that, look at the change that we've seen from where we were at the end of 2022. we see that trump is actually picking up more mentions while desantis' mentions on fox news are falling. >> but this also speaks, to as you mentioned, the trend lines can shift really quickly. that was after -- that was after an election cycle. >> correct. >> when you saw desantis drop off. let's see when desantis officially gets in, if he does, how those dimensions change. >> the campaign can change as the candidates get into the race and perhaps make a foible or two. that's why we're going to keep an eye on it. who knows what might happen. >> we'll see. it's good to see you. thank you. i really appreciate it. and thank you all so much for being with us tonight. i'm kate bolduan. "ac 360" starts now. good evening. tonight what is next for ukraine, ukrainian people in a war for their survival that has turned into a confrontation between the world's two largest super powers. a year ago tonight, early morning local time, russian forces began rolling into

ukraine for what the kremlin expected would be a quick and easy takeover of the country. what they unleashed instead was the largest land conflict in europe since the second world war, and some of the widest spread killing of noncombatants since world war ii as well . [ bleep ]. shit, shit. shit. shit. all right. >> stay down. >> all right. >> no, no, no. [ bleep ]. >> come on!

>> that video of a russian mortar attack on fleeing civilians in irpin came just two weeks into the invasion. since then we've seen graphic evidence of other russian war crimes, including the summary shooting of civilians in bucha and elsewhere. upwards of 800 attacks on hospitals and other health care facilities, according to the world health organization, and the pummelling of cities like mariupol, where the russian shelling and air strikes reduced residential neighborhoods to moonscapes. according to the united nations, more than eight million ukrainians have been forced to flee the country. millions more are internally displaced. later in the program, we'll show you the war that's been lived by elena ganeqs, living in this country, but hoping to return as soon as they can. we'll also show you the continuing american support has had on the war, how much further it might go, and whether the alliance can hold long-term.

there is also a word on what lessons china can take and as the biden administration gets ready officials tell us today to step up the training of taiwanese forces to if china attempts to do what russia has done. j christiane amanpour joins us from kyiv. how concerned are ukrainian officials, people you talk to about attacks from russia coinciding with the anniversary and any upcoming offensive? >> well, of course they're worried and they've been telegraphing about a spring offensive from the russians. it hasn't really manifested itself in any massive way yet, even on the east, although they continue to pound the east pretty vigorously. and here in kyiv, as yet, with hours to go before the official one-year mark, there has not yet been any kind of attack from russia. but the officials are concerned. they've told people in the capital to take precautions, to stay at home, to work from home tomorrow, and all that kind of

extra security measures have been put in place around the country. >> what are ukrainian officials saying where they see this going in the near term? i mean, obviously it is coming. it's not exactly what they want in terms of fighter jets, attack helicopters, long-range artillery. do they think the u.s. aid is enough to maintain their defenses against a new offensive? >> they believe that they're going to get what they need. and they say if you just look at last year, it was all about weapons. we were pleading for weapons, and we got them. now our mantra is going to be speed. we need them quicker. we need them in time. we need them to face the battles. spoke to a u.s. official under secretary of state for political affairs who says that she believes the u.s. and nato allies will supply the ammunition and the extra military equipment that they need in order for the ukrainians to be able to launch a counter-offensive this spring.

i thought that was rather interesting, actually mentioning when and why and what for. >> is there a sense that there is any kind of an offramp, or what an off-ramp would even look at this point for either side. i know president zelenskyy has expressed interest in negotiations in the past, but obviously under very strict circumstances. >> exactly. well, look, the u.s. believes that there is no evidence at all at this point of any desire, any credible desire by president putin to enter into good faith negotiations. tomorrow, we're expecting this highly telegraphed, much ballyhooed chinese piece initiative. we'll wait to see what that is. the u.s. is saying you've called yourself neutral. you better not get involved in this fight. we will see what kind of peace initiative and whom it favors that they put forward tomorrow. on the ukrainian side, yes, there are conditions, and especially conditions that stiffened since the war crimes

