. welcome to all of you watching us here in the united states, canada and all around the world. i'm kim brunhuber. ahead on "cnn newsroom" -- >> we want our kids to understand that god is with us. he helps us. we will win. and in this big day, the victory will be ours. >> as ukrainians wake up every day to heavy shelling, their faith is still a place of refuge. what this easter sunday is like in a country fighting back against russia's invasion. plus we'll discuss russian

opposition leader alexei navalny's call for an information front against russia, but can it compete with the propaganda. and we're live in paris where french voters are deciding their next president. it is 11:00 a.m. in ukraine and orthodox christians in that country are celebrating easter sunday, or trying to amid ongoing russian shelling. the latest assessment of the war says that it is not going well for russian troops in the donbas. the intelligence update was released a short time ago and it says numerous russian assaults in the donbas have been repelled in the past week. it noted some russian gains but said that they came at, quote, significant cost because of strong ukrainian resistance. that assessment underscores anticipated visit to kyiv today by u.s. secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin, the visit was announced saturday by

the ukrainian president and will be the first high level american delegation to kyiv since the war began. there has been no confirmation of the visit by the u.s. russia's no holds barred assault is now entering its third month. on saturday a russian missile slammed in to a residential building in the southern port of odesa, the mayor says eight people were killed including an infant. but the ukrainians are fighting back. the defense ministry reports shooting down three russian aircraft, five cruise missiles and nine tactical drones on saturday and claims that two russian generals were killed. cnn is unable to verify those claims. and in mariupol, a planned evacuation of civilians on saturday reportedly was derailed again by the threat of russian shelling. president zelenskyy says russia's war crimes wouldn't go unpu unpunished. here he is. >> translator: new graves of people killed by the occupiers are being found.

we're talking tens of thousands of dead mariupol residents. negotiations of the occupiers on how they can seal the traces of their crimes are recorded. >> correspondents are across the region. matt rivers is in kyiv and both scott mclane and isa soares are there as well. and we begin with what ukraine's leader hopes to get out of it. here is matt rivers. >> reporter: high profile visitors for the easter holiday, on saturday volodymyr zelenskyy told reher reporters that he wo meet with top u.s. officials in kyiv on sunday. >> i don't think this is a big secret. the people from the u.s. are coming to us tomorrow. i shall be meeting with the state's secretary mr. blinken and the defense secretary and we will be waiting for the time when the security situation allows for the president to come and talk to us. >> reporter: the u.s. state

department and white house declined to comments on the matter, but zelenskyy said talks alone won't help ukraine. >> translator: why is it important for leaders to come to us? i will give you a pragmatic answer because they should not come here with empty hands now. we are not waiting for presents or cakes. we're expecting specific things and specific weapons. >> reporter: on friday, a russian general made clear one of moscow's goals this ukraine by saying russia intends to seize southern parts of the country to create a land corridor between the eastern donbas region and crimea. on saturday, for the first time in weeks, russia launched major strikes on the southern port city of odesa, which ukrainian officials say hit a residential building killing at least eight including an infant. the russian defense ministry said that it was targeting a terminal which houses weapons supplied by the united states and european nations. there was also no let up in the

bombardment of the eastern regions of the country. kharkiv once again came under fire. and the governor of the luhansk region urged civilians to leave if they could, describing the situation there as around the clock bombing. the ukrainian government added new curfews, saying that there could be an increase in russian attacks over the holiday weekend. fierce battles for territory that zelenskyy will no doubt press his vmip visitors on sundy for more help in trying to win. matt rivers, cnn, kyiv, ukraine. and president biden shared a message to commemorate orthodox easter, reading in part during this sacred season, we hold in our prayers all those suffering from the brutality of war and persecution. we mourn with all those who have lost loved ones or fear for their safety and rededicate ourselves to working for peace with justice and for the freedom and security of all people.

ukrainian authorities have imposed curfews after warning about the potential for increased russian attacks during the holiday, but despite the danger, many are finding ways to celebrate. president zelenskyy shared this message ahead of easter. >> translator: today was holy saturday for christians of the eastern rite. the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection. it seems that russia is stuck on such a day. for years on the day when death trumps and god is supposedly gone, but there will be a resurrection, life will defeat death. the truth will defeat any lies. and evil will be punished. >> throughout ukraine, there were emotional scenes as orthodox christians ts attend churches for worship, blessings and reflection. earlier the archbishop of philadelphia spoke with jim sciutto. here he is.

