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tv   CNN Tonight  CNN  April 1, 2022 6:00pm-7:00pm PDT

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it is the wee hours of the morning. there was a notion russians might launch a reprisal to the ukrainian attack on russian soil. let's hands it over to wolf blitzer and cnn tonight. >> this is cnn tonight. i'm wolf blitzer. we welcome our viewers. ukraine's president zelenskyy just spoke for the first time about the possible ukrainian strike inside russ a direct hit early this morning a storage -- russia claims two ukrainian helicopters entered its territory flying at low altitude and struck the facility that stores millions of gallons of fuel. all day, ukraine hasn't confirmed or denied it was
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behind the attack. it is not unlike russia to claim false flag accusations. president zelenskyy was directly asked if he ordered it tonight. listen to his answer. >> i do discuss any of my orders as commander in chief. the leader of this state. and there are things which i only share with the military armed forces of ukraine and when they talk with me. you need to understand that on that territory that you mentioned you have to know that they were placing their shooting systems and firing those missiles themselves. we were attacked. that is what matters. >> so, clearly, president zelenskyy didn't confirming or denying his country was behind
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it. we will dig into what could be read from that just ahead. meanwhile, new satellite images confirm russian forces vanished from the site of their first major victory in ukraine. on day one, russia captured the air field just 18 miles from the capital of kyiv. now its forces are gone, confirmed by these satellite images. but it is unclear where they went. the russians never made it close to western kyiv after capturing that air field back on february 24th. while ukrainian forces held strong against their advance n. a video address tonight president zelenskyy says russian troops are slowly but noticeably moving out of northern ukraine. they are relentless, however n the port city of mariupol. thousands of ukrainians just escaped but authorities say about 100,000 remain trapped there because russia isn't letting aid workers in. there are also now reports of missile strikes on another major port city. we are talking about odesa in
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southern ukraine. we will take you there live. that's coming up. first, let's go to cnn's fred pleitgen. he's joining us from kyiv right now. tell our viewers what is happening in the capital tonight. >> look, wolf, if president zelenskyy says that the russians are slowly moving away out of the suburbs around kyiv or the region of kyiv, it certainly seems to being something we are seeing on the ground as well. we were in a location today that had russian forces in it for very long time. we saw a lot of destroyed russian arm on the ground there but the russian forces vanished from there as well. it was in the late afternoon hours that the ukrainians announced that a key suburb had been retaken by ukrainian forces. the russian forces left there, a lot of destroyed armor there and also dead bodies laying in the streets as extremely heavy fighting was going on in the areas especially in the areas northwest of the ukrainian capital. but you are right, it is not
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clear where exactly the forces are doing. at the same time we heard president zelenskyy just there also saying that kharkiv was attacked from that place, from bel belgorod, from the russian side. therefore, if they attacked that site it would be a major feat and a blow at the heart of russia's military machine. >> reporter: it could be a brazen and bold counter-attack by the ukrainians. this social media video seeming to show two attack helicopters penetrating russian territory and firing at an oil depot setting the facility ablaze. the russian military publicly acknowledging the incident. on april 1st at around 5:00 a.m. moscow time, two ukrainian mi 24 helicopters entered the air space of the russian federation at extremely low altitude, this spokesman says. ukrainian helicopters launched a missile attack on a russian oil
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storage facility located on the outskirts of belgorod. as a result, tanks were damaged and caught fire. video from the aftermath shows the facility engulfed in massive flames with fire fighters struggling to put out the blaze. belgorod is a highly militarized city right across the border from kharkiv in ukraine. it was from here that russian forces crossed the border and attacked kharkiv moving large amounts of tranquilizers, armored vehicles, and trucks towards ukrainian territory. but russians also have massive military support facilities in this area. the ukrainians so far have not acknowledged they hit the depot. >> i can neither confirm nor -- nor reject the claim that ukraine was involved in this, simply because i do not possess all the military information. >> reporter: the strike comes as
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russian forces have been suffering setbacks in their invasion of ukraine withdrawing some forces from the air around the capital kyiv after failing to storm the city. the russians now saying they want to focus their offensive on the east of the country, which includes kharkiv, where authorities report a major uptick in shelling in recent days. all this as talks between russia and ukraine to try to end the fighting continue. moscow now saying vladimir putin has been briefed on the chopper attack and it could have a negative impact on the talks. of course this is not something that could be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for negotiations the kremlin spokesman said. the strike on the oil facility will probably do little to hole up russia's invasion of ukraine. but if the ukrainians are behind it, it would show they are not afraid to strike back at country that is attacking them.