and crimes against humanity that were committed in bucha almost a year ago. so they want basically all russians out of this country. the question is, is that realistic. and more and more analysts and even leaders are saying it's unlikely that there is going to be a resolution or ukrainian getting back crimea, for instance. but what they want to do is give ukraine the ability to fight back hard enough to force russia to a more equitable bargaining position. >> do you hear a lot of concern among ukrainian officials and people you talk to about the possibility of china giving weaponry, giving armaments to russia in the fight in ukraine? >> well, they are concerned, and they don't want it to happen. the ukrainians are very careful not to say too much negative about china, which professes neutrality, and they hope to influence china to try to get putin to actually remove his forces. probably unlikely. but the u.s. is concerned. they have not yet seen any

evidence of actual lethal weaponry being passed from the chinese state to russia, but there is evidence of potential chinese private enterprises, if there is such a thing, of helping some of these groups on the front lines like the wagner group and others. so they're concerned about that. >> did president biden's visit to kyiv and meetings with nato allies, do you think it changed the dynamics of the war at all? >> i think it did. it certainly changed the psychology here in terms of boosting it and giving it a real shot in the arm, because the president had not been to this war zone. as we all know, it's unprecedented for a u.s. president in these circumstances. but what he did was wait until this moment to say that yes, this year is passed, and yes, we are going to still have your back, however long it takes. now as long as it takes is differently interpreted here. they want to see this war end this year. but the u.s. and other world leaders believe that it could take longer, and that they will

remain in it for the long haul. >> christiane amanpour in kyiv tonight, thank you. appreciate it. >> thanks, anderson. >> more perspective now. looking back and looking ahead, cnn's sam kiley, who has seen it all up close from the beginning. he is in eastern ukraine. also with us retired army major general spider marks. and former cia russian chief of operations hall, an international security analyst. sam, what's it like on the front lines in eastern ukraine? >> anderson, earlier, around the last couple of days, we've been very close to the front line with a medical team, an american medical team indeed of volunteers, very close, about three kilometer, less than two miles from the front line at a casualty evacuation post. and i can tell you it's bitter. it's bittner the sense that you've got people coming in with mine injuries. there were five dead bodies, very unusual that the ukrainians

allow the media to see any. mercifully for us they were in body bags. but they were very symbolic i think of the much wider problem that the ukrainians are facing which is very, very high casualty levels. there are no official figures on either side that one could possibly rely upon. but i can tell you anecdotally after spending many weeks here, speaking to a lot of soldiers who are fighting on the front line that the casualty rates are high, competitive with some of the worst elements of the second world war, i would say. and in that case, the ukrainians really are in a position in which they've only really got they say this year to prosecute their war in the way that they want to, in the way that they want to drive russia completely out of their territory, whatever the international community may say later on. they believe they're seeing more of a unanimity in europe and with the united states in

support of that idea, a total withdrawal of russian forces. but on the ground, that translates into this very bitter, bloody battle in which the russians seem to be using artillery to soften up the lines perhaps ahead of a potential russian offensive. meanwhile, as christiane was rightly pointing out there, the ukrainians themselves are planning their own offensive, and they are appealing more and more loudly, and these are appeals that come from every single ukrainian we meet on the front line. please, send us weapons. send us weapons now. anderson? >> general marks, we've seen the tempo battle rise over the past couple of weeks. has the offensive that the ukrainians have been expecting, has that already begun? how bad do you think it could get? >> well, the assessment is that offensive probably has already started, but it's not an offensive that you would expect to see which is a number of battle tanks and, you know, great artillery advances before armored vehicles. that's not what we're seeing.

what we're seeing is what the russians always do, which is more manpower into a very narrow spot, which is really just a meat grinder. so i think it's fair so say this is the nature. the intensity is high, but this is the nature of this offensive. and i think it's important. and sam kiley just said this. the ukrainians would be wise to steal a march on the russians, which means where they can, conduct their own offensive now. put the russians on their heel where they can so that gives the initiative, the momentum to the ukrainians at a very, very important time. and it gets the russians totally off their stride. >> steve, the united states has been warning that china may be considering providing weapons and other military aid to russia. according to "the wall street journal," the u.s. is considering revealing the confidence that prompted that concern. do you think that's a good idea? what would be the benefit of that? >> well, you know, it's always -- as a former intelligence officer, i'm always

