yamiche: human devastation. and supreme court history. >> please, i'm begging you, do something. i want to live. everyone just wants to live. yamiche: global outrage as horrific images emerge showing atrocities committed by russia against ukrainian civilians. >> they are lying there, some of them shot in the head, some of them are shot blindfolded. yamiche: president putin's military shifts its battle lines eafrstieer cn itukouraarins e.nv >> i got criticized for calling putin a war criminal. he is a war criminal. yamiche: meanwhileyamiche:, president biden doubles down on his condemnation of russian president putin and imposes new sanctions. plus, the yeas are 53, and this

nomination is confirmed. [applause] yamiche: history is made as judge ketanji brown jackson comes the first black woman confirmed to the supreme court. next. ♪ >> this is washington week. corporate funding is provided by -- consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay-magnuson, rose hirschel and andy shreeves, robert and susan rosenbaum, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, from washington,

moderator yamiche alcindor. yamiche: good evening and welcome to washington week. the russian invasion of ukraine is now entering its seventh week and this week the world saw connor and brutality -- saw carnage and brutality unlike we have seen in this conflict. a warning, some may find the following images disturbing. russia's military withdrawal from bucha, a suburb of kyiv, exposed atrocities against ukrainian civilians thomas am found dead with their hands tied behind their backs, others with gunshot wounds in their heads. terrified residents describe how they survived as their city was under siege. >> we were in the basement for 35 days. there was shelling all the time. sometimes there was no water, sometimes no food. yamiche: a russian attack also killed dozens of people at a train station in eastern ukraine that was being used for evacuations.

on tuesday in a fiery address to the un security council, ukrainian president zelenskyy took the body to task and demanded more action. pres. zelenskyy: where is the security that un security council must guarantee? there is no security. where is the peace the united nations was created to guarantee? now we need decisions from the security council for peace in ukraine. yamiche: on wednesday, president biden introduced a new round of sanctions targeting russian banks and elites and russian president b putin's own -- president putin's own daughters. joining me is simon ostrovsky, special correspondent for pbs newshour joining us from kyiv. nia malika henderson, senior political analyst for cnn and jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. simon, you saw firsthand the carnage and human of a station

in -- human devastation in bucha. what sticks out in your mind from what you saw this week? simon: i remember how the week started with a trip to bucha on sunday, when we toured the city and saw dead bodies strewn through the streets, some with their hands tied behind their back. that became the headline around the world. but what a lot of people don't realize, with all the coverage that has been focused on the town, is the atrocities perpetrated during the period russia was occupying the area were much more widespread than just the town of bucha. i have been traveling to towns throughout the kyiv region, throughout the neighbor of -- the neighboring region, throughout areas where russian troops came down from the north towards kyiv, into and held for

roughly a month, depending on the areas that you go to. we have heard stories like the ones coming out from bucha absolutely everywhere, stories of soldiers coming to peoples' homes, taking them away and those men and women, their bodies only being found once the ukrainian troops came in and liberated the areas. i think the other thing that is important to understand is that this was not a recalibration by the russian forces towards eastern ukraine. this was a russian defeat in the areas around kyiv. they retreated. now they are sending their troops to eastern ukraine because the ukrainian forces kicked them out of this area. the fighting has been very heavy in some of these towns. a lot of the civilians who were killed in these areas died in fighting between ukrainian and

russian forces, in shelling, in aerial bombings from russia. sadly, and i think shockingly, because of the orders that russian troops had to go around and to cleanse the areas of undesirable people, and i think that is what is emerging over the last few days. yamiche: simon is talking about all this carnage and the things that he saw not just in bucha. jeff, poland's president told cnn this week that this was a genocide carried out in russia, sorry, carried out in ukraine by russia. but president biden, while calling putin a war criminal, has not wanted to use the word genocide. can you talk about how the president is balancing his personal thinking around this versus u.s. policy and how he's talking about what is going on as we see these devastating images? jeff: i think we have seen with president biden over the last

several weeks during this awful war that sometimes his personal feelings get a bit ahead of u.s. policy. he has not gone so far as to call it a genocide. he has called it a war crime and doubled down on that this week, which you played in your opening clip. he continues to call president putin a war criminal. there is even discussion starting about how to try that, and how the united states would be involved in that without being a member of the international criminal court. in terms of that line you were referring to, i think we will continue to see president biden let his feelings come out and the white house will say he's speaking from the heart, even if when he says something it does not necessarily mean there is a shift in policy. there is not a u.s. policy to go for regime change. but president biden did say putin should not be in power. he called him a war criminal.

