hello. warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. following breaking news in russia's war in ukraine just ahead. >> translator: they are keeping 120,000 people in mariupol. >> this will show our armed forces. >> will this war kill your business? >> yeah, it will. >> translator: it's already killed it. >> as far as human beings, these are atrocities.

these are all crimes. >> reporter: this is cnn breaking news. thursday, april 21st. 9 a.m. here in london. 11 a.m. in ukraine. we begin with breaking developments in the war. russia's defense minister telling president vladimir putin that russian forces need three to four days to take over the steel plant in the besieged city of mariupol, whereas, as many as 1,000 are hold up. they have not stopped shelling mariupol. tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped inside the city. we will continue to follow the story. meanwhile, we're seeing the devastation and human toll

across ukraine. a new report finds russian forces committed apparent war crimes in bucha. the report says researchers have found evidence of executions, disappearances and torture. the russian offensive continues to push forward in the donbas region. the enhanced military say russian forces have taken a central village. they report russian forces are advancing from donbas to creme tors being. they have added 17 ba tallian tactical groups in the past week. >> translator: the situation in the east and south of our country remains as severe as possible. the occupiers don't give up

trying to gain at least some victory for themselves through a large nonscale offensive. >> meanwhile, world war ii soviet victory flags are appearing across russia and the ukraine. they want to report major progress in the invasion by that date. joining me from kyiv is anastasia. what do you make of those flags going up? first of all. >> well, we are actually seeing that what russia is doing is they are not wore individual and

russian troops continued shelling and evac cue waiting. they're getting people out of mariupol. there are still pem who looks at them sleeping? what about the fact that it may take three three to four days is realistic for russians to take the plant? >> first of all, i have to say initial plan, through the situation it is very severe there. our aim right now is to try and get civilians outs of city and this is exactly what russians are refusing to allow.

>> how many siville vans are there by your count? >> reporter: it is difficult to asce ascertain. i think the approximate numbers are more than a thousand which is still a lot. >> you've asked for military supplies obviously from the west. your president seems more positive those supplies are now coming and the west doesn't understand what you need for the military operation in the east of the country. >> there are some flights coming. we are asking for more heavy weapons, for more artillery, arms sanctions, this is what is tlesh held.

do you think it's inevitable mariupol will be under russian control within the week? >> no, i don't. >> they can't even get water now. >> basically right now, two issues. first one is expedient supply of heavy weapons. when i mean immediate, stop coming on the ground and the second is also important complete oil and gas em barring fwoe funding ukraine by continuing to pay for russian oil and gas. our estimate is that embargo on russian oil and gas is a key sanction that might, might make russia give up the military

plans. >> germany is obviously central to that whole debate. they are the largest economy in europe and they are largely dependent on russian oil and gas. to come off of oil within a year? you're effectively right. >> first of all, it is important to outline germany is one of the biggest buyers of russian gas. russian oil and gas going until the end of the year. this has not been new. it has been done to iran, for example. this is for stop paying for the oil and gas, accumulate the funds on the special account

which russia can only receive access where it's in ukraine. again, this is perfectly possible. this has been banned before. this is what has to be banned right now. not waiting for another month and year considering how to stop supplies. >> ukrainian member of parliament, thank you very much, indeed, for your perspective today. u.s. justice department is looking at monday's court ruling striking down the requirement for masks from the airline industry. the state department said they wouldn't take further details. >> reporter: two days after a federal judge struck down the

renter, they're asking them to appeal that ruling by a federal judge. the justice department seems to make it necessary. that is what's happening. they say, quote, to protect cdc's public hair appeal. it remains necessary for the public health. the cdc also says here they are going to continue to monitor public health conditions as it relates to the necessity of this mask mandate going forward. what's really interesting here is the dr dc is explaining it on two fronts. they make it necessary north

mask mandate to still and they're saying they're appealing this decision in order to preserve the legal authority to institute the mask mandate. jen psaki, she made this point earlier on wednesday as well when she said there are going to be highs and lows. the cdc wants to maintain the legal authority to reinstitute the mask mandate if necessary. jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. delta airline is going to restore flight privileges for 2,000 reporters. they'll review each case and makes sure each understand affected behavior. if they disregard any rules,

they could be permanently banned. now coming up on the front lines, ukrainian farmers already facing massive disruptions to their business find themselves in the path of russian rockets. their story is just ahead. >> in the house, we lived here more than 10 years. for the people who lost their homes,ible they will be able to get in there, perhaps a shame. ♪ ♪

