reminder before we go, sun dance, award winning cnn film explores the unbelievable story of the man who took on vladimir putin and lived to tell about it. this sunday at 9:00 p.m. the news continues. i want to hand it over to laura coates and jim sciutto in ukraine. jim? thanks so much. this is jim sciutto. i'm live from lviv along with l laura coates. the biden administration revealed a new round of sanctions against russia.

president biden met with his military advisers, voicing the pressing need for the u.s. to constantly adapt its response to the ongoing russian invasion here. russia attempted some very public sabre rattling today, showing off the test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile. in a televised address, putin called it, quote, food for thought, to those who might threaten his nation. the pentagon down played the test, noting the u.s. was warned in advance and monitored that launch closely. what does remain a very real threat though is a new russian offensive, ai big one, in the bonn das in the eastern part of this country. i'll have new reporting on how russian forces appear to be faring days into this new phase of the war. we do know they had a strangle hold on mariupol, where ukrainian troops and hundreds of civilians remain surrounded, taking refuge at a steel plant,

as they make desperate public pleas for help. >> and jim, i know an evacuation -- it's unbelievable to think about what's going on because the evacuation corridor there that didn't work, as they said, as planned today, and of course president zelenskyy says that some 120,000 civilians remain trapped there. and we'll have the very latest on the race to get them out. and also later this hour, the justice department is taking action to now possibly reinstate the mask mandate for travellers that a florida federal court has overturned. so, what does all of this mean? could passengers on planes and of course elsewhere be required to mask up yet again? and speaking of florida, there's a new escalation of a feud between desantis and disney. is the republican governor trying to punish a private company for not embracing his politics. is the gop-controlled congress there trying to help him

retaliate against disney for supporting lgbtq rights? those are some of the allegations that are being levelled from the democrats. we're going to hear from a republican who sponsored one of these bills take away some of disney's trial. and we're also going to dig into the dramatic trial of actor johnny depp versus his ex-wife amber heard. depp took to the stand again today in his defamation suit against the actress. first i want to go back to lviv and jim sciutto. we've been watching the horrific images, jim, of mariupol from the outside. but what are you hearing from those that are trapping inside of that steel plant? >> i was able to get in touch with a member of the ukrainian military, the border guards, who was among those ukrainian soldiers trapped inside, along with many hundreds of civilians, including women and children. and the prevailing emotion there, frankly, is fear, right?

they are holed up there. they fear what would happen to them even if they are allowed to escape because they don't trust russia in this. they fear that they might be killed. certainly soldiers do, as do some of the civilians. or if not killed, imprisoned, or forced to go to russia, where they don't want to go. and many of the refugees allowed to leave some of these embattled cities, they weren't given a choice, laura. they were taken to russia. and there, i spoke to one of the advisers to president zelenskyy this morning, who said that in effect, if russia allows them to leave, their intention is to make them hostages. >> i mean, that's just shocking to think about the intention is to make them hostages. i mean, the displacement internally, the threat, the really terroristic behavior that's going on, the accusations of war crimes, and there's a u.s. senior defense official told cnn that russian forces in the east actually added 17 battalion tactical groups in the past week. and by the way, that's four more

in just, what, the last 24 hours. but what has really changed on the ground on that? has that really had an impact in what we're seeing day to day on the ground there? you're in lviv. what are you seeing? >> so far on those eastern battle front lines, no. no impact. i've spoken with two u.s. officials familiar with the latest intelligence assessments. they say there's been no significant really measurable exchange of land in this first few days of this conflict. it is early. but they have also not seen any substantive changes by russia and all those things that held them back in the north, difficulty with supply lines, difficulty with command and control of their own forces. so, there's a lot of skepticism. and, again, the caveat is it's early. but there's a lot of skepticism among the u.s. officials as to whether russia will have any more success in the east than it had in the north. that said, they know they have to arm up the ukrainian military

for a whole different kind of battle. it's going to be a world war ii-like scene there, artillery on artillery, tank on tank. a lot of carnage, sadly, is what they're looking to. it's a new phase. it's a bloody phase of the war. >> and it makes your stomach drop to think about the idea of the comparisons to world war. i know we're thinking about the potential of world war iii. looking backwards, what we've been through as a globe on the world wars is devastating enough. speaking of actions and sort of ratcheting it up, we saw the provocative move of the kremlin's missile launch. i know you spoke with the top u.s. diplomat for ukraine about this. so, what is the biden administration and also of course nato saying would happen if russia goes beyond the demonstrations, jim? >> well, big picture here, this is russia launching a new icbm in the midst of a war in europe. it's provocative by any measure. it's not a good thing.