now policy kind of caught up with him on that one. you heard president biden referring to that as well. i think we will continue to see that and it is burning within him to criticize what he sees president putin and russia doing in ukraine and him wanting to do as much as he can to stop it. yamiche: the white house announced new sanctions this week, including targeting putin's daughters. what is the aim there? talk about how president biden is trying to balance being tough on russia with the limited toolkit he has. jeff: it is largely an economic toolkit. that is why so much the u.s. has done along with its western allies has been in the realm of sanctions. targeting putin's daughters is another example of getting close to t president of russia, the president of the united states

by president biden and western allies have done sanctions on oligarchs. rich people around president putin, but this is going all the way into his family. i think the strategy is to tighten the screws as it were around president putin to impact the people who he cares about, impact the people around him, and have a hope that that will impact the policy he is implement and. it hasn't so far. it has not led to president putin pulling back on his military advancements and goals ukraine, but it is making it much harder in russia for putin and the military writ large because of the financial fallout that is happening. yamiche: and nia, jeff is talking about the tightening of the screws around the neck of vladimir putin, but the president of ukraine says there

is not enough being done. his speech to the u.n. was incredible in some ways because he was saying you need to do more. how is that -- what are the politics of that, given this is attention that continues -- this is a tension that continues to build with the west wanting to be some pathetic but not doing nearly what -- to be sympathetic but not doing nearly what ukraine wants. nia: in his speech, zelenskyy said you all see this, these mass killings of civilians and their bodies laying on the street. he went into great detail about what the scenes were of those massacres of innocent civilians. he seems to be trying to shame the west into more action, asking these international bodies that claim to stand for peace and security, asking them to actually live up to what they claim to stand for, to send many more weapons, the kind of

weapons that would advance the ukrainian cause much further, as well to cut off the spigot of funding to russia in the form of paying for oil and gas and coal exports from the country. billions of dollars is still flowing into the russian economy because europe is so inextricably tied to russia and they need that fuel. you have seen some moves by european countries to try and wean themselves of particularly coal in the near months, but it is at this point a situation whe u.s. central he have european countries funding the war efforts. -- where you essentially have european countries funding the war efforts. in terms of tightening the screws with sanctions and turning putin's daughters and billionaires in russia as well, as long as this money continues to flow to putin, you've got zelenskyy knowing that is essentially funding this horrific effort against his

people. you heard biden in his speech last week say this is a long slog, most likely. the sanctions so far haven't worked and you have in putin someone who is fixated like a madman on ukraine and doesn't understand the rules of war. we have seen those horrific scenes, and zelenskyy, over and over, to anyone who will listen, essentially saying, the west, your thoughts and prayers and sanctions are great, but do much more in terms of helping ukraine defeat russia. yamiche: simon, nia is talking about this long-haul, this long slog ahead. you talked about pressure retreating. -- about russia retreating. what more can you say about the strategy russia has to keep this going, and as ukrainians are saying they are ready to fight on and defend their homeland?

simon: well, i think the ukrainian authorities have warned that there is going to be a major offensive that they expect in the east in the donbas region. there has been fighting for weeks now where the russians tried to join their southern force. that has gone all the way to the border with crimea and a city they have occupied. that force wants to join with troops in the north that are fighting in the donetsk regions. if they do that, they would encircle quite a large force, the ukrainian force in the donbas that has been fighting there since 2014, 2015, when this wra actually started -- this war actually started. i think the russian has in many cases arisen to the level of a war crime with what we've seen with the bombings of cities like

mariupol, which seem indiscriminate, where civilian areas are being targeted, and places in the journey of region where russia retreated. i heard stories from that village where the entire population of the village was held as a human shield in the basement of a school, that the russian troops that were staging their were using as their headquarters. what i am afraid of and worried about seeing in the future is when we do hopefully eventually see russian troops pull back, we will find these kinds of things we see in bucha and the kyiv region have been happening and are happening right now in the areas that russia continues to occupy. that is why load them are zelenskyy is speaking with such -- why zelenskyy is speaking with such urgency to get as much

help as he can. ukrainians, after seeing what they saw, know that they have no time to spare in order to save their people. yamiche: before we go to the domestic politics, what is the white house bracing for when you hear all that simon is talking about? jeff: i think it is bracing for it to get worse. i think they are bracing for more images, bracing for more battles. this kind of thing, of course, in addition to being outrageous, also raises pressure on the biden administration, on the west in general to do more. those are all things the white house is preparing for and seeing coming on the horizon. yamiche: certainly white house officials are concerned about how all this will impact domestic politics and gas prices. thank you so much, simon, for

joining us and sharing your reporting. meanwhile, on thursday, judge ketanji brown jackson made history when she became the first black woman ever confirmed to the supreme court. today at the white house, judge jackson alongside the president and vice president celebrated the moment. >> it has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the supreme court of the united states. [applause] >> but we've made it. in the poetic words of dr. maya angelou, i am the dream and the hope of the slave. [applause] yamiche: a powerful moment. earlier this week i talked to a number of judge jackson's closest friends. here is what two of them had to

say. >> it feels like, ahh! [laughter] that is my emotional response, but it does feel like it is a coming full circle. that is what we recognized so many years ago. >> during the hearings watching her, i felt her pain to see what shwent through, to see that she persevered. it really speaks not only to black women, but women everywhere. yamiche: nia, what is the significance of this moment? nia: this is a huge, huge moment. you saw that she was so moved in that ceremony today, and millions of americans across the country are moved too, not just black americans, but white americans too, to come to this moment. so often if you think about the civil rights struggle and black freedom struggle in general it has been about prevailing on the courts to recognize the humanity of african-americans, the equal

