or connect to tv. i'm ae elise preston, cbs news,w york. this is the cbs "overnight news." good evening. thanks so much for joining us. today, defense secretary lloyd austin told cbs' "face the nation" that russia's invasion of ukraine had essentially stalled. he described vladamir putin as moving his forces into a "woodchipper" of ukrainian resistance. but the invasion is a disaster for ukraine. this is the city of mariupol, or what's left of it. today, ukraine's president enpe israel's parliament. he accused russia of wanting to impose a nazi-style final solution on ukraine.

the united nations now estimates more than 10 million people have been forced to flee their homes. that's over 20% of the country's population. and in rome, pope francis vuz itted ukrainian refugees at this children's hospital. h said their tonight, russian forces are intensifying their attacks in the southeast, as they continue to dig in elsewhere. our reporter begins this coverage from lviv. >> reporter: russia's ground offensive may have stalled, but its air and sea assault on southern ukraine is only intense fieing, causing horrific damage. these apocalyptic scenes of devastation stretch as far as the eye can see. this is the southeastern city of mariupol, once home to nearly half a million people, now a waistland. even the corpses here remain unburied, as russian forces encircle this strategically

important sea port. those afforded the dignity of a burial are put in graves marked only with crude wooden crosses. for the living, the situation is desperate, with little food, no the fall of mariupol would mark a major win for moscow. it would allow russian forces stationed across southern ukraine to connect with soldiers in the east of the country. if this is meant to be a spoil of war, it's now just a hollowed out husk of a once great city. in mykolaiv, and a race against time to try and save those trapped under the rubble after three russian missiles targeted this ukrainian military barracks in the southwestern port city in the middle of the night. around 200 soldiers were sleeping here at the time, including this soldier, alexander. "i heard an explosion first. it woke me up and i took my gun. and then came the most devastating explosion. i will never forget it."

its violence like that few here will ever forget either. this is the main train station into the western city of lviv. many of those who make it here will start another journey into the unknown. this time as refugees in poland and beyond. its where we met this woman who fled violence in mykolaiv with her two children, leaving her husband behind. "it was our home. we don't want to live anywhere else. we just want to go back home." ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says it's now time he and vladamir putin talk face to face to end this war. "i want everyone to hear me now, especially in moscow. the time has come for a meeting. it is time to talk. otherwise, russia's losses will take generations to recover." >> we're joined now from lviv. how serious are the russian losses? >> reporter: we have no way of

independently verifying. but according to u.s. officials, that number is in the many thousands, which is a staggering number when you consider this war is now only in its fourth week. >> and lviv where you are is known to be a vital refugee hub. what is the current mood like? what is the situation like right there now? >> reporter: it's pretty tense. on friday, russian missiles landed in an area close to the main airport here, bringing vladamir putin's war squarely on lviv's doorstep. as you rightly point out, this is the city which has been a main transit route for refugees. at last count, 3.3 million ukrainians are now refugees. jericka? >> thank you for your reporting from lviv. joe biden travels to brussels this week, aiming to present a united front with nato leaders. it is expected to be a pivotal week for the administration.

cbs' scott mcfarland has more from the white house. good evening. >> reporter: this extraordinary nato summit is an opportunity for a show of solidarity by western nations. but it's happening during an important moment back home, as joe biden's historic supreme court nominee begins confirmation hearings. joe biden's arrival at the white house from a weekend trip to delaware is just the beginning of a busy week of travel, as the president heads to belgium midweek to talk about nato's military support and humanitarian efforts to help ukraine. the white house press secretary says there are no plans for the president to visit ukraine itself. the trip comes as the number of refugees has eclipsed 3 million, and amid growing concern that some nato countries could be drawn into the fighting. >> american troops will not be on the ground in ukraine at this moment. the president has been clear on that. >> reporter: before the president departs, his nominee for the supreme court, d.c. judge ketanji brown jackson begins her confirmation hearing, before the senate judiciary

committee. the first black woman nominated to the court gives an opening statement tomorrow before answering senator's questions tuesday. the larger question, will any republicans vote with democrats to confirm judge jackson, who was rated well qualified by the american bar association. republican leader mitch mcconnell told "face the nation" he's not decided how he will vote. >> i haven't made a final decision as to how i'm going to vote. i'm willing to listen to the testimony. that's why we have hearings. >> and scott mcfarland joins me now. scott, a lot of people no doubt will be tuning in to watch the confirmation hearings. can you give us a sense of what to expect in terms of the process this week? >> reporter: opening statements tomorrow including from judge jackson. tuesday, the senate judiciary committee begins its questions. each member gets 30 minutes. i'm told some will focus on judge jackson's work as a federal defender. in the past, some senators have not used their time just for questions but to give extended remarks. >> all right.

scott mcfarland, we will all be watching. thank you. tonight, police in dumas, arkansas, about an hour and a half southeast of little rock, are searching for possible suspects involved in a deadly shooting. it happened at a car show. one man was killed and at least 24 others were hurt, including six children. the crowd was sprayed with gunfire. so far, just one suspect has been arrested. the event was organized by a group promoting nonviolence. and the cbs "overnight news" will be right back.