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>> wolf, it's impossible to overstate the military importance of belgorod. that area is completely militarized. i was down there when the war kicked off. there is military base all around the border area f. those two choppers made it through and made it all the way through to belgorod they would have overcome big russian air defense systems as well. as yet it is unclear whether the ukrainians were behind it. if they were, it shows they are capable of striking at the heart of russia's military. >> fred pleitgen in kyiv for us. stay safe over there, fred. also new tonight, the pentagon has just announced another $300 million in help for the ukrainian military. that aid will cover things like suicide drones, night vision equipment, and systems to stop russian drones. it brings the total value of u.s. assistance for ukraine to more than $2.3 billion since the start of the biden administration. let's put those numbers into
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perspective. for that i am joined by a former european affairs director, relieutenant colonel alexander vinman. also joining us, evo dalder. gentlemen, thank you for joining us. cole vinman, what sort of impact will this make for the ukrainian military on the ground? >> it is not particularly meaningful. of course every little bit helps. the suicide drones you referred to, they are somewhat limited capability. they are anti-personnel drones. that will be less than effective in a mechanized armored warfare. but there will be soft targets that they go after like artillery units need to have personnel operating them. some fuel tankers and things of that nature. i think the big things that really would be meaningful are
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significant levels of air defense, long-range fires that would even settle kinds of the disequilibrium between what the russians have, they have an enormous amount of fires, planes, ballistic missiles, those are the things that haven't yet poured in. those are going to be particularly meaningful, especially six weeks into this war. ukraine has lost equipment, lost artillery, loss some armor. these are the big-ticket items that haven't yet been replenished. that's the kind of stuff that really needs to start flowing in. there was an announcement by nato that they are going to do anything they can to help. i think the easiest thing to do would be to take all that soviet warsaw pact equipment that's sitting in depots in eastern and central europe and feed it through at a rapid pace. those are the kinds of things that will be meaningful. >> what do you think,
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ambassador? >> i think that's right, there is significant capability. there is significant capability flowing in, not just looking at what the united states is doing. the germans just sent soviet era tanks into ukraine. there are a number of countries that are quiet about what they are doing. they don't want to have it publicly known that they are supporting the ukrainian effort. we don't know what the french are sending in other than they are sending in an awful lot. there are soviet era equipment as the cole said that is actually being released and quietly flowing into the fight. we can have more. we need to have more. because this is a major fight that's going on. if it starts to concentrate, as it seems to look like n the east, it's going to be a particularly difficult battle. and having the equipment necessary to not only fight the fight, but win the fight is -- requires a continued in-flow of capabilities, of intelligence, of which is lot i think is
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moving into the ukrainian military from the united states and other countries. so, yes, lots is happening. but more will need to flow if we are going to see this war moving into the direction we continue to move in the direction we want, which is to have the russians push back and the ukrainians regain territory. >> when it comes to today's helicopter strike in belgorod, colonel vinman, you heard what president zelenskyy said about this attack. how do you read between the lines of the ukrainians neither confirming nor denying they are behind this attack? >> well, he didn't deny it, so that's pretty telling. i think there are other countries that have similar doctrine. the israelis don't talk about the attacks they conduct. there is no great utility in doing it. the russians know who conducted this attack, so announcing it publicly is -- there is no added value. i think the signaling, the subtext here, is that this war
