among the many companies offering assistance was palantir, a secretive american software company that got its start working with u.s. intelligence services. alex karp was the first ceo to meet with president zelenskyy after russia's invasion. >> here you have a culture that is able to perform at a level of any of the world players we have ever dealt with. >> according to karp, most of ukraine's military targeting is done using advanced palantir software. and ukraine has now developed its own situational awareness system similar to palantir's called delta. yet another innovation fedorov has says transformed the way wars are fought, and he hopes the way they are won.

are you thinking in the future this is going to be a war that is predominantly fought with drones? [speaking non-english] >> and you don't rule out the possibility that russia could catch up? [speaking non-english] >> so it's not the time to get complacent? [speaking non-english] coming up, the true costs of putin's war. how do you try to understand why russia would do something like this? >> i don't understand.

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central city of dnipro has been considered a largely safe part of ukraine. but one of the many cruelties of this war is that the longer you survive it, the more it can feel normal, even ordinary, until one day reality comes crashing down. on january 14th, the 325th day of putin's war, compete in pro was hell on earth. in all, 46 people were killed including 6 children after a 2,000-pound russian missile as long as a city bus slammed into this apartment building.

so the blue wall -- >> that's my bathroom. >> that's your bathroom? >> yeah. >> 24-year-old nastia was at home in bed sleeping. when you look at it now, what do you feel? the missile sliced her one-bedroom apartment in half killing both of her parents in the kitchen, while just inches away, nastia clung on to life. i think for a lot of people it's hard to understand why russia would use this huge missile that's intended to take out an aircraft carrier in a residential area.

how do you try to understand why russia would do something like this? >> i don't understand. >> can you tell me a little bit about your mom and dad, what they were like as people? [speaking non-english] >> do you ever wonder why you were saved? it's this extraordinary image we see of you surviving the unsurvivable.

[speaking non-english] >> take your time, if you want to take a break. this is not the first grief nastia has experienced in this war. in september, her boyfriend vladislav was killed while fighting on the front lines in kharkiv. did you think this might be the man that you would marry, that you would start a family with? [speaking non-english]

>> you have experienced so much sadness and so much loss. in some ways your story is the story of ukraine, of people who have given so much but who continue to survive. >> that courage and grit have come to define ukraine and the price has been painfully high. ♪

>> tens of thousands of lives have been destroyed. estimates suggest it will require close to a trillion dollars to rebuild the country when this is all over. but today the end is still nowhere in sight. back in kharkiv where the damage seems irreparable and the present remains dark, after 365 days of war, the people of ukraine still have hope. >> we saw you from the window. you are the only one here rebuilding. why? [speaking non-english]

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and to our viewers just joining us in north america, welcome as we continue "cnn newsroom." i'm michael holmes. powerful storms are battering

the central u.s. right now, bringing tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail to parts of oklahoma, kansas, and texas. at least one tornado was confirmed in norman, oklahoma, where students at the university of oklahoma were being urged to seek shelter. a warning also issued for downtown oklahoma city. the system is so strong, a wind gust of 114 miles per hour was reported in northern texas in the town of memphis. so far, more than 90 storms have been reported across the southern plains. okay. joining me on the phone now is mark fox, meteorologist for the national weather service in norman, oklahoma. what do we know about the situation there, particularly what level of damage this tornado has caused, mark? >> well, the tornado happened about 9:00 or so, 9:20 central time. and came within about a mile of our office and started to produce a little bit more damage as it moved off to the north and

the east. we've seen some pictures of some homes with roofs torn off and trees uprooted. it's probably going to be a little bit of an ugly scene once the daylight hours come tomorrow morning. but we know of several homes damaged, and so far, knock on wood, haven't heard much in the way of injuries. but those reports are still coming in. >> how widespread, not just the tornado, but the severity? we're looking at a video now. it's pretty nasty. just how widespread is it? >> this range is from nebraska and kansas all the way into the dallas-fort worth area. so we're talking a fairly wide swath. about 1200 miles or so in length. >> wow. >> so it's extensive for the damage. luckily, the tornadoes are very -- a lot smaller than that. but most of the south plains in the u.s. have gotten pretty good wind and it's still glgoing on.