that said, u.s. officials say they did know about this test launch in advance. they monitored it very closely. and to date, my colleagues and i -- clearly my colleagues at the pentagon. the u.s. has not detected any new or unusual movement of russian nuclear forces. but they are watching closely. and they keep repeating a message, which i heard from the acting ambassador to ukraine earlier today, about what would happen if russia were to threaten the u.s. or nato. have a listen. >> if russia steps one toe over nato, nato will respond. president biden has made that clear. and we are ready to do so. we have the 82nd airborne here just down the street where where i am in poland. they're here to support poland and the eastern flank of nato, and they will do so. >> america's top diplomat for ukraine there, kristine ka

convene earlier today. my next guest is vladimir putin's former chief economic adviser, worked with him for years. welcome back to the program. >> good evening. >> you saw this icbm test today. putin tested an icbm in the middle -- as i noted before -- of a war in europe. he described it explicitly as a warning to anyone threatening his country. as you watch this, is this just hyperbole, just rhetoric from the russian president, or should the u.s. view him as increasingly dangerous? >> yes, it's a signal to the west. and putin is waiting for the response from the west. and there could be two type of response. one is expression of concern and could be another one. it could be ten more tests of icbm from the united states from britain and france.

and it would be the second response, mr. putin would understand the signal very clearly, and he would not be engaged in other provocative gesture and actions anymore. so, united states analyze with nato, should respond appropriately to such a provocative test of new icbm from russia. >> are you saying that the u.s., u.s. leaders, european leaders, have been too sensitive to putin's response because there is a school of thought that he only responds to force and the threat of force? is that what you're saying? >> i'm saying that problem with western leaders still do not understand the nature of the person and nature of the regime. this person understands only strength. he does not understand preaching to the bible. he does not understand expression of concerns.

he does not understand so-called diplomacy in which people expressing their desires without support with real actions. he understand only strength, and that is why for each provocative gesture, there should be very firm and clear response from the western nations. and the way how to stop the war in ukraine and against europe and against the world. >> so, you have seen some strength. you've seen weapon supplies and growing weapon supplies to ukrainian forces. and those weapons have had a very real impact on the battlefield. it killed, sadly, a lot of russian soldiers, destroyed a lot of russian hardware. and you've seen significant economic sanctions that just a couple months ago you and i might have considered farfetched. but you have said they've got to go farther. how much farther? >> until the war will be

stopped. as long as war continues, as long as putin continues the assault on ukraine, as long as putin killing ukrainians by hundreds and thousands -- we just saw what is going on in mariupol and many other places around ukraine -- it means that putin still has desire to continue this war. so, the support for ukraine from the western nations should continue with more weapons, with more fuel, with more sanctions, with more embargo until this war will be stopped, until all russian troops will be withdrawn from ukraine, and until russia started to repay the damaging that committed by the russian troops into ukraine. >> you have highlighted the need for europe to get off its dependency on russian oil and gas. germany has made a promise now to phase out russian oil entirely by the end of this

year. i've spoken to european diplomats who say it is their plan, the eu's plan to reduce their dependence on russian gas by two-thirds by the end of the year. is that enough? is it fast enough? is it enough to make putin change course? >> i think it's a very good sign. first of all, it's a good sign because they demonstrated that the german government is serious about reduction of its dependence on the russian energy. that's a very good sign. but it is only first step. it is only commitment. it is not yet a real action. what is really necessary right now is just deprive putin from financial resources that he's using to finance war machine in ukraine and against europe. for that purpose, along with his decision to reduce consumption of the russian energy in germany as well as in other european

countries, it is necessary to stop sending money for this energy back to kremlin. using those escrow accounts that we have discussed last time, using other measures, and to use those resources for supporting ukraine. this is the best way how to accelerate process of stopping this war and helping ukraine. >> a billion dollars a day in revenue. we have seen very little public criticism of the war from inside russia. we did see some public criticism today from a russian billionaire, who criticized the war very publicly, billionaire oleg tinkoff. does putin listen to those people? >> i don't think so. mr. tinkoff is far from kremlin, far from russia. he's living in the west for a