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doesn't just occur on ukrainian soil. it is going to have local effects on russian territory. i think it is a signal, frankly, to the u.s., also, that ukraine is going to take the fight forward to the forward staging areas for russia and wage war there and do it in a responsible manner. they are not looking to go after civilian targets. they are not looking to do the barbarous activities the russians are doing. that's supposed to be subtext to the u.s. to provide more capable systems. combat vehicles. >> i want the ambassador to weigh in specifically on that point as well. does this strike, the helicopter attack signal a shift, ambassador? because ukrainians have been on the offensive around the capital of kyiv. but president zelenskyy is warning of new russian assaults in the east and the south. >> yeah, i think it is a signal, an important signal. one is that helicopters can apparently fly 25 kilometers
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into russian territory and shoot at targets and be able to come back. that tells you a lot about both the brazenness of the ukrainian military, and the courage and heroism of them. but at the same time, the weakness of the russian air defenses. that's one. the second is exactly that. taking the fight not just to the enemy inside ukraine, but wherever they are staging and creating the havoc that they are creating in ukraine. and it is important that ukraine be able to do so, taking out a fuel depot, targeting significant military targets that are part of the war against ukraine are fully legitimate in the self-defense of ukraine and does send a signal that the idea that somehow we shouldn't be sending armaments that have too long a range for fear that it may hit russia -- russia is the one who started the war here. if the ukrainians believe that the best way to defend themselves is to hit targets on russian territory, they should be able to do that.
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they have just demonstrated a willingness. >> ambassador dalder thank you for joining us. cole vinman thanks to you as well. we will all continue this conversation down the road. we are about to be joined by two key members of ukraine's parliament. both are fighting for their country in different ways from different place. but they are together in their mission. their truly incredible stories. that's coming up next. ♪("i've been everywhere" by johnny cash) ♪ ♪i've traveled every road in this here land!♪ ♪i've been everywhere, man.♪ ♪i've been everywhe, man.♪
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how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. ukrainians retook the town of beauty itch from the russians just outside of kyiv just a little while ago. i am about to show you the cost. i want to warn our viewers, the pictures you are about to see are disturbing. this is what a street in that area looks like right now. several bodies visible as a car makes its way through. it is not clear if the dead were soldiers or civilians. i want to bring in two people right now who know this fight too well. both are key members of the
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ukrainian parliament. igor is in kyiv, he voluntarily joined the capital's territorial defense. and alexandra is meeting with members of the u.s. congress. we will speak to her in a couple of minutes. igor, what's happening on ground? update our viewers? >> well, it looks like russian troops withdrawn from the territory of kyiv and the district, but i am not sure that they are just going out. they will be regroup. and i think they will be -- they will strike from the eastern part of ukraine. so this is only the pulse of russian in this war. i mean the post from this direction.
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also, i see of lot of war crimes from the russian troops. raped women, killed children. my friends lost his -- their child just a few days ago because of bombs from the russia federation. they just, you know, their behavior, like behavior of war crimers. you know? and this is the problem. and also, the problem that we don't have enough weapon to close our sky you know, because we lost a lot of our aircrafts. we lost -- we used a lot of our anti-missile and anti-aircraft system. yeah, we -- we have some supplies from the western countries, but it's not enough.
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it is enough to campaign the enemy, but not enough to defeat him. this is the situation right now. >> you need more equipment, more military hardware from the u.s. and other nato allies. what is your take on this air strike of the russian fuel depot across the border in russia? is this a sign that ukraine is stepping up its military offensives against russia? >> well, i cannot confirm, as our minister said, and i cannot reject because i'm not in an army, in a headquarters. but we will fight on the ground, in the air, at sea to the end. and it's no doubt it's -- >> it is no doubt what?