a little cautious about that. but there can be advantages to releasing information, as long as of course it doesn't compromise sources and methods, or else you don't get more of that information. but it can also be called bait news and all other sorts of things by the russians. the chinese are in a really different position here. russia wants a lot of stuff for them. they kind of come as beggars to the gates of beijing. they want weaponry and other things. they want support as well. but the chinese themselves, although they share an ideology with the russians, they don't like democracy, they've got to be really careful, because their long-term plan of course is to continue to be an economic super power. and they don't want to be marginalized by the rest of the west by simply helping the russians. by the way, the chinese are also getting russian oil and gas at about a 40% discount. so there is a transactional nature. they have to be really careful how they play this geopolitically. >> general marks, you said that ukraine would be wise to try to have a counterattack if they can, a counter-offensive where they can. why -- if you're, you know, if

there is a meat grinder going on and russia is throwing troops at, and you're taking high casualties, what is the benefit of having a counter-offensive? >> well, it wouldn't be a counter-offensive. it would be an offensive on their part that pushes the russians back on their heels. if you can choose the time and place of your engagement, then you've got the initiative. that would alter the dynamics immediately and tactically on the field. again, that would be a tactical advantage. you then need to string together a number of those tactical advantages to achieve some type of operational maneuver. but, again, you're absolutely correct. you have to balance all the dynamics that go into conducting this type of warfare. if the manpower is not there, if the kit is not there, if the training has not been put in place, truly, you may want to choose to fight another place, another time. >> it's easier, though, for ukraine to do that than for russia to do that because of supply lines?

>> totally. absolutely correct. russian supply lines have been exhausted. they're that much longer. the ukrainians have interior lines. they can choose with a degree of alacrity and movement, that's movement, not maneuver, to get to place where they can hopefully because it's a home game for them, they'll be able to take some type of a flank action against the russians that pushes them back a little bit. >> steve, finally, you've been listening to vladimir putin speak several times the last few days. what's your takeaway the way he sees the path forward here? >> i think his speeches struck me, anderson, as a bit desperate there is a lot of half measures in there. we're suspending but not -- >> lost steve's audio. we'll have to leave it there. sam kiley, general marks, steve hall, appreciate it. quick reminder. cnn's fareed zakaria is hosting a cnn town hall at top of the hour with international aid officials. a years since russian forces moved into ukraine.

be sure to stick around for that. next, alex murdaugh taking the stand at his double murder trial, and it was stunning today. what he said in his defense, and the big lie he finally admitted today that he has been telling since the killings. and later, a live report from east palestine, ohio. details of the preliminary ntsb report that says this train derailment and chemical spill, according to the head of the ntsb, was 100% preventible.

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court in the double murder trial of alex murdaugh. mr. murdaugh took the stand today and admitted he lied repeatedly. court resumes tomorrow with more cross-examination of him. the judge tonight denied a defense request to interrupt that testimony to call other witnesses. and after what some of murdaugh admitted to on the stand today, it's not hard to see why the defense might want to hit pause. our randi kaye was in the courtroom. >> i'm alex murdaugh, mur m-u-r-d m-u-r-d-a-u-g-h. good morning. >> reporter: alex murdaugh sharing his story from the witness stand, telling the jury he didn't kill his wife and son. >> just to be clear, were you anywhere in the vicinity when paul and maggie were shot? >> i was nowhere near paul and maggie when they got shot. >> reporter: and after more than a year and a half, murdaugh finally came clean about this key piece of state's evidence against him. >> mr. murdaugh, is that you on the kennel video at 8:44:0 p.m.

the night paul and maggie were murdered? >> it is. >> reporter: over and over murdaugh had told investigators he hasn't seen his family since dinner, and was not at the dog kennels around the time of the murders. but that video extracted from his son's phone was recorded just a few minutes before prosecutors believe the killings happened. murdaugh told the jury he had left the kennels right after the video was recorded and driven his golf cart to the main house on the property to take a nap. >> there is no way that i had high velocity blood spatter on me. >> reporter: during cross-examination, murdaugh clashed at times with the lead prosecutor. >> mr. waters, just to try to get through this quicker, i admit -- >> i know you want the get through it quicker, but we're not. so answer the question. >> evidence presented in court also shows murdaugh drove to his mother's house at 9:06 p.m. that night, and paused briefly if her driveway. he explained he was simply trying to locate his phone in his car.