>> so what's the outlook? where is it headed? and will it stay a major threat as it moves along? >> it will stay a major threat into eastern parts of oklahoma, missouri, and arkansas. but it's going to diminish as it moves to the east. so the east coast of the u.s. will get the storm system the next couple of days. but not expect it to pack as much of a punch as it is right now. >> really great to be able to get you, mark. thank you, mark fox with the national weather service. well, the u.s. department of energy has determined the spread of covid is most likely the result of a leak from a chinese facility in wuhan. that's according to a updated intelligence report. however, two sources tell cnn the department only has, quote, low confidence in those findings. the lab leak theory is one of several that have been floating around washington. but there hasn't been a consensus or even an official opinion from the white house on the cause of the pandemic.

cnn's natasha bertrand has more on what the findings mean. >> what we're now seeing is the department of energy has collected some new information according to our sources that has led them to come to a conclusion that the lab leak theory is plausible and that it likely did come from a lab. now that major caveat noted that is low confidence is very important. because a low confidence assessment generally means that the information that has been obtained by the intel community is not reliable enough or too fragmented to make a definitive judgment, or there is not enough information to draw a more pro bust conclusion about the origins of this pandemic. but bottom line here is that this really adds to the divide in the u.s. government over whether the pandemic began in china in 2019 as a result of a lab leak, or whether it emerged naturally. >> natasha bertrand there. some republican lawmakers feel the report is enough to demand accountability from beijing.

but one democrat says there is nothing earth-shattering about the findings. >> i'm not entirely surprised. the chinese have mishandled covid every step of the way, trying to sweep it under the rug, trying to try a strategy of zero covid that utterly failed. and tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of chinese are dead as a result of the mismanagement of this pandemic by the chinese communist party. so for it to come out that the whole thing started because of mismanagement, i mean, look, we need to see whether this is true. but if it is, i don't find it surprising at all. >> all right. still to come on the program, instability in moldova, as war rages across the boarder in ukraine. we'll have a closer look at why, when we come back. [♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose.

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as the war in ukraine enters a second year, the president of neighboring moldova has accused russia of using saboteurs to

stoke unrest in her country amid a time of political and economic turmoil. this as ukraine's president also warns of russia's attempts to destabilize moldova. you see there it in that map in orange. and as tensions run high, thousands turned out recently on the streets of moldova to take part in anti-government protests. all right. joining me now is a associate expert at the eastern europe studies center. it's great to have you on. moldova is a tiny country, dealing, though, with an even smaller sort of russian-controlled separatist region. but how significant is moldova in the broader context of the war in ukraine next door? >> well, moldova is playing an important role for stabilizing the western flank of ukraine. we know the transnortistra regi

is a potential source of threat because of deployment of russian forces in that region. and at the same time moldova is very important because it is hosting ukrainian refugees. it's one of the countries with the highest rate of ukrainian refugees per capita. so from this points of view, moldova is definitely an important strategic partner for ukraine, and therefore have very good dialogue, including in preventing the russian threats. >> now the russian president vladimir putin, he has annulled a 2012 decree in which the kremlin had guaranteed moldova's sovereignty. what is the messaging there? how nervous is moldova about what putin might do? >> well, putin and russia are unpredictable. so therefore, the uncertainty is

very high. but moldova has also a bilateral treaty with russia, not only the decree that you have mentioned dating 2012. so the bilateral treaty is also mentioning that russia will play constructive positive role in the settlement of the conflict, but again, nobody trusts russia because it is not willing to withdraw its military forces and weapons from the transnistrian region. in this regard, moldova is cautious and is trying to maintain the stability at home and prevent, of course, from the destabilizing attempts of russia. >> to this point, russia probably doesn't have the military capacity available at the moment to open up a new front with moldova. is it more a case of fomenting unrest and diverting attention, perhaps a type of hybrid warfare? what could russia do there?

>> yes, you're right. russia doesn't have the supply chains in order to really open a front into transnistria. but what russia has been trying to do is discredit. so therefore in this way to basically distract attention. and moldova understands very well that russia tries to weaponize the poverty in moldova and the political corruption that involves pro-russian force. so these two elements are used by russia to actually discredit the forces that try to dismantle the tool box that russia is using to exercise influence in moldova. >> right. moldova one of the poorest countries in europe. and that being sort of leveraged in a way by those who were trying to create that unrest. what -- when it comes to the west and europe, what are the risks of ignoring moldova in the

broader context of the conflict next door? >> well, the expending of the instability in the region would be the first consequence of ignoring the situation in moldova. i believe that moldova is not ignored. actually, president has received a lot of support, including from the u.s. for mitigating the consequences of damage crisis as well. moldova is well-positioned from this point of you. and i think that this is what makes russia anxious and angry, because moldova has a lies in the west and receives support for all it needs. >> we mentioned these anti-government protests that have been organized by pro-russia parties in moldova. how well-positioned is the pro-russia movement in moldova in terms of support and its

ability to create unrest? >> well, the pro-russian forces are not very agile in mobilizing the population. so the support for protest is rather low. but in general, the public approval of this part -- i'm going speak about two parties. one is short party, the businessman that is hiding in israel, and another one is run by the ex-president, ago i door dodon. he is very financial in the party. so these two political parties have been totaled about 30% of public support. and this is more than the part. here is the problem. with the coming elections, the local elections in this fall and other elections in the next two years, we could see an increase in support for russian forces. >> yeah.