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>> it's no doubt that we will tin fight with russia. >> i wanted to clarify that. you also serve as the chair of the delegation to the nato -- chair of the nato delegation of the ukrainian parliament. >> we need security guarantees from third parties i don't know maybe from the u.s., the uk, turkey, or other countries that in this case, we can replace our movement to nato with guarantees from different countries. but it doesn't mean that we are agree with their status without any guarantees. >> you want a cease fire but you
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want to see a complete russian troop withdrawal of all of krooup. we will see if that's each doable. good luck to you. stay safe over there. we will stay in touch with you of course as well. right now i want to bring in alexandra, another member of the ukrainian parliament. first i want to express our condolences. i know a very good friend of yours who also served in the ukrainian parliament lost her husband yesterday because of russian shelling near chilernih: how is your friend. >> it is hard to cope my friend and her two kids. his younger daughter has a birthday next week, and she was saying that i don't need a
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press. can you please just call somebody and tell me that this is something wrong, that you got it wrong? unfortunately, it's very difficult for them. i think it is difficult for everybody today in ukraine because i don't know a ukrainian who hasn't lost someone they love or know. and i think this war will change us forever because every forced ukrainian was pushed out of his or her home. they had to leave the country. a lot of women have been raped. a lot of children died. yehor just mentioned that his friend lost a child because of the bomb. unfortunately, this is the tragedy of the 21st century that we are witnessing right now. and the only thing i wrote to my friend's kid, i was telling them, we will revenge. we will take over, and they will pay a very high price for her dad and for everybody who will
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never come back after this war. >> it is so heart breaking to hear these stories. this is just one story, but there are so many of these stories, what's been going on these past six weeks. ukraine represent nod threat to russia at all, but the russians, under putin, have moved in and are destroying so much of what was at one point a very beautiful country. i know, alexandra, you are expecting a baby in ten days. talk to me, if you can, a little bit about what you have been hearing from parents back home as they try to shield their children, their young kids, from this war. >> well, unfortunately, not everybody protect their children out of the country or at least in the west, where it is more safe. we have a very high rate of babies death now because they have a lot of miscarriages. a lot of the kids were born premature.
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and you know, these babies, they need special equipment. they need special care that nobody could have provided to them in the bomb shelters or in the basements. and unfortunately, a lot of babies did not make it. so putin will have to pay for the unborn babies, for babies who died within the first few days of their lives. for the moms who passed away giving birth to these babies. unfortunately, again, this has been a tragedy. and i live in kyiv. probably a lot of my friends, i would say the majority were trying to take their kids out to the western board or somewhere abroad and come back and fight. but every child in ukraine now knows that russians are to the brothers, they are enemies that go after children, after women. yesterday there was a heart breaking story that we came to know in ukraine. i don't know if the world knows. my colleagues was already saying
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it is not only about putin. it is about the russian solders and the russians who support this. they are criminals. they are murderers. they are rapists. yesterday a story broke out to -- found a 6-year-old boy in mariupol. he had gray here, at 6 years, because his mom was raped two days in a row in front of him by the russian soldiers. his mom didn't make it. but the kid not gray hair at 6. when you hear the story like that -- and this is just one of the thousands of stories. because we don't even know how many of those stories are out there. it's not about just war. it's not about nato, demilitarization. this is literally about erasing a nation, just killing as many ukrainians, raping and destroying, as they can. this is exactly the same, what hitler was doing to jews.
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that's exactly what russians are doing to ukrainians now. >> alexandra, our hearts go out to you, to your family, and your friends, indeed, to all the people of ukraine. our deepest, deepest, deepest wishes that you will all get through this. i know this has been a horrible horrible experience. i know none of you anticipated what the russians are capable of doing under putin. it has come as an awful, awful development. good luck to you. good luck to everyone in ukraine. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. >> thank you, wolf. >> heart breaking, indeed. coming up, the battles for survival in the crucial port city of odesa. there is word tonight of new russian attacks. but the people of odesa are not giving up. we have new information. that's next.