>> i think that we all as human beings, we too are human. we're devastated. but you know, this is the story of the human race. adam grabbed while god was giving. god gave adam everything and said don't take that fruit because you will die if you take it. and what we're seeing is a mega grab. russia has 11 time zones, 28 times as big as ukraine, and yet the human being grabs for more and kills to do so. that is what easter is all about. it is -- this week is full of this story. death, life, friendship, bet betrayal, heroism and, you know, just the worst that the human being is capable of. >> thousands of ukrainians are estimated to have returned to

their country for easter. many of the faithful say this year is particularly important to spend time with family. cnn's isa soares has more from lviv. >> reporter: as fighting rages on in the east of ukraine, a city that has mostly been spared by russia's wrath, in lviv parishioners gadhafi for protec -- gather for reflection and protection. a somber affair for many this year. it is less festive this year, this mother of three says. but we want to keep our traditions and we want our kids to understand that god is with us. he helps us. we will win and in this big day, the victory will be ours. despite calls to stay home, young and old line up with their food baskets for a blessing. around the corner, kindness

shared with strangers. an opportunity too for many ukrainians to support the troops on the frontline with food donations and prayers. we are both sad and joyful because we believe in our soldiers, this parishioner tells me. we are worried for them, we are praying for them, and we are asking god to help all of us. others, though, are still too scared to venture to church this easter. so we meet a young family that today is also feeling thankful. i think i've never been this happy in my life, tells me this young mother. annamaria says she left ukraine for poland when the war started. alone, nine months pregnant, and carrying a world of worry on her

shou shoulders. when we were separated from each other, it put a huge burden psychologically on us. we were constantly reading the news, she says, and the situation in ukraine in general. we were very worried. without her husband or family by her side, and while her own country was being ripped apart by suffering, the 25-year-old in her own agony gave birth to a little miracle. baby margarita. and this distigushing father cot be happier to have his girls by his side. i have realized that my wife is not just a woman. she is a hero, he says. and that if i was in her shoes, i wouldn't be able to. i would have broken down. a family finally reunited and counting their blessings this easter. in the long and dark shadow of

war. isa soares, cnn, lviv, ukraine. it is decision time in france where voting is under way in the presidential vrunoff. the contest is a showdown between emmanuel macron and marine le pen. but no matter who wins, the election is expected to have a profound effect both in france and abroad. jim bittermann is standing by outside a polling station in paris where the voting is going on as we speak. he joins us with more. so, jim, folks have been casting their ballots for a couple hours. you've been speaking to some of those voters. what have they been telling you? >> reporter: well, it is pretty interesting actually. i asked them about their commitment to voting because we talked about a lot of pundits

here talking about ahead of time the fact that people weren't going to vote because they weren't happy with the choice that they will be presented with today as they go to the ballot box. the choice of le pen and macron, center right president and a far right challenger. there is nobody representing the left. and so some on the left say that they weren't going to vote at all. but i'll tell you, right here at this polling place, in fact we've seen a big turnout this morning as a line of folks waiting to vote and it takes about 10 or 12 minutes for them to get inside and cast their ballot, which is quite unusual for the french because in french elections you basically take a ballot paper, put it in an envelope and that is the tway yu vote. takes you no time at all to vote. and i have a voter going right by me, so i'll let her go by. and in any case, turnout has been i would say very high. and one of the first, in fact

the very first person to vote this morning at this polling place was a 70-year-old lithuanian refugee, she came with her mother who is also a refugee living in france, they have been living in france since the '90s and because of that, they have the right to vote. and i asked her, you know, exactly why she felt so passionate about voting. here is what she had to say. >> translator: france welcomed us, france gave us everything. it is lucky to have such a president in this period, someone on that level who made such sacrifices. he carried everything on his shoulders. >> reporter: and so basically she was very passionate about the idea that she had lived under russian thumb, a russian thumb with her mother under st stalin, and she lived under but con putin, so she wanted to really come out and vote today. and it looks like that she would

vote for macron, but she also said that le pen was motherly in her approach. so a little ambiguous. >> interesting in the context of this war especially. let's look past this presidential election. the legislative elections in june for the members of the national assembly. what are we expecting there and how might that influence the power and the agenda of whoever wins the presidency? >> reporter: that is what they call the third round of elections. they have to elect the legislature and the length lay chur can have a big impact on whether they get anything done or not. macron has had a legislature from his own party and doesn't challenge his program. but next time around, all of this sort of factions and kind of strains within the political system in france are going to be coming out in this legislative vote that is coming up in june.