>> pro-russian. >> it's a small but very important piece in the puzzle of the conflict there. dennis cenusa, thank you very much. really appreciate your expertise on this. >> thank you very much. now the ex-husband and former in-laws of the hong kong model who was killed last week appeared in court monday according to rthk. abbey troy's ex-husband is charged with murder along with his father and brother. his mother is charged with perverting the course of justice. rthk says all four were denied bail. troy was a 28-year-old model and social media influencer who was last seen on tuesday. parts of her dismembered body were found at a rental unit on friday. votes are still being counted from saturday's election in nigeria, but anger is growing after officials didn't arrive at certainly polling locations, which means some would-be voters who waited for hours may have

lost their chance to pick the country's next president. meanwhile, some people were still trying to vote on sunday, officials were trying to calm concerns about technical glitches in the new results viewing portal used for this election. the independent electoral commission says the issues were not due to intrusion or sabotage and the system was secure. delays in showing results led to calls for speculation the final tallies were being manipulated. when we come back here on the program, a team of astronauts will be taking off for the international space station next hour. we'll discuss what it's like to be on that ride with a former astronaut. that's coming up.

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a team of astronauts is expected to be on their way to the international space station next hour as spacex and nasa continue the effort to keep the orbiting laboratory fully staffed and up to date. the mission includes two nasa astronauts, a russian cosmonaut, and an astronaut from the uae. what you're looking at there is live pictures coming to us from cape canaveral as everything gets ready for this liftoff in the next hour. now these astronauts, a cosmonaut are going to be spending the next six months in space doing scientific research and maintaining the station. joining me now from houston, texas, leroy chao.

always exciting to have another launch, leroy. this team is going to spend six months on the space station. what's the mission going to entail? >> yes, it's always exciting to have a launch, and it's especially exciting if you're one of the crewmembers. this crew will entail an example six-month mission aboard the international space station. during that time, they'll be doing around 200, or maybe a little over 200 scientific investigations, maintenance work, repair work of anything that goes wrong. and it's going to be especially exciting for three of them, because this is their first flight. >> yeah, exactly. i'm going to come back to that actually too. as someone who has actually done this, give us a sense of what the launch is physically and emotionally, for that matter, like. what do you go through in those moments? >> sure. well, it's different every time. the most exciting is probably your first time because you don't know what to expect even though you've spent automatic these hours in the simulator

going through it. launch day suddenly it's for real. so you get into the vehicle a few hours before launch. and you're kind of going through all the checks, although on the spacex vehicle, it's about the same. about two hours, two and a half hours. so you've got a lot of time there to wait for things to happen, and basically, you're going through the procedures. you're going through what you're going to do. and then it gets very real when you come down to the last couple of minutes, and you realize you're about to launch into space. the booster rockets light and you lift off the pad, then your heartbeat is definitely elevated, and you're along for the ride. actually, very quick, it only takes around nine minutes or so to get from the launch pad up into an orbital speed of 17,500 miles per hour. >> that is amazing. it never gets old to hear about it. crew six, as it's called, and you touched on this.

it includes the first astronaut from the uae. it also includes the russian cosmonaut andrey fedyaev making his first trip to space. it occurred to me today when i was reading up on the crew, you have the war in ukraine, worsening u.s.-russia relations. cooperation on the iss, how important is that continued partnership? >> it's crucial. continued corporation is critical. the space station, the way it was put together, the way the pieces fit together, two control center, things like that, complimentary hardware, we really need both control centers working in concert for the space station to stay in orbit. and so at the working level, from the flight controller, flight directors, cosmonaut, astronauts, engineers, everybody has been dedicated and pulling in the same direction, no matter what kind of political climate we're in, no matter what world conflicts. we've always pulled together all sides and made sure that space

station is going to operate the best it can. >> yeah, it really has survived through thick and thin, hasn't it? this is a space station x vehicle, of course. i think it's the six-crew rotation with spacex. how important has private enterprise become to the overall space program? >> well, it's become critical, again, because this is by design, where nasa was directed. and i was part of the white house panel that kind of put together these option pads way back in 2018-twine. nasa was directed to help these commercial companies develop these capabilities. spacex has been flying cargo for a number of years and astronauts for a couple of years. we'll see that continue hopefully soon we'll see boeing start to operate their starliner spacecraft also. but the idea is to hand over the space station with using commercial assets rather than nasa owned assets. >> going back to crew, i was reading the commission