long time. he never been in the part of the inner circle or outer circle of mr. putin. and for putin, this criticism is not so very important. but i think for tinkoff, much more important contribution for stopping this war would be the use of some of his resources. first claim he has 3.5 billion u.s. dollars for supporting ukraine, for supporting case of ukraine to resist russian aggression, and supporting ukrainians who were wounded in ukraine who would like to restore their housing and infrastructure in ukraine. he has some money. now, regular people around the world collecting dollars and pennies and everything just to support ukrainian case. so, he has some money. why don't he -- does not he

support ukraine with some resources that he has? money? >> as i say, put your money where your mouth is. andre lar november thanks so much. >> thank you. just ahead, thousands of ukrainian farmers are finding themselves on the front lines of this war. plus the major impact this invasion is having now on the global food supply. it's got real implications. that's coming up. under budget too! and i get seven days to love it or my money back... i love it! i thought online meant no one to help me, but susan from carvana had all the answers. she didn't try to upsell me. not once, because they're not salespeople! what are you...? guess who just checked in on me? mom... susan from carvana! [laughs] we'll drive you happy at carvana. you never know what opportunities life will send your way. but if you have moderate to severe

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cnn's ed lavandera joins me live from kyiv. you spoke to farmers who focus on fighting instead of farming. that's got big implications for this country and the rest of the wo world. >> major implications. a mayor of a small town said ukrainian farmers are good at two things, making bread and fighting. they prefer to grow the wheat that makes bread. but now they're realizing that sometimes they have to fight. >> reporter: this man runs a one-man dairy operation. he has six cows on a little farm just 15 miles from the front lines of the battlefield in southern ukraine. but neither russian soldiers or falling rockets have stopped the 49-year-old from tending to his work. that is sergey's house there just in the distance, and there is an unexploded rocket that landed this close, landed here about a week ago.

did you hear that rocket land? >> translator: everything happened before my eyes. the explosions erupted all around him when this strike hit. russian rockets often target his village of 500 people. >> translator: we recovered with dust, just dust and shrapnel all the way here. i fell to ground crying, not feeling my legs or arms. it was scary. for those who have not gone through this, you would not believe it. >> reporter: sergey keeps one eye on his herd and the other eye on the war. so, these are sergey's six dairy cows. and if you notice, he has them separated. he wants to separate them so they don't all get killed in one strike. he must keep the cows alive. this is the life of a farmer in ukraine. this man and his family grow wheat and sunflower on these lush, wide open fields. but the war has upended his

business. >> translator: it's been unfortunate for all of us. basically everything has shut down, and we aren't working now. >> reporter: maxim says the cost of fuel and grain seeds have skyrocketed. it's difficult to find parts to repair farm machinery. he's supposed to plant this year's wheat crop in the coming weeks, but if the fighting returns to this land, it won't happen. so, this is the storage area where they keep their sunflower seeds, but they haven't been able to sell it because of the war. maxim is also stuck with an entire season sunflower seed harvest. it just sits in this storage space. will this war kill your business? >> translator: it's already killed it. we have stock piled our wheat production and our sunflowers, and we aren't able to sell them. so, i would say it is the beginning of the end. >> reporter: ukraine is considered the world's bread

basket, along with russia, producing 30% of the world's wheat exports. the united nations says this war is creating a food production crisis not seen since world war ii. thousands of ukrainian farmers now find themselves on the front lines of this war, and their growing fields of wheat and sunflower have been turned into debris fields for missiles and rockets and other explosives. the wreckage of recent battles sit in the farm fields. the body of a russian soldier is buried next to this ammunition supply truck. farm or fight is the choice facing front line farmers. this man has already faced this life and death decision. when the russians invaded this village last month, he joined the fight. he was shot in the soldier. if the russians come back, do you want to fight again? >> translator: what else can we do? i'll take my pitch fork and go

fight. i will defend my village until the end. when the war returns, the harvest will have to wait. >> the united nations predicts that about 30% of ukraine's agricultural fields will go unused this season. and this is quite the dilemma for not just farmers on the front lines but throughout the country. we are just weeks away from the seeds for the wheat harvest that need to be planted. that is up in serious question for many farmers across the country. and then you have just the issues with getting and exporting any kind of food that is grown here. remember the ports along the black sea are essentially blockaded by the russian navy. so, there are problems, jim, at every turn for farmers during this harvesting season. >> for farmers and many people around the world that depend on the grain and corn they grow, a food crisis to come.

laura, it's just one more example of how this war reverberates far beyond ukraine's borders. >> it absolutely does. and for anyone thinking this is something specific to ukraine, it reminds you that we are part of one world and all in a lot of this together. thank you, jim. we'll check back with you shortly. and coming up, florida's governor wants to strip disney world of something it's had for more than, well, half a century. is it payback for the company's opposition for what critics call the don't say guy law? the sponsor of the new bill says it targets disney and nothing else. he joins me next. line? need.. liberty biberty— cut. liberty... are we married to mutual? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ mission control, we are go for launch. um, she's eating the rocket. ♪ lunchabl!