and as a consequence, whoever the next president is, they are probably going to face a lot of challenge from the legislature. it will be difficult for them in any ways. >> interesting. we'll be watching for sure. jim bittermann, thank you so much. be sure to join us sunday at 8:00 p.m. paris time, 2:00 p.m. eastern in north america for special live coverage of the french election, that is right here on cnn. the leading critic of the kremlin inside russia refuses to let truth be a casualty of the war in ukraine. coming up, we'll look at how alexei navalny is fighting back from behind bars against putin's disinformation campaign. stay with us. neuriva plus fuels six key indicacators of brain performan. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

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nov nocochuk. and this month navalny called on western leaders to support a social media ad campaign in order to break through kremlin propaganda. and let's bring in an associate of alexei navalny, a russian dissident and executive director of navalny's anti-corruption foundation. thanks for joining us here. so tell us how much, first of all, does navalny know about what is going on in ukraine and how does he get his information? >> we communicate almost daily. a lawyer visits him for about an hour a day. and during that time, he scribbles handwritten notes to his family and our team. and reads whatever we send to him.

so he keeps current with the events. and he has been sowing his anti-war position throughout these last two months. >> so with the war going on, the kremlin is cracking down on dissent even more harshly than it already was. you can be fined or even arrested for criticizing the war or even just for calling it a war and not a special military operation. so how tough does that make the work of dissidents? >> well, it is quite tough. just a couple of examples. the people are detained for going out in the streets and po pieces of paper. or letters replaced by asterisks. and long term critic of putin regime, one of the bravest piece

i know, has just been detained for two months for -- well, they blame him for speaking in arizona parliament saying that this is war and condemning the actions of russia. so over the last two months, it has become almost impossible to raise independent voice against war in russia. >> so i guess that is why this campaign that navalny is calling for is so important, but it is one thing, you know, to say we should have an information front to fight against russian disinformation, but in reality, as you know for many russians especially the older ones, state-run media is the first choice if not the only option. so how do you break through with these messages? >> well, alexei navalny got his recognition as most prominent opposition leader through internet and social media

because he doesn't have access to state-controlled tv or newspapers. so he knows what he is talking about when he calls for a social media campaign. indeed the information that russians receive about the war is distorted in many ways. and such a campaign would open the eyes for many people if it is done properly. >> i wonder how long it can continue. i mean, some social media outlets, instagram for instance, have been banned. youtube is still allowed for now. as you say, navalny gets millions of hits on youtube. but what happens if the kremlin takes that down too? >> there are several layers of social media. in many countries whatsapp chats, telegram chats, are used for spreading information and you don't need a centralized

social media like twitter, facebook or youtube. and so if content is viral, if it is shared by a lot of people, i think that it will spread. especially if the last fortress of free social media, youtube, is redistricted in russia. >> so despite the fact that the war isn't going as planned for russia, despite all the widespread dedestruction, the blood shed, pin opinion polls show that putin's popularity hasn't gone down, in fact it has gone up. so how frustrating is that and what do you think that it will take to change that? >> i think it is really not possible to take the poll results in a context of such a restrictive environment as russia at face value. people are just afraid to say what they think.

so i think that the people have seen their standards of living go down over the last two months. the major grants that russians have gotten used to have left. there is a stream of coffins coming from ukrainian front. people are quite nervous. they may not voice their frustration yet in polls or publicly, but the dissent is advisably growing. >> and the question is will they blame pew pin utin or blame the for all of this. i guess we'll find out. we'll have to leave it there, vladimir, appreciate your insights. >> thank you. and from viewers from the united states, tune into see more about the jailed dissident navalny and that premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. on the west coast only here on cnn.

a boat carrying approximately 60 people sank off the coast of lebanon saturday, at least one person as died, a child. horn 40 p more than 40 people have been res rescued. according to the state news agency, the boat was sailing, quote, illegally towards europe and cypress. lebanese army, red cross and other agencies are searching for those not yet accounted for. for our international viewers, "inside africa" is next. if you are watching here in north america, i'll be back with more news after a short break. please do stay with us.

