♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, history made. judge ketanji brown jackson shattering barriers. >> i am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination. >> the first black woman nominated to the u.s. supreme court. the president making good on a campaign promise. >> i believe it's time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation. >> the harvard-educated lawyer and former public defender could change the face of the court. >> i can only hope that my life and career will inspire future generations. plus, on the brink. ukraine's capital under threat of siege. their president saying that the next few hours will decide the country's fate.

videos posted online showing the devastation of russia's war. now a humanitarian crisis in the making. >> you've been in that line for 24 hours? >> yeah. >> how long can ukraine's defenses hold?

♪

good evening. thank you for joining us. in the supreme court's 233-year history, while there's certainly been differences of opinion, in many other ways diversity has been in short supply. now president biden's supreme court nominee could change the face of the court forever. here's abc's senior washington reporter devin dwyer. >> reporter: in a white house built by slaves, today an historic moment. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: with the nation's first black vice president looking on, president biden nominating the first black woman to the supreme court. >> i am truly humbled by the extraordinary honor of this nomination. >> reporter: judge ketanji brown jackson is a former clerk of the justice she would replace, stephen brier, and rose to the court of appeals in d.c., the nation's second most powerful court. >> one of my blessings is the fact that i was born in this great country.

the united states of america is the greatest beacon of hope and democracy the world has ever known. >> reporter: her nomination a milestone many say has taken far too long to achieve. of the 115 supreme court justices, 108 white men, 5 women have ever served, only 2 of the justices have been black. >> for too long our government, our courts, haven't looked like america. i believe it's time we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. >> reporter: with her husband and one of her two daughters proudly looking on, judge jackson vowed to follow in the footsteps of constance baker motley, the first black woman appointed as a federal judge back in 1966 and with whom jackson shares a birthday. >> we were born exactly 49 years to the day apart.

today i proudly stand on judge motley's shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under law. >> reporter: the 51-year-old judge jackson has almost a decade of experience on the federal bench. confirmed with republican votes just last year to the d.c. circuit, a stepping stone to the supreme court. why did the president pick her? >> judge jackson was a front-runner from the beginning. in some ways she was created in a laboratory to replace justice breyer, right? harvard, a breyer clerk herself. in fact, she'd be the third supreme court justice to replace the justice they clerked for. >> reporter: despite her elite legal pedigree, jackson comes from a modest background. >> it's the story of someone who's always been very hard-working, has not had things handed to her, has worked for all the things she's achieved. she's kind of the american dream. >> reporter: she was born in 1970 in washington, d.c. but

raised in miami where she attended public schools. >> i am standing here today by the grace of god as testament to the love and support that i've received from my family. >> reporter: her father, a teacher, and later county school board attorney. her mother, a public high school principal. >> very proud of ketanji. thanks to the community for just supporting her, and we're wishing her well. >> reporter: today judge jackson talked about her extended family, noting one of her uncles did time in prison. >> you may have read that i have one uncle who got caught up in the drug trade and received a life sentence. that is true. but law enforcement also runs in my family. in addition to my brother, i had two uncles who served decades as police officers, one of whom became the police chief in my hometown of miami, florida. >> reporter: like eight current justices, judge jackson studied in the ivy league, graduating in the top of her class at harvard, serving as an editor of "the

harvard law review." she credits justice breyer for helping shape her career. >> justice breyer, the members of the senate will decide if i fill your seat. but please know that i could never fill your shoes. >> reporter: jackson would bring fresh experience to the high court bench, having worked three years as a federal public defender, something no justice has ever done before. >> having lawyers who have done civil liberties work, who have done public defense, is really critical. you want to see how laws affect real people. it gives you perspective that is really important to have. >> what's the significance of her experience as a public defender? there's never been one on the court before. >> the supreme court hears so many criminal defense cases. so look, when you have represented criminal defendants, you simply have a different perspective. >> reporter: her legal decisions have been measured. only 12 of her 600 opinions on the district court were reversed on appeal.