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if you are in one of these corporations, if you're a woke ceo, you want to get involved in our legislative business, look, it's a free country. but understand, if you do that, i'm fighting back against you. >> well, florida governor ron desantis appears to be making pretty good on that threat. amid his weeks-long feud with disney. today, the florida senate approved a move that would revoke disney's status as a special district starting next year. the move comes just one day after desantis urged lawmakers to do just that. he appears to be angry with disney's ceo, who condemned the

new florida law that critics describe as the don't say gay bill. disney also announced it would stop its political donations in florida. disney is the state's largest private employer. that must not come as a surprise to you, but it's had self-governing powers for the past 55 years, which might come as a surprise to you. the company manages its own land and private services like frightening and police. and its special district even levies its own taxes. while disney has yet to comment on this bill, democrats have called this an act of retaliation. i want to bring in florida state republican representative, randy fine, who is the sponsor of the bill. i understand it's also your birthday. i suppose you're not going to disney world for this particular trip. but we'll see, we'll see, about how this goes. happy birthday to you. i do want to start with this idea about what has been called

this act of retaliation because this has been nearly half a century. it's the largest private employer. why now go to have a reassessment of these privileges? why now? >> sure. well, thanks for having me. i can think of no better way to spend my birthday than fighting for the values of the people of florida. disney has been an incredibly powerful, political force in our state. and for decades, many politicians have said, why should one company have special privileges above another? why should they have privileges universal doesn't have? i think as disney has tried to import california values into florida, florida voters have said, look, treat them just like you treat everybody else, no better, no worse. >> when you say the california values, are you speaking about the discussions of them weighing into what critics call the don't say gay bill, or is it the idea they're no longer giving political donations in florida?

because obviously perhaps the former might not ruffle the feathers but the latter sounds like, well, are you establishing you've got to pay in florida to have the privileges, as long as you donate to politicians? >> sure. let me clear that up. governor desantis has raised over $100 million. i think $100,000 of that came from disney. so, anyone who believes that would affect someone's behavior is silly. this is about disney not recognizing they are a guest in our state. they are a california company that is a guest in the state of florida. and they are a guest that has had special privilege no other company has had. when you come in and misrepresent a bill that overwhelming majorities of republicans, democrats, even biden voters support, you're going to have an issue in the state of florida. >> so, on this idea of behaving appropriately and behaving well -- and by the way, you talk about it being a guest in florida. let's be honest, it sings --

more than sings for its separates. it's one heck of a guest. it brings a heck of a lot of money into florida. but on the idea of money, the notion of what it would mean if they were no longer given these privileges you speak of. we're talking about they run their own police, fire fighting, even generate their own electricity in some areas. if you remove those privileges, two counties in florida are going to have to pick up the slack. isn't that going to cost more money in the long run than having a private entity generate and care for itself? >> it's not. and i would point out that universal orlando, seaworld, lego land, busch gardens all manage to do this without special privileges. the fact of the matter is when we eliminate an extra layer of government, we create efficiencies. local governments in florida complain all the time that the legislature takes their power away. what we're talking about with all six of the districts this bill deals with is sending the

powers, revenues, assets, and liabilities back to the local governments that for so long have told us that they want them. >> well, the certain really is, representative, the motivation. and obviously we have a democracy, representatives like yourself on both sides of the aisle are able to advocate on behalf of their constituents. but the question is motivation. why now, after more than 50 years, once they have weighed in on this particular bill that's part of an increasing discussion about culture wars that are around the country but also focus in florida. is it the fact that they have weighed in on this particular issue? or is it really, hey, it's been in the works for such time? i mean, they just changed their agenda over the last day. wouldn't you want to have more time as representative to evaluate this as opposed to a potential knee-jerk reaction? >> well, i would challenge that it's a knee-jerk reaction. look, when you kick the hornets nest, issues pop up that we deal with. what we learned when all of this

happens is out of 133 special districts that existed before the florida constitution was created, six had not been updated, including this one. that's an issue. and we said we needed to do it. part of the reason it never could be updated is disney used its political power to keep the legislature from updating it. because they have gone and tried to bring values to florida that goes so far in the face of what florida voters believe, they don't have that political power to keep this long-standing effort to modernize this special district. that's why we have the ability to do this now. >> well, florida voters are not a monolith. you know that quite well. so, the idea of a very wide swath is going to probably be one of the issues we'll have to deal with when you debate this issue tomorrow. florida state representative randy fine, thank you for joining the show. i appreciate it. happy birthday. >> thanks for having me. thank you. i want to get back to jim in ukraine. i want to hear what's going on over there.