watching us here in the united states and canada, i'm kim brunhuber, this is "cnn newsroom." orthodox easter sunday is usually a happy celebration in ukraine, but this year it has been marred by russia's invasion as the war enters it 60th day. on saturday a russian missile slammed into a residential building in odesa as people were marking the easter holiday. eight were reportedly killed including an infant. russia's plan is now to take over the east and south that

would protect pro-russian territories from crimea and moldova and essentially make it a land locked country. secretary of state antony blinken and defense secretary lloyd austin are expected in the country sunday. such visits aren't usually announced beforehand and washington hasn't yet confirmed any plans. meanwhile ukraine is promoting what it says are battlefield successes. the military says it took out two russian generals and the defense ministry says that 17 russian air targets were hit on saturday including three russian aircraft, five creuise missiles and nine drones. mariupol still remain as humanitarian disaster, soldiers and civilians are holed up in a steel mill running out of food while a second mass grave is likely just discovered just outside of town. scott mcclain has the details. >> reporter: satellite images

have long shown the scale of destruction in mariupol. it is difficult to know the full huge cost of the siege, but there are new potential clues. new satellite pictures of a cemetery appear to show freshly dug trenches. the mayor's office says that these are mass graves. cnn cannot independently verify the claim. what is not unclear is the dire humanitarian situation inside the city. new video from the ukrainian military shows women and children taking shelter underneath a steel plant where ukrainian troops are making their last stand. inside, the russian word for children is spray painted on the walls. a ukrainian soldier says that he is bringing gifts, candy and some food. the kids explain how they have passed the time. many of the women and children are the families of plant workers here. and many have been there for 50 days or more.

>> translator: i want to get out of here and see the sun. we've been here for two months now and i want to see the sun. because they switch the lights on and off here, when they rebuild our houses, we can live in peace. >> translator: we all really want to return home, we want to return home alive. we all want to see our parents and families. >> reporter: there is little hope those wishes will come true anytime soon. russian troops have surrounded the complex waiting for ukrainian soldiers to surrender as food supplies dwindle. for the rest of mariupol, a humanitarian corridor opened leading west through russian-held territory to zaporizhzhia, though the mariupol mayor's office says that russians tricked people into boarding buses bound for a town in russian occupied territory. cnn could not immediately var few the progress of evacuation efforts in the city. in a press conference, president zelenskyy proposed a trade with

russia in exchange for ukrainian civilians trapped in mariupol. >> translator: we are civilized people and we suggest humanitarian solution into the situation. we offer exchange of civilians. we present exchange of the wounded. >> reporter: zelenskyy said that he is willing to meet with putin but peace talks would be abandoned if ukrainians in mariupol were killed. scott mcclain, cnn, lviv, ukraine. so how long can the oldisols and civilians keep russians at bay?isa soares spoke with the director of the initiative and said russia got more than what they bargained for. >> they are destined to remain at least 1,000 civilians in that plant. and i won't disclose but a

significant number of fighters. and never been able to resupply them, which probably will go down in the history books as another incredible feat. these fighters, i would just say that these fighters are the ones that have kept, you know, ukrainians fighting. they have enabled ukrainians to beat russians back around kyiv by tying russian troops up in and around mariupol. they have done an incredible feat there. i mean, they will go down in history books. and it is going to be very, very difficult for the russians to dislodge them. it has been six weeks already. and so mariupol is a preview of things to come. there is towns like kramatorsk that the russians will try to take, but i believe that they will be more mariupols and they should think twice before attempting that. >> evacuations from ukraine's

war-torn areas are becoming increasingly difficult. and while some were able to evacuate from mykolaiv sat, they had hoped to get civilians out of mariupol, but the effort was thwarted by the russian military. and for those who have managed to make it safely out of the areas of heavy fighting, they just want to find peace for their families. here is what one refugee said in france. >> translator: we hope for a peaceful sky above us here and that our children will finally stop crying, be happier, less anxious and nervous. we hope for support from france. we have already had a lot of support in moldova. people have helped us a lot. >> so far more than five million people have fled the fighting in ukraine to other countries. and the u.n. says more than 7.7 million are internally displaced. so to find out how you can help the people in ukraine who need shelter, food and water, please

go to cnn.com/impact and just to let you know, our audience has already donated more than $7.5 million. obviously more help is desperately needed. still to come here on cnn, how some americans are trying to get a handle on rapidly shifting covid mask rules. plus the western u.s. is dealing with several massive fires. we'll hear the latest from the cnn weather center ahead. just without the lactose. tastes great in our iced coffees too. which makes waking up at 5 a.m. . to milk the cows a lilittle easier. (m(moo) mabel says for you, it''s more like 5:15. man: mom, reaeally? we got the house! you did! pods handles the driving. pack at your pace. store your things until you're ready. then we deliver to your new home - across town or across the cntry. podsyour personal moving and storage team. wet dishes? sps? cloudy glasses? when detergent alone isn't enough...