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ukraine says it foiled an attempt by the russians, an attempt involving a missile attack directed at critical infrastructure in odesa. instead, the three russian missiles hit a residential area in that major seaport city. but officials do report casualties. cnn's he had lavendara is in odesa talking to the many people there preparing for more russian strikes even as they try to live their lives.
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>> reporter: this market is where you come to trade gossip and rumors, dollars for ukrainian cash, or hunt down underground rare books. it's also where a group of college friends come for coffee and a sense of peace. i want to ask you, with everything going none ukraine, everything here seems so normal. >> i t is home and we can live normal life. that's for know. we don't know what it is going to be tomorrow or in a week. >> reporter: it looks normal, but is it really normal? >> inside everybody is afraid. if something happens we will protect our city. for now we sit and live a normal life. >> reporter: if you navigate the streets of odesa you see the remaining residents trying to go about their daily lives but the large part of the city's historic center is transformed into an fortified zone bracing for an amphibious attack by russian troops from the black sea.
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it is a ghost town. the residents of odesa would normally be preparing to hold what is known as the april fools' parade on this street in the heart of the city. it's a parade that started years ago in response to soviet censorship. but now this area of odesa is completely fortified. and this year, there will be no parade. instead, civilian volunteers and activists are mobilizing to support the war effort. we are in a bomb shelter in odesa. this is where they are making bulletproof vests. we meet this man sealing the steel plates of homemade armored vests for front line soldiers. he asked that we call him marquin. we heard russian forces are leaving kyiv. are you concerned? do you think they are going to come back to odesa. we have already beat their ass, we will do it again, he tells me. russian ships remain stationed
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to have coast of odesa in the black sea. the concern here is the war will intensify here in the south. before the war, he worked as a professional scuba diver. he defiantly says he looks forward to exploring the underwater wreckage of those sunken russian ships as a diver when the war is over. on a street corner we find dozens of escaped families who escaped to odesa. they are from the worst war zones hoping to find food and clothing. olga is waiting with five of her six children. so you come from a village that was surrounded by russian soldiers. you are in the crossfire. how frightening was that? i was scared for the children most of all, she tells me. olga says her family had to walk through a forest to escape shelling. tears well up in her eyes as her husband tells us russian soldiers broke into their homes
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taking everything they could from the families in their village. >> translator: when we came here, the volunteers told us to say what we need. but i am ashamed. i worked all my life and never asked anyone for anything. and now i have to ask. >> reporter: her little girl wipes away her mother's tears. mother, why are you crying, the girl asks? because they were shelling us a lot, olga tells her. not far from where we met olga's family we found a father teaching his daughter how to ride a bike. a poignant moment in the midst of a surreal world. >> wolf, you know, friday night we heard this barrage of air defense systems firing up into the air. military officials here in
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ukraine say that three missiles were fired from the crimean peninsula. one military official says there are some wounded on the grounds. another military official says russian air strikes missed their intended targets. wolf. >> odesa is a beautiful city indeed. he had lavendara reporting for us. heart breaking news. thanks for your reporting. stay safe. our coverage of the invasion of ukraine continues ahead. president zelenskyy won't say tonight if he ordered that attack on a fuel depot in russia this morning. but if ukraine was behind it, how could that actually change the fight? we will bring you one of our top military analysts. that's coming up next.