>> were you during that minute or however long it was, were you disposing of murder weapons, alex? >> no. >> were you disposing of bloody clothes? no. >> reporter: and what about that blue rain jacket recovered from his mother's house? one state's witness said it had a substantial amount of gunshot residue on the inside. the state suggested murdaugh used it to wrap up and dispose of the murder weapons. >> this blue rain jacket, have you ever seen that before? >> never seen it before, never touched it. i don't know anything about it. >> reporter: several times during cross-examination, the prosecutor accused murdaugh of being a bit too rehearsed with his responses. how many times have you practiced that answer before your testimony today? you keep repeating the same one over and over again. >> i've never practiced that answer. >> reporter: still, in between the evidence, murdaugh found some openings to share how much he loved his wife and son. and in gruesome detail, he

described for the jury how he says he found maggie and paul at the kennels after returning from his mother's home. >> i was on the phone with 911. and i was trying to tend to papa. i was trying to tend to maggie. and i just went back and forth between them. i mean, i know i tried to check him for a pulse. i know i tried to turn him over. i mean, my boy's laying face-down, and he's done the way he's done. his head was the way his head was. i could see his -- i could see his brain laying on the sidewalk. >> randi kaye joins us now. i'm just stunned by this. just yesterday, wasn't buster murdaugh, his son on the stand saying that that was not his father's voice on that tape,

right down at the kennels? am i right about that? >> yes. well, buster said it wasn't. but ten witnesses have said that it was. >> right. >> and finally, tonight, today, in court -- >> right. but what i don't -- >> finally admits. >> alex murdaugh's lawyers put alex murdaugh's son on the stand and asked him, and he said that was not my dad's voice. so alex murdaugh's lawyers, did they know -- has alex murdaugh be lying to his lawyers this entire time? >> he lied to 911. he lied to the investigators. he has lied to everyone. he said he lied to his family, and he kept the lie going, because he didn't know what else to do, anderson, until finally today, this is the first time we have ever heard him say that he was down at those kennels. was his voice on that recording at 8:44 p.m. >> his lawyers didn't even know when they put buster murdaugh on

the stand that he was going to say this when he got on the witness stand. this either came as a surprise, you know, whenever he said he was going to testify, he must have told them he is going to say that i've been lying. they wouldn't have put buster murdaugh on the stand and got him to say something which was not true, right? >> right. i would imagine so. we'd have to ask them directly. but certainly they also didn't know if alex murdaugh was going to testify yet when they put buster murdaugh on the stand and when they've put other people on the stand. so it wasn't until apparently overnight that he decided he was going to testify today. >> it's incredible. randi kaye, appreciate it. we're going to have more of today's testimony and talk about it with our legal experts. one a defense attorney, the other a law professor and form attorney. we'll be right back. based on whahat matters most, she turns to fidelity. at fidelity, anyonone can create a free plan. a plan that can change as your priorities do.

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we're talking tonight about alex murdaugh's time on the stand, which continues tomorrow morning. what he said that helps his case, and what he admitted that might not. here is another moment from it, the one his defense team likely hopes will resonate with jurors. >> mr. murdaugh, on june 7th, 2021, did you take this gun or any gun like it and shoot your son paul in the chest in the feed room at your property off mosel road? >> no, i did not. >> mr. murdaugh, did you take this gun or any gun like it and blow your son's brains out on june 7th or any day, or any time? >> no, i did not. >> the two takes on the day now. criminal defense attorney mark o'meara joins us, and former

federal prosecutor jessica roth. she now teaches at cardoza school of law. just before the break, we heard randi's report that murdaugh admitted to lying as to his whereabouts the night of the murders. that was his voice on the video his son had sent out right before the killing. how much of that timeline, with just a few minutes in between when he now admits he was with his wife and son at the kennels where they were killed, and when prosecutors believed the killings happened, that's got to hurt his defense. doesn't it? >> it hurts his defense because factually it's indefensible. but defense 101, you have to acknowledge that which you cannot deny and that which you know can be proven. so he had to commit and say he was there because the one thing he has, any witness, any juror has to look for and any defense attorney and certainly the client, you that level of credibility. once you lose it, it's very difficult to come back from it. had he denied that was him when rest of us know it was, he would have lost all of that.

he had to admit it. but it definitely hurts the case, because it puts him very close by, very close in time. >> yeah. i also want to correct something that i was insistent with randi about. i realize now i was wrong. they didn't ask buster about his voice on the recording. what they asked buster about, which i misinterpreted was about whether murdaugh said they did him wrong or i did him wrong. that's what they were asking buster on the stand. and for some reason, that's my mistake. i apologize. jessica, he blamed his addiction for this lie, paranoid thoughts he had that he lied initially, but also on the stand that he is very proud of being clean and sober now for several hundred days. but he has been lying all during that type as well. >> apparently he has been. i mean, i thought that he gave the only possible explanation he could give for why he had lied. he had to offer an explanation for why he had told that lie initially and repeated it.