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just speaking to a member of parliament, isa, suggesting that the russians didn't go into kyiv straightaway so there's no assumption here that they are going to necessarily go into mariupol and russia seems to be confirming that. >> what we have heard, matt, in the last few minutes is from putin himself congratulating the russian foreign minister for liberating the city of mariupol yet the same defense minister that said the steel plant may take three to four days. let's take this with a pinch of salt

salt. it could be a question of days and what we've seen is a relentless barrage of fire power thrown since february 24th. there is a reason for that. it's important for one reason. it means russia contains 80% or so of that russian coast line. they're going to reinforce the offensive.

it would create a land bridge and that's why this is an important and strategic win for putin. it's not there yet by any means. forces are standing tall. there are efforts to get them out. it has failed in the last day or so. only four buss were able to leave mariupol. >> i can only imagine what life is like in mariupol right now. isa, thank you for joining in lviv. back with you on the show tomorrow. russia's invasion of ukraine is hurting an already struggling global supply chain. the two nations supply about 30% of the world's wheat. ukrainian farmers haven't been able to plant or sell.

ed lavandera brings us their story. >> reporter: this man runs a one-man dairy operation. six cows 13 miles from the front lines of the battlefield in southern ukraine. neither russian soldiers or falling rockets have stopped the 49-year-old from tending to his work. that is sergei's house there just in the distance. 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 were covered with dust. dust and shrapnel all the way here. i fell to the ground. for those who have not gone

through this, they would not believe it . he has his cows spread out so they don't all get killed at once. they grow wheat and sun flower on these lush, wide open fields year the village, but the war has up ended his business. >> translator: it's been unfortunate for all of us. basically everything is shut down. we aren't working. >> reporter: maxime says the cost of fuel and grain have skyrocketed. they can't find parts to repair

machinery. this is the storage area where they keep the sun flower seeds. they haven't been able to plant it. maxime is stuck with the entire season's sun flower harvest. >> will this war kill your business? >> translator: it's already killed it. we have stockpiled our wheat flower and sun flowers. we aren't able to sell it. >> reporter: ukraine is considered the world's bread basket along with russia producing 30% of the world's wheat exports. united nations says this 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 sun flower have turned into debris fields for missiles, rockets and other explosives.

farm or fight is the choice facing front line farmers. sergei has already faced this life and death decision. when the russians invaded this village last month, sergei joined the fight. he was shot in the shoulder. if 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 to the end. >> when the war returns, the harvest will have to wait. particularly dry weather conditions are continuing to fuel fires across southwest united states. millions in the region are under red flag warnings.

there's a dangerous wildfire spread scenario now pedram. these are warnings and the images are frightening. >> the elements are in place for explosive fire. it could work on close in place. these fires have expanded. we have 12 large wildfires expanding. state of arizona, drop conditions encompass the entirety of the state. north of flagstaff, that's where the largest fire is. from space in flagstaff, look at the smoke.