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could nndolences are pourin over the passing of orrin hatch. he was the longest serving senator in utah history. he left the senate in 2019 after serving 42 years on capitol hill. chairman of the happen fooig foundation called him a man of passion and courage.

and praised hatch for what he called major legislative accomplishments. hatch was 88 years old. the u.s. justice department is appealing this week's court ruling that struck down the federal government's mask mandate for travelers. some airlines and transit agencies swiftly made masks optional after the ruling. passengers on those carriers are now able to decide how much risk they want to take when they travel. opinions on masks as you might imagine are mixed. listen to this. >> i'm going to try to protect myself as much as i can. >> sitting in an airplane with the masks on was really kind of frustrating. so i'm so glad that they are gone. >> so we asked cnn's jacqueline howard what many travelers are wondering, does wearing a mask now really protect you? >> the short answer here is yes. wearing a mask can still give you some protection even if you are the only one masked.

but how much protection depends on the mask type. and one study released by the cdc earlier this year, wearing a cloth mask was associated with a 56% lower odds of testing positive for covid-19. wearing a surgical mask was associated with a 66% lower odds. but for the most protection, wearing an n95 or kn95 was associated with 83% lower odds. and that is compared with wearing no mask. now, i spoke with an expert on aerosol particles about this, chris cappa, and he tells me if everyone else is unmasked, those percentages could go down because more particles from the unmasked people could release into the air. but the bottom line, if your mask is on, that mask can still filter particles offering some protection. back to you. >> cnn asked two public health

experts to weigh in on the florida court ruling that struck down the federal government's mask mandates for travelers inside the u.s. and here is what they had to say. >> i think my biggest gripe is how it was done. you know, where is cdc. cdc has been largely silent behind the doj saying, hey, this is not a good idea, we need to reinstate mask mandates. i would rather have this come from the cdc, from a scientific organization, from the world headquarters of the pandemic, rather than a judge in florida. and to lift a mask mandate in the midst of a surge, cases are still going up, we're grossly undercounting cases, the good news is, yes, hospitalizations are down and deaths are significantly down. but we are still in a pandemic and i think that mask is one of very many tools. so i don't want to overstate the use of a mask, but wearing a good n95 mask, a kn95 mask, goes a long way. >> i think at this stage in the

pandemic we really do need to get away from case counts. and in the vast majority of the states in this country, hospitalizations remain low and are falling. it is a question of when to pull back these mandates. and the mask mandate in public transportation was due to expire in just two weeks time. so, you know, this may be a little bit formulaic in our discussion, but mask mandates, public health mandates in general, do have a toll. living in this chronic state of hyper vigilance and fear is not great for our mental health. and so to impose a mandate to require something like masks, we really need to -- it needs to be effective and those mandates need to be consistent. and a mask mandate on public transportation really i think fails those criteria. it is okay to attend an indoor basketball game with 20,000 other cheering spectators, but -- without a mask, but when you get on a very well ventilated airplane, you are mandated to put on a mask.

and i think the average citizen finds that to be a bit inconsistent. and that can erode our faith in our public health officials. >> now to a warning from the world health organization. it reports at least one child has died from hepatitis outbreak which has spread to 11 countries. at least 169 cases of hepatitis in children aged one month to 16 years old have been identified across these countries. most of these cases have been reported in the uk. an investigation is under way to learn more about the cause of the outbreak. there are at least 20 active wildfires burning in new mexico. that is according to the state's governor who says that the risk season is incredibly and dangerously early. the governor declared a state of emergency for several counties on saturday. wildfires have also impacted thousands of acres in arizona and kolgcolorado.