>> she believes the judiciary should be accessible and transparent. i think she really feels that people who come to the court or who interact with the judicial system, whether they are civil or criminal parties, that they feel heard. >> she is not someone who's kind of a firebrand. off on her own. creating, doing new things. she absolutely, on the merits, should be a person who appeals to people of all political stripes. >> reporter: joining justice clarence thomas, she'll also highlight the diversity of black legal thought. >> so the idea that there is one way of thinking, right, or behaving politically, all of that goes out of the window when now you have the two extremes of the ideological spectrum represented amongst the black people on the court. so what we're seeing here, really, is the breadth and the diversity, but also the nuance of african americans in political power.

>> reporter: the judge and her husband, patrick jackson, a cancer surgeon, live in washington. they have two daughters, ages 21 and 17. >> to my daughters, talia and laila, you are the light of my life. please know that whatever title i may hold or whatever job i may have, i will still be your mom. that will never change. >> reporter: her former clerks describe a warm and pragmatic judge and a consensus-builder. >> judge jackson is sort of an endless well of energy. committed wife, committed mother. her relationship with dr. jackson has been a good role model for me. it's hard to have it all, but she certainly has found a way to balance that. >> reporter: even with her nomination, women like jackson are still outliers in the judicial system, black women making up less than 1% of all active federal judges. by nominating judge jackson, president biden fulfills a campaign promise made two years ago ahead of the south carolina primary. >> i'm looking forward to making sure there's a black woman on the supreme court, to make

sure -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- we, in fact, get every representation. not a joke. i'll push very hard for that. >> reporter: senate confirmation is needed to finish the job. democrats have the votes to do it alone. will she win any support from the other side? >> she's been through three senate confirmations already for different positions, bipartisan support each time. do you think she'll get any republican votes? >> i do think she'll get republican votes. the question is she got collins, murkowski, and graham, just 260 days ago. will she be able to get all three of those? are there different people who will come on board? >> reporter: senator lindsey graham today suggested he might not support her, saying in a statement her nomination means the radical left has won. >> judge brown jackson's appointment, if it goes through, may change, really, the trajectory of black women in law. it sends a signal to various institutions that actually, black women should be valued for

what they contribute to this arena. that the days of undervaluing black women, banning them from the highest reaches of power, that those days are over. >> reporter: a milestone moment 233 years in the making. with black women gaining ground in the corridors of american power. >> if i'm fortunate enough to be confirmed, i can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of americans. >> our thanks to devin. up next, russian forces close in. and hundreds of thousands flee ukraine.

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♪ this evening, ukraine's president warning that russian forces may storm the capital tonight, saying they cannot surrender, urging fellow citizens to hold the city at all costs. what may be a desperate last stand. tonight, as the war in ukraine intensifies, russian troops entering the capital. ukrainians, military and civilians, readying themselves for more attacks, vowing to defend their country until the very end. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy addressing his people,

saying russia will try to storm the capital tonight, that the night will be, quote, tough. disturbing new video circulating on social media shows a military vehicle crushing a car. the driver was rescued shortly after. in kyiv, explosions over the city posted online, showing just how dangerous the situation is on the ground. at this train station, gunfire heard. as crowds try to flee the city, forcing their way onto trains. the city bearing the scars of war already. an apartment block hit by an unidentified aircraft. as firefighters arrive, oksana cleaning up the rubble of her wrecked home. she was sleeping when the building was hit. her daughter singing the national anthem. ♪ through tears. saying simply, "long live ukraine."

authorities handing out 18,000 weapons to civilians to help with the fight. residents told to make molotov cocktails. ukrainian men between ages 18 and 60, fighting age, are ordered to stay in the country to help repel the russian invasion. mothers and children forced to wait hours at border crossings in freezing conditions. >> how long did it take to cross? >> 24 hours it takes us to cross the border. >> you've been in that line 24 hours? >> yeah. >> reporter: my colleague, matt gutman, met anna and her five children, who crossed into poland earlier today. >> five kids, wow. your husband? >> it's not possible to cross the border with him. >> he didn't even try? >> he tried, but he say it's not possible. >> he had to leave the car and family and go back? >> yeah, yeah. >> what was that like? >> it's awful. >> so sorry.