the winds houla cross the region. that's the area of concern particularly as you work towards eastern new mexico and western texas. critical levels of concern for fire weather, low humidity, plenty of dry brush that is present to ignite and expand the flames. the front will pick up the flames. you'll notice severe weather. level 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 there for severe weather. general concern for large hail and isolated winds. severe level increases from one to three as far south as lu lubbock, texas. gusty winds and hail become the primary concern. storms fire up later in the evening. chicago, quite a bit of rainfall in store across the region. the western u.s., we have

big-time winter weather alerts in place and also the entirety of the state of california underneath drought conditions. a nice last-minute push of military innocenced here. very polite in recent rainfall goes a long way for the dry season ahead of us. san francisco, 60 degrees max. thank you, pedram. now electric automaker tesla has zoomed past wall street's expectations in the latest earnings report. they made a attempt on supply

chain issues. the good news is not as good for netflix though. a day after announcing they lost 200,000 subscribers in the first part of the year, the stock plunged 35%. it wieptd out $50 billion in the current quarter as well. the news dragged do you know hasn't worked. the u.s. is turning up the heat on kremlin. moscow is countering the potentially nuclear missile. a fiery debate in france as the two candidates in sunday's presidential runoff come face to face..

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western officials walked out of a session. vladimir putin said a new generation of nuclear capable missiles would make adversaries think twice before threatening russian territory. nato's named it satin 2.

claire sebastian joins us live from london. how do you interpret these images we were sent? >> well, max, the context of this, the missile launch was not a surprise. the context is a fact that they have taken a reputational hit. putin says this is a missile and there is none like it in the world. take a listen to what he had to say about the launch. >> translator: this truly unique weapon has the combat potential of our armed forces and relies

on supporting our government. >> this is a missile capable of carrying a warhead. the u.s. canceled their icbm testing because of the current political situation. >> it might not go as well as possible in ukraine but we have this ultimate threat? or is it a message to the west saying we could counter attack? that's the way he sees it? >> both. it's something we're seeing from putin and recently he is tailoring his message to the

russian people. we are still a military to be reckoned with. that's what military experts are saying. you can sanction us, isolate us, we have this powerful military and we have a nuclear weapon that can reach the united states. >> claire sebastian. just days to go until sunday's runoff election. the french presidential candidates went head to head in their first if not right

challenged again. 's commitment and cnn's jim bidderman has the story. who's closest to putin because it's part of the election campaign. >> reporter: that came up, max. in fact, the president -- incoming president accused his challenger of being very close to put continue, depending on him for not only her ideas but also for her support because she took a huge $10 million russian loan. she looks like she has close ties to putin. she said she feels very close to mr. putin. i think that was something. the main thrust of her attack on macron was the economy. he's isolated the average citizen and doesn't pay

attention to pocketbook issues. here's how one part of that exchange went down. >> mr. macron, i heard you. with your government, you are delighted to have increased the french person's power. the french people told me about their problems with purchasing power. i only saw french people who told me they can't make it anymore. can't get by. >> translator: i am proud we have made it. i am looking at your program, there is not even the word unemployment, which is striking. >> reporter: max, our colleagues over at the tv, the commissioner

ran a snap poll after the debate. 59% for macron. she's being declared as the winner of the debate. >> jim, thank you very much. done sure to join us sunday 8 p.m. paur ris time, 2 p.m. in the east is getting a break from the party gate scandal. the push to punish him is movivg forward.

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crew of "rust" willfully violated safety orules. they were fined $137,000, the maximum amount by new mexico law. according to the report, gun safety procedures were not being followed on set. the film's management knew about it but failed to correct it. baldwin's attorney said it is not his fault. johnny depp testified. he said an argument between the two in 2015 ended with him seeking medical care. >> she threw the large bottle and it made contact and

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intention to run. his team are here in london trying to push this investigation further down the road until other investigations. >> yeah, absolutely. the latest for today over a parliamentary investigation. overnight the conservative party is now putting forward an amendment to that motion. they want to see this vote delayed until the inquiry into downing street and other party offices is complete. we do understand the mps within the conservative party have been instructed to vote in favor of this amendment. it is expected to pass. clearly they are trying to delay this. it is interesting. first initial findings was released in january highlighting

some serious failings by politicians within the party and the prime minister himself. that has a serious impact. there were calls for him to resign at that point. the fact that they are waiting for the final report may not go over well. >> there are calls for him to be replaced but there is no one to replace him. isn't that the problem here? >> yes. the prime minister saying he intends to see the conservative party through the next general election. he is not stepping down. >> they can be pretty brutal,