and so the paranoia from the opioid addiction was the only one available to him. but as you said, he also talked about having been sober and off the painkillers for quite a period of time. and he didn't explain why he never went back to the authorities or why he never went back to his friends and others to whom he had lied and corrected the record. >> because everybody knew -- if it's true that he's been on painkillers, everybody knew that story. it's not like that was a surprise. >> yeah. and i think that one can imagine an explanation for why he didn't go back and correct his story with law enforcement. he clearly was concerned about being a target. at the same time, the sudden change of heart about telling the truth about where he was, it sort of comes across as being at a moment where he couldn't hide from the truth anymore because of the other evidence about him being present at that critical moment right before the murders. so i'm just wondering how that change of heart that seemed so conveniently timed to match the evidence is going to sit with the jurors. >> and he's certainly did have

his attorneys arguing about whether that was his voice on the tape down at the kennels for a long time. mark, there had been speculation over the last few weeks if murdaugh should testify. do you hit the was the right choice for him to testify? >> it is so difficult. i will tell you, we're going have an answer to that when they're done cross-examinating him, because i presume they are going to rip him apart on all of this. he will have no credibility when he is done with cross. probably, it's hard to armchair quarterback, i would not have had him testify because everything they have as fodder for the prosecution. they may rely on reasonable doubt and hoping jurors like him. >> jessica, in terms of credibility, his whole thing was i was lying this whole time about financial crimes and all this stuff because of the drugs. but now for the jury they know oh, actually he was lying while

he wasn't on drugs, and he was clearly at some point lying to his lawyers because his lawyers were arguing that wasn't his voice on the recording. >> he is taking a tremendous risk by testifying, there is no question. i think they've made a calculated assessment that it's worth it, perhaps in the hope that at least one juror will either find him credible or will think that his story is plausible enough to create reasonable doubt and thereby hang the jury. there is a big difference between lying to police officers, to your family, to your law partners, to your clients, stealing, all of that, and murdering your son and your wife. and i think that's what he's banking on, that the jury will see a distinction there. >> jessica roth, thank you. mark o'mara, thank you very much. still ahead, the fallout of the toxic chemicals from the train daytime in ohio. why the head of the ntsb board says it was 100% preventible.

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tonight, new developments on the toxic train wreck in east palestine, ohio. the national transportation safety board revealed its findings today. the ntsb chairperson calling the accident 100% preventible. this comes as transportation

secretary pete buttigieg visited east palestine today, calling for more regulations on trains like the one that derailed. our cnn senior national correspondent miguel marquez has details. >> this was 100% preventible. >> reporter: 100% preventible, says the national transportation safety board. today releasing its initial read on what caused the toxic derailment crippling the small town of east palestine, ohio. >> during this deceleration, the wheel bearing failed. car number 23 derailed. >> reporter: the ntsb saying it was an overheated wheel bearing on a single railcar that eventually set off a sensor alongside the train tracks, alerting the conductor to stop the train. >> we have no evidence that the crew did anything wrong. >> reporter: in all, 38 cars derailed, including several transporting chemicals. surveillance video shows sparks and a bright light coming from underneath the train car in salem, ohio, about 20 miles from

east palestine. three track-side detectors picked up increased heating on the car where the fire eventually started, but it wasn't until a detector indicated heating of 253 fahrenheit over ambient temperature that the conductor hit the brakes to stop the train. >> well, look at the temperature thresholds, which indicate immediate action once an overheated bearing is detected. again, spacing and temperature are set by the railroads and vary considerably by railroads. >> that's essentially where the cars were piled up, from here to there, right. >> reporter: secretary of transportation pete buttigieg visited east palestine today, saying he could have come sooner, but didn't want to disrupt the cleanup or investigative work. >> we're going to be here day in and day out, year in, year out making our railroads safer and making sure norfolk southern meets its responsibilities. that is a promise and one i take very, very seriously.