divinity of african-americans. -- humanity of african-americans. we know that has not been the case in previous centuries with judging how african-americans fit into this country. now you fast-forward to this day and think about people like thurgood marshall, a clerk of thurgood marshall as well as a hero to ketanji brown jackson, she stands on their shoulders. she talked about them in her speech. and in that moment where she said, we've all made it. when i got on here with you, i said that to you. i think that might become a sort of catchphrase among african-american women who haven't seen themselves in these positions of power. not because they are not qualified, not because they are not smart enough, because they were quite frankly barred from holding positions like this. you saw today in joe biden, he

was happier than i think we have seen him in quite some time. yamiche: he was so happy at the white house. i want to also ask you one other thing, she said she was the inheritor of justice for all and the promise of america. some of her friends told me in this representation they also see there are limits, that this country has so much more to do and just having a black woman on the supreme court or even black woman vice president is not enough. talk about that too. nia: we went through this discussion as well a few years ago when obama was elevated to being the first black president. that was obviously a watershed moment, but still so much work to be done in terms of breaking down barriers for african-american women of all socioeconomic backgrounds. on the one hand i smiled when

she said we made it, but i kind of said, have we all really made it? we know there are still barriers based on racism, based on sexism as well that we saw on display quite frankly with the hearings and the way she was treated and the racial undertones and overtones quite frankly in the way she was treated with disrespect even after she was confirmed with that 53 vote margin. it was a remarkable moment to see vice president harris, the first african-american woman to be vice president, to read that into the record and make history, but it was also a moment where you saw some republicans essentially walk out and show such disrespect for that moment. yamiche: what nia is talking about is the partisanship, the party take -- the politics of this. what do you hear from the white house about what this moment

means to them? a second question, mitch mcconnell has said he's not sure he will let another nominee through if joe biden gets a second chance at this. jeff: a couple things. one, in terms of how the white house is reacting, it was a joyful day at the white house. you saw jen psaki afterwards in her briefing try not to tear up because of the emotion of the moment for her and everyone at the white house. politically, it's important to mention, this is a pretty concrete example of president biden making good on a campaign promise. presidents don't always get to do that. he had this opportunity and he fulfilled it by nominating judge brown jackson, and now with her confirmation he can say, i did not just promise to do that, i fulfilled it. it comes politically at a time

when he's not doing super well in the balls. -- in the polls. only months still until the november elections, but this could be a positive jolt in the arm for democrats, for progressives, for black women and men who are a an important part of the -- are an important part of the democratic constituency. to your point about mitch mcconnell, certainly that is part of the overall political picture here. if indeed republicans end up gaining control of the senate and perhaps the house as well after november, and should there be another supreme court opening, mitch mcconnell has said very clearly that he would follow the same playbook as he did at the end of the obama administration, which is not let it happen. democrats don't always vote about the supreme court. republicans are much more effective at getting there voters out to vote in favor of a candidate because of what is at

stake in the supreme court. i will be curious to see if that changes now. not that there is any openings expected anytime soon on the supreme court, but you never know. we saw at the end of president obama's presidency that an opening can come up unexpectedly. yamiche: in some ways the white house has to calibrate that. they do have other challenges. i want to ask you about covid, because it is the reason why unfortunately we are remote tonight. it is the reason why so many people in d.c. are wondering how to navigate through this. there are a number high-profile people like house speaker nancy pelosi, the attorney general that now. tested positive this week how concerned is the white house about a spike in covid cases and the president's health? jeff: it is also the reason i have a husky voice. i apologize to your viewers for that. as far as the white house is concerned, what was interesting was their strategy seemed to shift early this morning to

preparing the country and world and the media for the possibility that president biden might get covid. they have been saying they are taking precautions, and they have. yet he was certainly very close, perhaps not under the cdc definition of a close contact to speaker pelosi earlier this week, but very close. he has been around vice president harris as well, who has been exposed. i think they are worried but trying hard not to project that, giving a heads up that if he does they are ready for it and they say he will still be able to cover. yamiche: last 30 seconds to you, nia. there was this $10 billion covid relief package that was blocked by republicans over immigration. in the last 15 seconds, can you explain the politics of that? nia: we will see if it happens. you have a publicans not wanting

to spend as much money. -- have republicans notanting to spend as much money, tying into immigration reform. the senate is out for recess for two weeks. we will see when we come back whether they take up this $10 billion which would be for covid planning in the future in case there is another surge going forward. yamiche: the white house is saying they definitely need that money. thank you so much to nia and jeff for joining us. we will continue our conversation on the washington week extra. this week's topic, covid-19 and more revelations on the january 6 capitol attack. find it on youtube. tune in saturday to pbs news weekend. geoff bennett will talk to an astronaut about his record-breaking state on -- stay on the international space station. i'm yamiche alcindor. >> corporate funding for washington week is provided by -- >> for 25 yearconsumer

cellular has been offering no contract wireless plans to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can find the plan that fits you. for more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> additional funding is provided by the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay-magnuson, rose hirschel and andy shreeves, robert and susan rosenbaum, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ >>

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