>> well, this is one more fact of this invasion, some of the most vulnerable being made more vulnerable. as if the invasion isn't horrific enough, hundreds of children with cancer have had to be evacuated from the country while already fighting for their lives. we're going to talk to someone playing a key role in trying to save those young lives. that's coming g up. our style, ws of design options. when a normal day is anything but normal, we fit your schedule, with our uniquque tub over tub process, installed in as little as a day. when high quality is the only quality that matters, we fit your standards, with a lifetime guarantee. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation.

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this war spares no one here. of course the obvious ways, the bombs, the fighting, the gunfire, and the less obvious, the interruption of basic services, including life saving health care. so far this war has forced more than 400 children with cancer to evacuate the country. they are getting treatment abroad, but thankfully. but rescuing these kids from ukraine in the middle of a war of course can be extremely dangerous. my next guest is the director for the largest children's cancer foundation in ukraine. thanks so much for joining tonight. >> thank you for inviting me.

>> first, i'd just like to ask the practicality of this. getting around this country in the middle of a war is difficult. it's dangerous. people get bombed, targeted, shelled, as they drive. how do you manage to get kids who are already suffering through cancer out of here safely? >> you know, it was a sort of mission impossible. from the very first days of the war, we tried to evacuate children from the biggest hospitals. we took them in rather large groups and we sought for either buses or train cars to bring them to leave cities in western ukraine. it was very difficult and challenging because it was just near impossible to find any means to transport or move these kids. and these are not healthy kids. these kids are in severe

conditions. they have very low blood counts. they can have fever. sometimes the ministry of health helped us. but every time it was an ad hoc situation and we had to find the solution. >> of course. of course. now, the strikes, lviv, of course, is a hub, as you mentioned, for getting folks safely out of the country. there were missile strikes here, as you know, earlier this week. has that affected the ability to get people out of the country, the children safely? >> it affected a certain extent. it didn't stop us from evacuating children from ukraine. but it just demonstrated that you cannot be safe anywhere in ukraine. and regardless where the children are, they are to be taken out of country for the reason of safety. and even in lviv, which we believe to be a relatively safe place, it's not safe to stay

there. and even if there is some treatment capacities available, still you cannot guarantee that the children will not be short by missiles hidden. that's why our determination right now to take all children with cancer out of ukraine for proper treatment. >> goodness. i mean, you see the pictures, you hear the stories, you want to take them out yourself practically. cancer by itself is traumatizing for children and their families. to layer on top of that a war, how do you manage the psychological side of this for the kids? >> you know, i watch the parents and they are not lost. they are reserved and resolved. they're resolved to save their children. and i see that they are very strong. yes, they faced one drama when they learned about the

diagnosis. and during the war, it's, like, double threat because your child can die due to the interruption in treatment or due to shelling and bombing and so on. but we try to support these families. we have a team of 12 psychologists who work with them online while they're still in ukraine and run them abroad. so, we have a big team of volunteers and partners, international partners with support. so, we are not alone in this initiative. it's a great partnership, collaboration, with our international partner, st. jude children's hospital. but for them, we would not be able to do this. >> you said that we location is a temporary solution. we don't know how long this war is going to last. it could be weeks. it could be months. it could be longer before it's safe for them to come back. have you discussed more permanent options, treatment options for the children?

>>. >> look, so, all children who have been moved to foreign countries, they can stay there until the completion of their treatment. even if the war ends earlier, it's not appropriate to move them back because some treatment is simply not available in ukr ukraine. or in ukraine they would be treated under the different protocols. and it's not good for children. so, we receive guarantees from the foreign hospitals admitting our children that they can stay there as long as they should stay until they are in safe condition. and of course we want -- as soon as ukraine wins this war and the peace is restored, we want to rebuild the ukrainian service in ukraine and make it better than it used to be before the war. >> well, listen, i'm sure folks watching -- i know i do. i do wish -- well, i wish you

for the work you do and i wish the children the best of luck and recovery, right, as they receive treatment in the midst of all this. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> those poor little kids. we're going to be back live from ukraine in just a few minutes. but coming up, breaking news back home in the u.s., the fight over masking on planes and mask transits, it's not over. laura looks at why the biden administration is appealing the lifted mandate, even though it was set to end soon. that's coming up.