>> reporter: buttigieg called for stronger federal regulations for trains carrying chemicals through populated areas, and in what appears to be a nod to criticism from former president trump over the current administration's handling of the derailment, both buttigieg and the ntsb chair called for an end to using east palestine for scoring political points. >> enough with the politics. i don't understand why this has again so political. this is a community that is suffering. this is not about politics. this is about addressing their needs, their concerns. that's what this should be about. >> and miguel marquez joins us now from east palestine. you have a sense of what investigators are focusing in on as their efforts continue? >> specifically, they are looking at those detectors along the way. there was one about 20 miles -- those three indications they got that the temperature was rising

and why it was only once it hit 253 degrees over ambient temperature did it alert the conductor to stop the train. but by that time, it was too late. they had just gone through east palestine. they slowed this massive train down. it does take some time to do that. but by the time that happened, one car caught fire, and then it caused the effect on those other cars carrying chemicals. i think they'll look at those detectors where they are and why it took so long for the conductor to realize that there was a problem. the train needed to stop. and there was a fire under one of those cars. anderson? >> miguel marquez, appreciate it. thank you. much more now on this with environmental advocate erin brockovich and former u.s. secretary of transportation under president obama ray lahood. secretary lahood, you see secretary buttigieg in east palestine today. was he too late in going there? and how do you think he's

handled this? >> well, i don't think he was too late, anderson. when up was a secretary, and the airplane crashed in buffalo and 49 people perished, i wanted the ntsb to be on the scene, and i didn't want to be in the way. when we have pipeline explosions in san bruno, california, and people were killed, i eventually went there, but our pipeline safety people went there first. i think -- i think having the epa go, i think having fema go, i think probably was the -- and the ntsb. and frankly, the rail people at d.o.t. were also on the scene with ntsb. >> erin, can you describe the severity of what you're seeing and hearing from residents and officials in east palestine? >> well, the residents started reaching out to me as early as the early morning of february 4th, just concerned about the trail derailment, did i know

anything, what was going on. and as i watched it unfold, as we all did, it went into an evacuation, and then we had the explosion. it was at that point the people's frustration really started to come forward. they said after the evacuation orders were lifted, they went back home. they were all having breathing issues, children wheezing. they were having strange rash, bad headaches. their lips were kind of turning blue. their lips were tingling. and they were just getting more and more frustrated, anderson, out of fear because they weren't getting any answers or directions or what they felt honestly was what going on. >> secretary lahood, it does seem like there was a lack of answers, particularly early on, and just not enough information given out, from the company certainly. in terms of increased rail safety, though, and stricter oversight of the transportation of toxic chemicals, what can the federal government do? >> i do think that there can be

new rules and regulations, and i think while we were at d.o.t., we promulgated some very strong rules and regulations regarding rail safety. the epa promulgated some very strong rules and regulations. and frankly, those were eliminated either by congress or by the previous administration. so the idea that safety and security is not an important issue was not true, certainly during the obama administration, and i think, you know, some of those were eliminated during the last administration. anderson, and that's frankly why i when somebody asks me about trump going to, down, going there for a visit, it's a complete joke. they had the worst safety record

of any administration in the history of d.o.t., and they tried to eliminate safety rules and regulations along with the congress. and so, you know, i just think we need -- there needs to be more. there is no question about it. >> erin, in terms of remediation and accountability, there is obviously what the epa is demanding of norfolk southern and what the company is pledging to do in terms of cleanup. on a psychological level, what does it take for people in that community to really ever rest easy and feel confident that the soil and the water are safe after something like this? >> you know, i don't know that they do. i've been doing this for 30 years, and that's always a problem with them. they feel that they're not seen, they're not heard. and it's really important. i've watched the videos of drinking the water and everything is safe and giving an all clear can send a real misleading message to these people. you may be talking about municipal water, and that day it could be all safe, but as this

chemical and this voc will sit on top of the water table, begins to move, it could impact wellheads. it will impact private wells. and this is something that we're going to have to monitor and set up monitoring systems for possibly decades. you're going to have to set up monitoring systems to monitor for soil vapor intrusion, which will come. and i think it's really important when these kind of accidents continue to happen that we have some type of monitoring of the public, the residence, the citizens, their children, and their health and welfare, because they're so concerned about the future, as we've discussed, these things happen and it takes time for it to unfold and the contamination to move out. and it's just a serious reminder, as we all saw on 9/11. and all of those chemicals that came down, was it safe? they said it was safe. and we learn into the future that was an inaccurate

statement. it wasn't. >> erin brockovich, secretary ray lahood, i appreciate it. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, the ukrainian mom who we have been talking with for a year, olena gnes. now, you can trade in those hats to help earn your grad cap. your past experience can help you earn your r degree faster and for less.. mass general brigham -- when you need some of the brightest minds in medicine. this is a leading healthcare syste with five national ranked hospitals, including two world-renowned academic medical cters. in boston, where biotech innovates dail and our doctors teach at harvard medical school and the physicians doing the world-changing research are the ones providing care. ♪ there's only one mass general brigham.