>> reporter: the u.n. says hundreds of thousands are now on the move as refugees pour over the borders. a sense of uncertainty about the lives left behind and what now lies ahead. >> oh god. so much waiting just to enter the border crossing. >> reporter: after more than a day on the road, juan tec and his family can breathe a sigh of relief, safely crossing from ukraine into poland. >> we made it! finally, we made it. >> yay! >> thank god. >> whoo-hoo! >> we have really good friends who are expecting us in krakow. they're really sweet. they say we can stay as long as we want. i mean, we have to think about what we're going to do. and i want to say i want to go back, because we just left a lot of things. and it's not the material things, but we had things planned out to do. >> reporter: the 32-year-old english teacher who is american made the difficult decision to flee ukraine with his wife, eliana, her grandmother, and the couple's 2-year-old son, packing

what they could before inching slowly to the polish border. >> my phone, we're constantly watching the local news here. at least this little guy is okay. the things that are happening now in kyiv are really bad. shelling, gunfights, tanks rolling over cars, people getting hurt, civilians. >> reporter: others are seeking safety in houses of worship. rabbi jonathan markovic and his wife ina have thrown open the doors of their synagogue. with u.s. visas, they could have fled. but ina made a promise to a 104-year-old holocaust survivor. >> will you stay here with me? i fought the nazis, and i don't know what's coming. >> oh, wow. >> she's 104. >> 104 years old. >> so she's lived through the nazis, now she's afraid of the russians. >> yes. >> reporter: earlier today, zelenskyy defiant, speaking ouside the presidential office

in central kyiv alongside his top leaders. >> reporter: the embattled president receiving criticism for downplaying the severity of the situation in the days leading up to russia's attack. >> president zelenskyy, before the invasion, had a tough job. he was trying to balance on the one hand preparation of his armed forces, preparation of his nation, for the prospect of a russian invasion. but on the other hand, not do so to the extent that he caused panic, creating displaced populations. >> reporter: but some are wondering if the 44-year-old with limited political exposure in an unorthodox rise to power can carry ukraine through this crisis. before taking office, zelenskyy, who is jewish, was a comedian and actor, hosting a highly rated talent show. playing a civilian turned unexpected president on tv.

in 2019, turning that role into reality, riding his outsider status and mainstream appeal to a landslide victory. >> i give president zelenskyy high marks as a wartime president. i think he's been quite inspirational. but we should be very clear here that zelenskyy's leadership, the ukrainian armed forces, even the resistance of the ukrainian people won't be enough to prevent president putin's military forces, which are overwhelming both in quality and quantity. >> reporter: for years the kremlin has been concerned this former soviet republic and other neighboring countries have been too closely allied with the west. in fact, more than a dozen former soviet republics or communist countries have become members of nato. in 2008, those worries multiplied. >> united states and its allies took a decision at the bucharest nato summit to state that

georgia and ukraine will be, one day, members of nato. >> reporter: now, over a decade later, ukraine has still not secured a path for membership. but putin continues his demands that ukraine never join the alliance, blaming the west for the current crisis. tonight, all eyes are on kyiv as russian forces maintain pressure on the capital city and the world braces for the humanitarian fallout. up next, as the fighting rages in ukraine, there is light in the darkness.

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♪ finally tonight, signs of hope and courage in a very dark time. the ukrainian military making its last stand, outnumbered, yet not outmatched. its citizens seen in moments of resilience, courage, and strength. children joining their parents in protest. civilians taking up weapons. while the global community urging ukraine to stay strong. in georgia's capital, a thousand flames held high. the eiffel tower in paris.

in berlin, brandenburg gate. new york's empire state building lit in blue and yellow. even in moscow, wreaths laid at the ukrainian embassy with one russian visitor saying to ukraine, "please forgive us." and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time next week. after a difficult and sobering week, thanks for the company, america. good night, stay safe.