commander, stephen bowen, he used to be a submarine officer. he has been up three times before. the first was back in 2008. and his most recent flight 2011. that's a long time ago. does space flight ever become routine? he is probably all fired up again. do you miss it? >> you know, it's something that i would go again now. but it's something that never gets old per se. if you're up there, especially on a long flight, if you're up there for six months or so, you get used to it. humans are amazingly adaptable. you get used to that beautiful view of the earth outside the windows. it's a lot like here on earth. if you live somewhere really beautiful, and you get used to those wonderful sunsets or sunrises, you're still appreciative of it, but it's lost its newness, if you will. so it's a little unusual somewhat for steve to have stuck around this long and wanting to go fly again. but it's not out of the question. and so for him, i'm sure he can tell you that he's very excited

about making another flight after, you know, 12 years or so, 11, 12 years. >> yeah, exactly. and again, his first one back in 2008. crazy. leroy chao, always a pleasure to speak with you. thanks very much. >> my pleasure. >> for our international viewers, "world sport" coming your way, and for our viewers in north america, more "cnn newsroom," after a quick break. ♪ what will you do? will you make something better? create something new? our dell technologies s advisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need to bring out the innovator in you. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do.

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welcome back. i'm michael holmes, not max foster. a quick update on the extreme, weather we're tracking in the central u.s. for you and has been pretty bad out there.

more than 90 storms reported across oklahoma, kansas, and texas, including tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts. at least one tornado was confirmed in norman, oklahoma, home to the state's largest university, and there are reports of widespread damage, downed power line, and road closures. do stick with us here on cnn for the very latest as that system continues to move through the region. we'll bring you the latest. now the threat of extreme weather not over yet. on the u.s. west coast, a winter storm dumping massive amounts of snow and rain in parts of southern california over the weekend. it led to a rare blizzard warning for the region. and now a second storm system is about to move in. cnn's camila bennal with more. >> the sun is finally out in southern california, but we're still left with a lot of snow in this area, 1 to 2 feet of snow in higher elevations more than 6 feet of snow over the last

several days. a lot of snow, a lot of rain, and a lot of wind in southern california. that is something that people in this area are just not used to. on sunday, some of the highways remained closed in the southern california area, including interstate 5, which is right behind me. normally you would see a lot of traffic. but authorities are still trying to clean up the highway. not just the highway, but also the on and off-ramps. so authorities saying it is still not safe for a lot of these drivers who are essentially stranded on the side of the highway, waiting to get back on the road to get to their final destination. in the l.a. area, a lot of rain over the last couple of days. there was flooding, downed tree, and many, many left without power. thousands in fact still without power. just about 40 miles south of where i am in castaic, california, the ground essentially crumbling. and rvs ending up in the santa

clara river because of what happened as a result of this storm. many of the residents there extremely concerned. and essentially also stranded because they could not get on the highway. here is someone impacted by all of this. >> i'm actually traveling from bakersfield. i can't get to work right now because of the snow. the 5 is closed going towards bakersfield. i haven't been able the get back and forth to work for a couple of days and i'm afraid we're going to evacuate if it gets any worse. >> we're expecting more storms over the next couple of days. not as intense as what we saw over the last couple day, but we could still see some rain, some snow and wind in the southern california area. so authorities still telling people to be very careful. especially since we are not used to this type of weather in this area. come camila bernal, cnn, california. the environmental protection agency has approved resuming shipments of contaminated waste out of east palestine, ohio, where a train carrying toxic

chemicals derailed earlier this month. it comes as house republicans plan to investigate the derailment and what they describe as a flawed response by the biden administration. cnn's priscilla alvarez with more. >> reporter: president biden is definding his administration's response to a train wreck in east palestine that left toxic chemicals seeping into water, air, and soil, and saying that administration officials and federal teams are on the ground, helping residents navigate the aftermath of this wreck, especially as concerns grow over long-term health of these residents and for those who are already saying that they feel sick. now federal teams are on the ground going door to door to inform residents of how to access free health assessments, as well as get testing for their drinking wells or drinking water. but the administration has come under fierce criticism for their response and whether they acted quickly enough after this wreck