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the "new york times" is now reporting that the united states will work with allies to transfer society soviet made tanks to bolster ukrainian defenses. the tanks will be heading to what's expected to be the russian focal point in the donbas area. let's bring in retired lieutenant general mark hertling
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for more on what in means. what would these tanks do for the ukrainians in the fight in the donbas region? >> it would be significant, wolf. first of all, they are equipment the ukrainian army is used to working with. secondly, baseds on the report by "new york times," these are tanks that are actually higher quality russian tanks than what the russians are using. wolf, surprisingly, i actually fired a tank from the czech republic similar to the kinds that are coming from slovakia. and they have take ten t-72 variant, which is the main russian battle tank and have upgraded it in significant ways. both their optics, their armor, and their gun system. so i think it would certainly help to do the transfer between some the nato nations that are now still using those t-72s. >> here's what i don't understand. if the u.s. and the nato allies are now about to provide the
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ukrainian military with these soviet-era battle tanks, which are excellent tanks, what is to stop the u.s. and the nato allies from going one step further and providing the ukrainians with what they really want, soviet era ambiguous 29 jet fighters? >> well,-- mig 29 jet fighters. >> first of all, there is the feeling that to control the air, which everyone is very concerned about, it is very different in a russian environment where they have massive air defense systems around the battlefield. ukraine has been successful in jamming some of these air defense systems and then flying around them. but truthfully, wolf, the number of migs that are available would not do that much to contribute to what the ukrainians have. i think defense experts have analyzed this problem and said it would be very difficult to turn the tide with just a few more aircraft. it is better to get the air defense missile systems, and some of the shoulder fire
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missile systems that are knocking down russian aircraft. >> yeah. the u.s. is providing anti-aircraft missiles, providing drones, but they are stopping short of actual fighter jets. all of this comes as you know, general, following what could be the first ukrainian attack on russian soil earlier today on this fuel depot just north of ukraine. ukraine neither confirms nor denies. but what stands out to you about this attack conducted by military helicopters? and everybody is assuming, slowly to surely to believe it was at that ukrainian military? >> there is a couple thing that stand out to me wolf that haven't been discussed today. e fis, yes, it was a high value target. for more than the fact that the strike hit a valuable fuel depot in the rear area that wouldl affect the refitting of russian troops. we call this a deep strike.
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it is not something that immediately affects the front lines. but it's something that will have a significant affect on the lodgist sticks of the russian military army in the future. it also sends a message, it tells russia you are no longer protected in belarus, a place you used to think was a safe haven. we will not allow you to reconsolidate untouched. that's what the ukrainians are saying. and russia, just when you thought you were repositioning into a safe zone we reached out and struck your rear area. you are safe nowhere. in addition it was an excellent tactical operation. this isn't just helicopters taking off from an air field and hitting a target. there are a lot of things that go into planning these trykes, the preparation of the routes, and the precise striking capability. they are neither confirming nor denying right now, which tells me they did it. it was a bold move with great planning behind it and it hit a
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very high value target. >> it tells me exactly the same thing. and remember, all of those armored personnel carriers, the armored vehicles, the tanks going from russia into ukraine, they need fuel, and they get it from a fuel depot like this one that was destroyed earlier today. general hertling thank you for joining us. always good to hear your assessment. stay with cnn for continuing coverage of this brutal war on ukraine. much more coming up. up next, there has also been a major development in the aftermath of the oscars. will smith announcing he issy resigning from the motion picture academy after slapping chris rock on stage. his new statement, and why it might not necessarily mark the ends this scandal. we have new information. that's next. top performers toda, so you can have more success tomorrow. ♪ one thing leadsds to anothe, yeah, yeah ♪ my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. ruby's a1c is down with rybelsus®.
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grillin', chillin', spillin', dillin'. bec-ing. never brie-ing. smokin', yolkin', flippin', dippin'. if you're not oozing, then you're losing. tater totting, cold or hotting. mealin', feelin', pie-ing, trying. color your spread. upgrade your bread. pair it. share it. kraft singles. square it. there is breaking news in the will smith oscar slap uproar. schmiege announcing ton he is resigning from the academy.