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one year ago tonight russian troops crossed into ukraine. days later as rocket and artillery pounded kyiv we spoke to olena ga nes shelter in the basement with her children. >> we don't know what's going on. the truth is we had several explosions and we will now go to the shelter and wait there for what's going to happen next. >> reporter: this was a year ago when the russian invasion began, her husband volunteered to fight. >> everybody is worried. >> reporter: she moved to this basement shelter with their three young children. >> hello. >> thank you so much for talking to us. >> reporter: we first spoke days later. >> have you thought about trying to leave? >> well, we were talking with my

husband, what should we do and one is to -- is escape and survive, another one is to stay and take the battle and we decided to stay. >> reporter: we continued to check in with olena during the early months of the war and she frequently posted heartbreaking videos on her youtube channel, what is ukraine? [ speaking non-english ] >> hey, it's anderson. >> hello, anderson. >> reporter: i final le got to

meet her in person in late april while reporting in kyiv. >> hey, how are you? >> i'm fine. i'm alive. so nice to meet you. >> reporter: during the day she felt safe enough to return to her apartment with her children. >> for me to do the coffee, i need your help. >> okay, sure. yeah. >> oh, my god, wow. >> i do. >> maybe she will. maybe she will wake up. i don't know. try it. you know how to do this. >> well done. well done, anderson. you're doing great. >> reporter: olena was determined to stay in kyiv and support the war effort. >> i hope we'll have better times to meet. >> i hope we meet in happier days. >> thank you, anderson.

>> reporter: this is olena gnes today in the united states staying win a small town in georgia. >> it's really amazing beautiful country. >> reporter: back in the fall while still in ukraine her 8-year-old daughter katia was diagnosed with autism. the trauma of ma war was affecting her mental health. that's when mary and scott magee who had seen her videos online invited her and her family to stay with them in georgia as part of a new ukrainian refugee program. >> thank you for this day, thank you for this food. >> reporter: they arrived just in time for their first american thanksgiving. >> she made a speech and said thank you are, mommy and daddy for taking us here to a safe place and thank you for keeping us alive. thank you to mary for taking us to her home. >> so i'm just in here. >> reporter: katia is starting to adjust to a life outside a

war zone. taras who is 6 has discovered the joys of american football. >> he's like, wow, really. you can take the ball into your hands and you can push each other and he fall in love with this game. whoo! >> reporter: and doraina, 16 months old is tlooifing. >> this is the kids' room. this is where they sleep. >> under my bed. >> yeah, but please don't look under the bed because under the beds they immediately made bomb shelters for themselves because they did not fully trust it. we enrolled them a couple of weeks ago to american school. this school is online. at first when we just came here, i didn't want to enroll them to any american school because i was kind of sure we will come back to ukraine very soon. at some point i really, okay, we have to leave our life, not just sit here like in the bomb shelter and wait for the war to be over. >> reporter: olena and her

family are allowed to stay for two years and she and her husband have applied to are work permits and driver's licenses and grateful to the united states and to mary and scott but it's hard being away from your home when it's under attack. >> i ran away from the war to save my children. it's not the life that i wanted for myself. i wanted genocide to stop in ukraine. i want to come back to my country and lead my life in my country. >> this is what i was doing during the war. >> reporter: i still didn't lose hope to humanity. i think there is no alternative but to be brave and to believe in light. and to fight for light against darkness. >> such a beautiful family. one family, one year on the anniversary of this war. we'll be right back. create something new? our dell technologies advisors can providide you with the tools and expertise you need to briring out the innovator in you.

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i'm bill lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund, it allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify. go to getrefunds.com. global sign of support for ukraine on the left london, on the right, brussels and in the center, the eiffel tower in paris. the cnn town hall, russia's invasion of ukraine one year later hosted by fareed zakaria starts now. this is a cnn town hall. russia's invasio