occurred. now transportation secretary pete buttigieg responded to that and said that president biden takes this as a top priority. >> the president's taken a personal interest in this situation from early on, and i wanted to make sure he knew what i saw on the ground. both in terms of the administration response, and that's something that has been really well where our department comes in really is transportation policy, making sure in this moment, with so much focus on what happened in this derailment, that we're acting to hold norfolk southern accountable. >> president biden says his officials were on the ground two hours after the wreck and that they have been working and are engaged with local and state officials. as far as whether he's going to visit, there are no plans as of yet. priscilla alvarez, cnn, the white house. a school in northern florida has released video of the moment

a student brutally attacked a school employee last week, allegedly over a handheld video game. so far, the school and the employee's husband haven't commented on her condition. cnn's isabel rosales has more on how it all unfolded. >> reporter: the video is very difficult to watch. in it, we see a student that's 6'6", approximately 270 pounds just brutally attacking his teacher's aide, a para-professional. according to the arrest records, that student, a 17-year-old, told the school resource deputy the reason he went after her was because he was upset that she allegedly took away his nintendo switch game. i'm going to show you this video, but first a warning. it is disturbing. this happened on tuesday in flagler county. that is just south of st. augustine, north of daytona beach. in it, we see this 17-year-old student running toward that school employee in the black and then knocking her to the ground.

according to the arrest records, that's five to six feet he knocked her away. then she appears to be motionless, unconscious, as he starts to punch and kick at her repeatedly. eventually onlookers assess the situation and see this is a big problem and start to pull him away. those are students and employees of the school pulling him away. even as they do that, he is still trying to kick and punch at this school employee, who is later taken to a hospital. listen to what the sheriff of flagler county, rick stealey ha to say to our affiliate. >> this could have been homicide. when you push people down like that, they hit their head, you never know the outcome. fortunately, other students and other faculty members, administrations came and intervened. >> reporter: this incident really just highlights a growing problem for educators, and that is the rise of threats of violence directed their way, oftentimes by students inside of

school grounds. we have a study by the american psychological association conducted during the height of the covid-19 pandemic. it surveyed over 15,000 educators, and it found that one-third of teachers reported being victimized. so these are verbal threats and violence from students. and it turns out that it's support staff. so things like school resource officers, aides like we've seen in this instance, and bus drivers. they are the most likely to report physical aggression with, in that case, 99% of the aggressors actually being students. the survey also found that up to 34% of educators reported interest in either quitting or transferring schools because of the school climate or school safety issues. now, in this case, this teen was arrested. he faces a serious felony, aggravated battery with bodily harm. he has since been turned over to the department of juvenile justice. isabel rosales, cnn, atlanta.

arizona and federal authorities are reporting a major drug bust that took three years to pull off. they seized more than 4.5 million fentanyl pills and 3,100 pounds of methamphetamine along with large amounts of heroin and cocaine. the street value, an estimated $13 million. at least 150 people have been charged in the investigation so far. now, the united states warning china that if it provides russia with lethal aid to use in ukraine, it would, quote, come at real cost to beijing. the u.s. national security adviser told cnn that washington has laid out the stakes during diplomatic talks with chinese officials, and he said their leaders are likely taking that into account as they make their decision. russia's invasion has affected millions of ukrainians, of course, forcing many to flee the country and displacing others within its borders. but pets and animals have also

been left homeless. one ukrainian girl doing her best to make sure they don't go hungry. >> in the wreckage of this bombed out apartment block, there are signs of the lives once lived here. exposed rooms where families once gathered before russian bombs reduced their homes to rubble. most of the people have long since gone, but 11-year-old veronica says she regularly returns to her former neighborhood. >> translator: our apartment was over there on the ninth floor. >> reporter: veronica says she can still see the shell of her former home, but that's not why she comes back. >> translator: i used to come here to search for my cat. i wanted to feed it, and i saw all the other cats here. i felt sorry for them, and now i come here regularly to feed them. >> reporter: the strays welcome her as she doles out food in what used to be a playground.

veronica says she did eventually find her cat, but the time outside had changed him, and he now prefers the wild life. so instead of one pet, she takes care of him and many other cats in the area who, like humans, have learned to adapt to life during war. veronica's mother came with her on this feeding session, looking up at her old flat, she chokes back emotion thinking how much has changed in just a year. with a pat on the head, they say goodbye to one of the regulars. veronica says she'd like to take the cats with her, but for now, this arrangement, survivors helping survivors, will have to do. all right. i'm michael holmes. thanks for spending part of your day with me. you can follow me on twitter and instagram @holmescnn. more "cnn newsroom" with my colleague, laila harrak, coming up right now.

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hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the united states and all around the world. i'm laila harrak, and this is "cnn newsroom." powerful storms sweeping acros