dozens of homes have been destroyed and evacuation odds have been issued in several communities. derek van dam is joining me. you are keeping your eye on fires and a whole trifecta of weather events going on across the country. >> yeah, we did have the triple threat like you mentioned with the trifecta, but i have to add another threat in there. we just dug a little deeper into the weather forecast and now we have the quadruple threat across the central u.s. and we've included flash flooding in that as well. severe storms, blizzard conditions, fire weather, and then rain that could produce flash flooding. so this is the large storm system responsible for it. very clear to see where the low pressure is with that rotating mess of rain. and we still have a severe thunderstorm watch across southern oklahoma which is set to expire in the coming areas. but today the areas we need to keep an eye to the sky, grand lake -- the great lakes.

this line of thunderstorms will start to take advantage of the heating of the day, and we'll start to see the storms fire up through the afternoon and evening. and then on the cold side of the storm system, we have so much snow and reduced visibility that we're closing down highways. this is interstate 90 near the border of south dakota and wyoming. there it is, the snow still moving through rapid city as we speak, blizzard conditions set to expire later this evening. and then here is the flood threat from oklahoma city to springfield and points to the south and east, these are the computer models generating some of the potential rainfall totals across the area. upwards of 4 to 6 inches of rainfall just north of dallas. and that is why there is a moderate risk of flash flooding for that area. we've been following the fire threat across the greater west and into new mexico and arizona in particular. and i want to take you to one fire in particular, this one is just outside of flagstaff, arizona, this is knowns as the

tunnel fire. only 3% containment so far, but the winds are starting to shift in a different direction, north/northeast. so the firefighters are pre-positioning themselves, hopefully that they can get a better handle on that situation as the winds start to relax as well. and parts of u.s. highway 89 have been closed for this fire as they continue to battle the blaze. you can see that the winds will eventually relax with the next coming days. >> a lot to monitor there. appreciate that. have a look here, this is a rally outside the white house on saturday as part of earth day weekend celebrations. several organizations including the sierra club and naacp call on the biden administration to pass climate change legislation that has been stalled in the senate. they demanded, quote, climate care, jobs and justice. coming up, america's opoid crisis is reaching a deadly new record. we'll look at a new tool that

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some news just coming into cnn, an adviser to the ukrainian president's office says russian forces are attacking the encircled azovstal steel plant in mariupol. we recently brought you these images of both soldiers and civilians, mostly women and children, seeking shelter there. vladimir putin claimed earlier this week that russian forces had achieved the, quote, liberation of mariupol butteded his forces to stop short of taking the azovstal plant. the sprawling complex is the last major bastion of ukrainian defense in the city. drug overdoses in the united states are on a shocking rise, and that has prompted bars across america to offer patrons free fentanyl testing strips, but some say it is only making drug use easier. some bars and clubs in the u.s. are now offering their patrons something else besides music and drinks, something new. a simple piece of paper that can

detect the synthetic opoid fentanyl. for decades opoid overdoses have cast a shadow over the united states. in april the cdc estimated an overdose deaths reached an all-time high. close itto 107,000 people died overdoses in a 12 month period and about two-thirds of those involved fent tianyl. according to a report by the fda, many drugs are adulterated with fentanyl and can prove fatal. a nonprofit called fchlent checs taking matters in to their own hands. >> we go around to bowls and they have the test strips and we made making sure that they are fully stocked. because if people are going to

make choices, that they are making them with safety and informed concept. >> reporter: and the nonprofit is distributing strips across cities like san francisco, new york and philadelphia. the strips aren't just free. they are also easy to use. drug users mix a tiny amount of the drug, whether it is heroin, cocaine or crushed up pills, in an ounce of water. and then they dip the strip into a solution for 15 seconds and remove it. the results appear like a pregnancy test. one line indicates the presence of fentanyl, and two lines means no fentanyl. >> we're done with dead kids. we're done with accidental overdoses. because even if -- you know, we really do want to engage with harm reduction and if they cannot make it to the next step in their sobriety, if they die that night, that is why this is important. >> reporter: while distribution of testing strips continues to grow in some major cities, not all states and cities are

welcoming the idea. some opponents have criticized the strips for enabling drug users. >> i don't think it is a good policy to ma addicted to drugs to use drugs. >> reporter: under the new biden administration drug control policy, they plan to expand access to services like fentanyl testing strips by 25% in the next three years. >> the fact is that harm reduction saved lives. >> if you or someone you know needs help with drug use or are requesting testing strips, go to overdose life line.org/get-help. and that wraps this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm kim brunhuber. our breaking news coverage of the war in ukraine continues on "new day" with christi paul and boris sanchez. you're watching cnn.

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