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this is the cbs "overnight news." welcome back to the "overnight news." i'm jericka duncan. it has been nearly a month since russian president vladamir putin launched an all-out invasion into ukraine. russia's relentless bombardment of ukrainian cities is driving europe's biggest refugee crisis since world war ii. more than 3 million ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries so far, and that number is expected to grow much larger. we take a closer look at how families are being forced to leave everything behind, only to face an uncertain future. >> reporter: the western borders

of ukraine have become a siv. a revolving door of despair. more than 3 million people have fled ukraine. that's nearly 7% of the country's entire population. tetiana and her cat, along with her two young daughters, spent 22 hours on a train from their home in southern ukraine to the polish border town. when they arrived, the chaos they left behind was, for a moment any way, replaced with compassion. but their journey was just beginning. they were soon boarding a bus, going deeper into poland, where they hope to catch another bus that will take them to germany. 11-year-old anna and her 6-year-old sister have been spared the grim details for the most part.

>> reporter: unicef estimates that at least 1 million of the refugees are children. the rest are women and the elderly. a human catastrophe on a scale that europe hasn't seen since world war ii. >> don't believe that this will be over quickly. >> reporter: david milliband is the president and ceo of the international rescue committee. as bad as this is, over 3 million people so far, how bad do you think it might get? >> however much we hope for the best, we need to plan for the worst, which can be up to 10 million people leaving the country. >> reporter: those kinds of dire predictions have triggered a never before used directive that allows refugees to stay and work in eu countries for up to three years. >> the approach was, let people in first, do the paperwork second. that's a very significant reaction, and it speaks to the scale of the crisis. >> reporter: but he says the exit out of ukraine is only part

of the problem. >> we have to remember that for every person who makes it out of ukraine, there are ten still inside ukraine. >> reporter: russia's cruel indifference to providing humanitarian corridors have left them virtually cut off. to those who can leave, carry with them baggage of a different sort, including those covering the conflict, like peter turnly, who brought back these images this past week. >> i ran into a journalist, and he asked me what i had experienced. and i told him the sense of guilt that i felt, that i could walk away from the situation and the people i had seen could not. and i literally, without warning, just began to sob. >> reporter: he captured in an instant what words never could. but there's one emotion that overwhelmed them all, he says. it was a sense of loss. this image of a man named petali, saying goodbye to his

family in kyiv, haunts him tood long, long time, and he and his wife and daughter just stared at each other. but suddenly the train just left, and it was like breath had just -- air had just come out of a balloon and you couldn't get it back. and i had this incredible sense of pain for this gentleman that had just lost contact with his wife and child, and the destiny for all three of them was unknown. >> reporter: if vladamir putin's goal was, in part, to create a refugee chris toys destabilize western democracies, politically so far he's failed. what he has succeeded in doing is testing the limits of human cruelty. >> this moment feels very dark. as so many people have been forced to leave the country, one has a sense as well that a lot of light and illumination has

been taken away from their hearts. >> and the cbs "overnight news" will be right back.

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just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick. confirmation hearings begin today for ketanji brown jackson, joe biden's pick to join the supreme court. we have more on the woman who could make history. >> my nominee for the united states supreme court is judge ketanji jackson. >> reporter: the name judge ketanji brown jackson may be new to many americans, but not these three women. >> i remember thinking, oh, my gosh, what we saw so many years ago is really coming to pass right now in this moment. >> i can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the constitution, will inspire future generations

of americans. >> reporter: antoinette coakley, a professor at northeastern law, lisa fairfax, a law professor at the university of pennsylvania, and nina simmons, a corporate lawyer, met the federal court judge when they were all college freshman at harvard. >> it was very clear from the first time that we met her, that ketanji was special. >> i remember telling her, when we were in our dorm, you are going to be the first black woman on the u.s. supreme court. >> reporter: back then, they called themselves the ladies. inseparable roommates during college. they went on to become classmates at harvard law. >> it was, we're going to make this together. we're going to help each other. ketanji taught me that. >> reporter: jackson's writing and her analytical skills earned her as a spot on the harvard law review. but her feriends say she today

