearly the size of los angeles that disintegrated in mid march within days of that extraordinary warmth. what's the significance of that. >> this is something hasn't been observed since satellites went up in generations. 460 square mile ice shelf.

you think of it as a big bowl, around the lips of the bowl are shelves that hold the frozen inland ice in, like a cork in a bottle, that came loose, that's never been observed in this part. thankfully the ice upstream isn't enough to effect sea level rise. they're worried at the south pole about ice melting from below as ocean currents warn. could have massive implications on cities everywhere. >> watching it play out, not in five years or ten years, it is happening now. thank you so much. survivors from one of the worst scenes of russia's invasion, mariupol theater bombed, despite the word children written in big, bold letters outside twice in russian. coming up next, hear from one family that escaped alive. causer all these emails, my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry anand sandpaper. strypaper?

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welcome to the lead. this hour, people begging literally on their knees for the government to allow them to leave their homes to get cancer treatments. we're going to look inside china's latest covid lockdown which may be its most extreme. the word children was written twice in russian outside the ukrainian theater sheltering thousands of innocent men, women and children, but that did not stop russia bombing the building, killing hundreds. we talk to a family that survived. leading this hour with

breaking news s heavy dose of skepticism from the white house, pentagon, and the u.s. state department after the kremlin claimed it is moving forces away from the ukrainian capital. president biden saying he will believe it when he sees it. his pentagon press secretary issuing this warning. >> we're not prepared to call this a retreat or even a withdrawal. we think what they probably have in mind is repositioning to prioritize elsewhere. >> cnn's senior international correspondent fred pleitgen joins us. the pentagon has been emphatic the threat to kyiv is not over. what's the reality on the ground today? >> reporter: well, that's certainly what it looks like, sounds like to us. seems to be wild artillery battle going on as we speak. it has been going on for the past couple of hours, almost through the entire day. it has been interesting. since the russians made the announcement that we heard about allegedly pulling forces back away from kyiv, we went to an

area that was fairly close to the front line and one of the territorial defense force soldiers there i talked to said there's been a decided up tick in shelling coming from the russian side. he says he is not sure whether or not that might be the russians introducing their scorched earth policy, shelling the area more than they had before, or whether or not they might be covering some sort of retreat. again, unclear. what we saw today was a lot of shelling. here's what we saw. even after russia announced it plans to withdraw most forces from around kyiv, the fighting continues. residents we spoke to told us they don't believe moscow's words are for real. on one hand, they retreat. on the other, they transfer efforts to other positions, alexander says. it is difficult to talk about withdrawal. i do not believe in it, it is probably just a rotation, he says. a