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but that doesn't mean he won't face punishment for hitting chris rock. the newly minted best actor winner released a statement a few hours ago. saying this. let me read part of it. my actions at the 94th academy awards presentation were shocking painful and inexcusable. the list of those i hurt are long. including chris rock. his family and my friends and loved ones. i betrade the trust of the academy and dprivd nominees and winners of the opportunity to celebrate. i'm resigning from membership in the academy of motion picture arts and sciences and will accept any further consequences the board deems appropriate, end quote. our chloe milas has been following this for us. she joins you no pup how is the kaem responding to this statement. >> moments after will smith released that statement, this is what we received at cnn. they said, quote, we will continue to move forward with our disciplinary pirogues against mr. smith for violations of the academy's standards of
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conduct in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on april 18th. remember, wolf, the academy revealed earlier in week in another statement any gave will smith two weeks notice where he can respond in writing. i guess this is his response that he is resigning. but that they are going to have consequences for his actions. so in is not over. he could still face potential repercussions for what he has done. >> well, specifically what further disciplinary actions, chloe could be taken. >> good question. he could be banned from attending the academy awards in the future, maybe not just next year if that's on the table. but in the future. he still could be nominated, what i'm hearing for an academy award. for his work. now, the fact that he has resigned, wolf, means he can't be a voting member of the academy. when you are a member of the 9,000 plus voting body of the academy. these are the ones voting from actors, directors, producers you
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flame it in these categories. he won't be able to do that. some people say so what. doesn't seem like a big deal. but we know will smith, he cared about the academy. he cared about winning that oscar. so to have done this and now face repercussions like not being able to be part of the ceremony next year or beyond, that is significant. >> as you well know, because you were there, chris rock has been performing the last few days in boston. last night he dealt with a heckler. tell our viewers what happened. >> yeah, so i was not at last night's so i was at several other shows of his in boston this week. a heckler audience screamed out f will smith and immediately chris rock went over and said no, no, no, no, no you know, chris rock is not entertaining any of that right now. what he said during his first show -- and i was in there, wolf, is that i am still processing this. at some point i'm going to address it. it's going to be funny. it's going to be serious.
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but i don't know what i want to do yet. on the second show on the first night he said that he and will smith have not spoken despite kwhau heard no discussions have been had. so you're seeing this new statement out from will smith. where he apologizes once again to chris rock. but all of the public apologies in the world what do they mean if in he hasn't apologized direct will i to chris rock. it will be interesting if that's happened. and if chris rock makes, you know, more comments available to us about how he is feeling and what he wants to do next. >> the -- you know it's interesting the producer of the oscars -- of the event, the tv production, will packer, says that rock didn't want smith kicked out of the ceremony. tell us about that. >> yes. so we knew from a source earlier this week, wolf, that academy leadership, that they asked will smith publicist to have him leave the doll by theater after
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he slapped chris rock. and will smith said no. by the time it was communicated to academy leadership he they had run out of time before the best actor category was going to be announced. will packer says that chris rock did not want will smith to be escorted out, that he didn't want to make an already painful situation even more difficult. will says that actually chris saved the oscars in his opinion from being even more of a disaster. >> chloe, you've been doing excellent reporting on this. thank you for joining us. we'll be right back. sed shipgo this whole thing wouldn't be a thing. yeah, dadad! i don't want to deal with this. oh, you brought your luggage to the airport. that's adorable. with shipgo shipping your luggage before you fly you'll never have to wait around here again. like ever. that can't be comfortable though. shipgo.com the smart, fast, easy way to travel.
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i'm wolf blitzer thank you very much for watching. please join me in the situation room week nights 6:00 p.m. eastern. analog onto our new streaming network cnn plus for the newscasts with wolf blitzer. week nights at 7:30 p.m. eastern
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or on demand. watch it whenever you want. don lemon tonight live from ukraine starts right now. don, there is a lot going on where you are. looking forward to your show . it certainly it -- i noer you're going to have all the late breaking developments coming up. one other thing, don -- let me ask you a quick question, before i let you go, because a lot of us are watching. we're all worried not just about you but all of our fellow journal ivrts, photo journalists where you are. gi

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