south for more than just academics. >> she's hilarious. people are so blinded by her intellectual brilliance that they don't realize she has another stide to her. >> she has an amazing voice. we heard her sing and if she had wanted to pursue w have beenri space. >> reporter: but her true passion was always the law. >> she came to college knowing she wanted to be a lawyer. >> and not just a lawyer, right, she wanted to be a judge, didn't she? >> yes, she did. that makes sense by the way she talks and walks. >> she grew up in miami, florida. the oldest child of two educators. her father is also a lawyer. >> they were there for her. they said why not you? you belong here. you worked hard, you're smart. you can do this. >> reporter: jackson attended a

predominantly white high school where she learned to think on her feet as a member of the debate team. >> she was one of the, if not the shining stars on the team. she was a standout in every way. >> reporter: steven roesenthal, who meat her in 7th grade, was a member of that team and a close friend. you described her as the simone biles of oratory, which brings to mind agility. >> simone biles has all these gold medals around her neck. that's the way ketanji was with debate trotrophies. >> reporter: but the quality her friends say the most is the ability to listen, and weigh all sides of the argument. a skill that will serve her well in the confirmation hearings. >> ketanji is the ultimate preparer, and she will be prepared. >> reporter: she is used to

facing questions about her credentials. >> of course, she's had to have an armor. most people walking through this world do, especially black women. >> reporter: case in point, after judge jackson's name was announced -- >> so is ketanji brown jackson. >> reporter: tucker carlson ignored her nearly nine years on the federal bench and instead wondered about her scores on the lsat. >> let her know what her lsat scores were. >> reporter: the law school entrance exam. >> i halved when i saw that, because i said is this the best that you can do? >> that man has clearly never met ketanji brown jackson. >> reporter: but the 51-year-old federal judge will likely be challenged about her past as a public defender and her work on the u.s. sentencing convention. she's married to surgeon dr.

patrick jackson and has two daughters. >> it's not just about the people who look like her, who are getting inspiration from her. it's about all of us looking and realizing what it means for what's possible. >> reporter: a woman who stands just 5'1" tall, poised to knock down one more barrier. >> it's so historic, because it's just another instance where we can say this is the america that we all want to be a part of. the dream is possible. the dream is possible.

ukrainians living in the united states are finding different ways to help their loved ones back home. that includes the young owner of a small bakery in texas whose idea led to a very big response. >> people want to donate cash, they can do that in this box. >> reporter: anna left her family in odesa, ukraine, years ago to start a new life. she ended up here, in san antonio, texas, and just over a year ago, she opened up laika chee cheesecakes. but her loved ones are still in ukraine, trying to escape. are you able to keep in contact with your family? >> i am trying really hard to evacuate them now. >> reporter: anna had to do

something. so the 28-year-old decided that all weekend sales at her cheesecake shop would go towards helping the ukrainian armed forces. what she didn't expect was the response. people lined up, sometimes for hours, to show anna and other ukrainians that they care. >> we probably have like 1,000 people per day. >> reporter: she raised more than $72,000 in one weekend, and plans to keep accepting donations. >> this is the at least i can do, you know? and i'm not trying to make a hero out of itself either, because the heroes there, are all there fighting. >> reporter: 6,000 miles away from home, but her heart is object the frontlines. that is the cbs "overnight news" for this monday. from the broad cast center in new york city, i'm jericka duncan.

this is cbs news flash. i'm elise preston in new york. ukraine rejected russia's demand for citizens in mariupol to surrender. russia reportedly told ukrainian citizens they would be allowed out of the besieged city. this comes just hours after russian forces bombed an arts school, sheltering nearly 400 people. fighting continues on the streets of the coastal city. if mariupol falls to russia, t soviet nation would gain accese to forces in western and southern ukrai military experts say however combat has depleted troops. water, food and electricity are all running low in mariupol, where authorities say about 40,000 people have fled in the last week. nearly 3.4 million people have evacuated ukraine since the start of the invasion.

for more news, download cbs news app on your cell phone or connect to tv. i'm elise preston, cbs news, new york. it's monday, march 21st, 2022. this is the "cbs morning news." refusing to surrender. ukraine rejects russia's demand for people in mariupol to give up the fight. we have the latest. supreme court confirmation hearings. president biden's pick to be the next supreme court justice is on capitol hill starting today to win over lawmakers. and justice hospitalized. the latest on the condition of supreme court justice clarence thomas after learning he's been receiving treatment in the hospital. well, good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with the war in ukraine. this morning ukraine is defiantly rejecting russian demands that people in p