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the biden administration is appealing a federal ruling striking down the mask mandate for public transportation. white house press secretary jen psaki tells cnn plus host chris wallace this appeal is crucial to preserving the cdc's authority. >> we think it's entirely reasonable as is the department

of justice for the cdc, the health data experts, health experts most importantly and our administration to be able to have that time to evaluate but also because they want to fight to ensure the cdc's authority and ability to put in mandates in the future remains intact. >> i want to bring in chief legal analyst jeffrey toobin. jeff, she said entirely reasonable, but here's the rub on this issue. it's a bit of a yo-yo. i thought earlier today they were emphasizing choice on mask use, and so how do you think this is going to play out? the idea of say, look, you want to have choice up to you and then trying to preserve the credibility of the cdc to have this authority? >> laura, i think the technical legal term for what's going on here is a mess. there are so many contradictory and puzzing things going on here. the -- to add yet more, you know, the biden administration

is appealing this order, but they're not asking for a stay. so there is no way this case will be resolved before may -- >> we're not doing lawyers in the room but the same meeting they would ask for them to reinstate the mask mandate while the whole thing is pend. to say let's keep the status quo before the florida judge's ruling. >> exactly. if you really thought the cdc needed this order in place, you would ask for a stay, as you said to keep the mask mandate intact. but they're not asking for a stay. they are simply litigating the underlying case. now, what i don't understand and maybe you understand this, laura, is why isn't this whole case moved after may 3rd? because the only issue as i understand it is before the judge in florida was whether the cdc could issue this order which

expires on may 3rd. i'm a little baffled by that. >> well, the only thing i can think of and she alluded to this point was the idea trying to preserve this authority for the future emergency declarationch and of course the issue here is that the cdc, a rule making agency, can't just have an indefinite period of time where they say here's the role, no notice in comment, no one gets to weigh in. and so they want to be able to preserve it, i would imagine. the problem is the two-week deadline you're talking about, it's not clear they would have needed that at the time. they haven't necessarily given that logic on the issue. but, you know, we're both pontificating on that, but i do want to get to something even more pressing right now. i don't know if you've been watching this trial that involved the defamation suit brought by johnny depp against his ex-wife amber heard. the most repeat one of course sarah palin and "the new york times." it's obviously a different case,

but this one is interesting inpler because it's based on not what a journalist in "the washington post" has said but an op-ed written by amber heard that doesn't name johnny depp that's been interpreted as meaning johnny depp was abusive allegedly. what needs to be proven in a case like this? >> it seems johnny depp's case is extremely weak on many levels. for people to understand what the standard is for libel cases involving public figures, the plaintiff has to show either the person making the statement knew the statement was false or had reckless disregard for whether the statement was false. now, keep in mind amber heard, you know she -- she is the person who says she was abused by johnny depp. so it's hard for me to imagine how any court is going to asay

it's reckless disregard for her to recount her own experience. just think johnny depp has virtually no chance of winning this case. what do you think? >> well, i happen to disagree with the idea of no chance of it. obviously it's hard to ever predict fully, but the idea of truth to the defense to defamation you're accurate, of course, but one could try to establish it's not the truth, this was a statement that's truthful, and that's going to be really what his lawyervise to prove, and whether she takes the stand or not to talk about these issues i'm very curious about. and really i do wonder about how both are public figures, whether that will cancel out in some way against the fact finders here. we'll wait and see. jeffrey toobin, thank you as always. we'll be right back, everyone.

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welcome back. >> thank you, laura. i was going to be next to you though a few thousand miles apart i'll be in ukraine tomorrow for "cnn tonight." laura will be reporting from washington, and don lemon tonight starts right for you. good to see you, man. >> hello to both of you. jim, the security service ukraine has released reportedly intercepted communications of russian soldiers. you did some reporting on that. let's listen and then we'll talk. >> one man recounting a conversation he had with his commander. he can be heard say we asked the commander, quote, what shall we do? we got nothing. he says the commander told them effing shoot all the civilians to the end. and then warned the troops, quote, whoever leaves their post will be a deserter. that's when another sold