can't be they? thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. we'll follow that. the debate may or may not be today. anger and frustration among those who are still under lockdown. residents get creative in dealing with how pandemic lockdowns are impacting them. she's been arguing with covid workers trying to force her to go back into the quarantine center. she's not the only one tired of being under quarantine or lockdown in shanghai. cnn's david culver looks at china doubling down on the zero covid policy. >> shanghai residents pushing back after nearly three weeks of lockdown. these videos show people coming

out of their homes. these are people whose apartments are being turned into government quarantine facilities to cope with surging covid cases. the rising tensions come as chinese officials vaugh to send every positive case of covid-19 and any close contact to government quarantine no matter the age. here you see an elderly man shuffling towards a group of other senior citizens. some in their 90s. most in wheelchairs transferred from their nursing home to this isolation facility after testing positive. video from inside another center shows elderly patients left unattended. cots set up in the halls with thin sheets as bedding. since the start of this outbreak, more than 4,000 cases have been reported in the city. most in this met tropp poe lis are still in strict lockdown. cnn's been living through it. we've mostly been sealed inside

our homes let out for mandatory covid tests and the distribution of groceries. last week we had a brief taste of freedom. i could step out of my apartment all i watt to the end of the properties. the draconian and inconsistent policies wave privately. these banners appeared on the streets of shanghai in the cover of night. this one calling residents to resist the limitless lockdown. this one reading people are dieing, referring to the dire struggle to secure food and medical care. online a flood of frustration surfacing on china's heavily controlled internet. on weibo they began quoting the

first sentence of china's national anthem. it reads, rise, those who don't want to be enslaved. it's about beijing's response and the harsh rhetoric. they repeatedly accused western governments covid response of harming people's well-being. the sarcastic critique shared repeatedly online. the backlash likely to worsen as the weeks' long lockdown carries on. >> this leads to exactly what the zero covid strategy wants to avoid. >> reporter: this calls into

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fighting has broken out around amos being near al aqsa. palestinians launched fireworks towards them. the area has been the site of tensions over the past few weeks as periodic clashes has broken out there. pope francis will be at the vatican in a few moments now.

there are more than 470 refugees. we are joined live from rome. pretty sensitive meeting. >> reporter: well, it's very interesting, max. you have to consider that france has not been a fan of victor orban's national policy. last time i was there it was considered a snub on the part of pope francis. he spent several hours in budapest and he went over to neighboring slovakia with a president there he admires. the vat at this karch is welcome being viktor orban.

so clearly there it suggests both sides. it is the most pro putin european leader. part of viktor orban, some credibility for him that pope francis would be his first stop after his re-election. he's pro putin and a european leader. >> what we expect to hear from them. we'll get comments and perhaps the pope will say something that makes headlines. >> reporter: the pope does tend to make headlines. with the meetings, what we noticed is the pope likes it

would be a private meeting between the pope and viktor orban. you can't rule anything out with the pope. the war in ukraine is top on his mind. if he can say and do anything to help that, he will. max? >> we'll be back with you as that unfolds. before we go, a quick look at the nba runoff playoff picture. the bulls with the big win over the mill walk advantage. the nets up by 17 points. i don't have home tort court

advantage. that left twhem an epic three game lead. russian tennis players will be banned from participating in wimbledon and belorussian players as well. the kremlin calls this decision unacceptable. this will affect a number of high-ranked players, both men and women. thanks for joining me here on "cnn newsroom." breaking news continues on "early start" with kristin fisher. you are watching cnn.

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this is cnn breaking news. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. it is thursday, april 21st. i'm kristin fisher. laura jarrett and christine romans are off today. vladimir putin could be changing tactics to take the beseenged city of mariupol. the russian government saying it is no longer necessary to storm the steel plant where the last remaining ukrainian troops are bunkered. putin is ordering a blockade instead. ukraine's president zelenskyy says his forces don't have enough heavy weapons to beat the russians there. four buses o