and jasmine wright in washington with more on biden's call on u.s. allies. cnn's milk payton walsh is in the port city of odesa. fred pleitgen is in the region. fred, let's go to you first. talks between russia and ukraine were to begin moments ago. do we know it's actually started? >> reporter: well, michael, it certainly seems as though it's about to start. you're actually right. they're supposed to start about right now, a couple minutes ago. what we've seen so far is the ukrainian delegation seems to have arrived. we saw video images of the delegation arriving with two helicopters. that delegation is being led by the defense minister, by alexi resnikov, and the foreign ministry as well. as far as the russian side is concerned, also some senior officials from russia's presidential administration, defense administration and foreign ministry as well as those two sides are set for those talks. those, of course, happening on the pripyat river right in the border area between ukraine and belarus. it's interesting to see the run up to this. russia says the talk

we've got jasmine wright in washington with the latest on sanctions on russia. arwa damon on the other side of the border in poland. matthew chance has been spending time with civilians in kyiv. >> reporter: these are ukraine's civilian defenders. local residents taking up arms and ready to fight. >> that's his blood on the ground? >> it is his blood. >> reporter: already here in a suburb of the capital kyiv, there's been blood spilled. deadly contact between these volunteers and russian forces. >> i've never served in an army. >> reporter: volunteers like yuri, who was an economic analyst. before this russian invasion made him a fighter. >> you work in an office, now you're defending your country, your city? >> correct. i didn't think i would join this unit just two days ago. i thought that, you know -- i don't know how to handle guns. and yesterday it came to me that, russians are in the city. i mean, it's -- it's close to the point that i have completely changed my mind, and i have decided that i should do something about it. >> reporter: just hours before, t

let's turn to jasmine wright in washington. jasmine, what are you hearing from the white house as it monitors what's happening in kyiv? >> reporter: well, michael, the president spent his weekend in his home in delaware, but a white house official just told me he is being regularly updated on the developments happening in ukraine and of course keeping in touch with his national security team. but no doubt that white house officials are watching what's happening on the ground in ukraine with really great concern. for weeks now, we have gotten these intensified warnings from white house officials about what could happen in ukraine, and more often than not, they are seeing some of these predictions come into focus here. so no doubt they are concerned not only for ukraine and the ukrainian people and of course the stability of his government as russia looks like it is enclosing to the capital, but also for president zelenskyy himself. now, we know, michael, that president zelenskyy and president spoke in a secure phone call. the wh

white house reporter jasmine wright standing by in washington. cnn's arawa damon is near the ukraine-poland border where refugees have been arriving by the hour. but first let's go to clarissa ward in kyiv. all right, now while the war wages on in ukraine we are seeing the indomitable spirit of many people as they endured this conflict. we're also seeing thousands of citizens who are desperately fleeing their country. cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward now. >> reporter: a man stands on his balcony looking out at a new reality just hours after a missile slammed into his apartment building. it was 8:00 a.m. when the projectile hit destroying parts of the 22nd and 23rd floors. according to ukrainian authorities two people were killed. officials here say it was a russian strike. russia's ministry of defense claimed it was a ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that went awry. whoever was responsible, this is what happens when war comes to a major city. homes and lives are destroyed. at the city's central train station a frantic dash as

jasmine wright in washington. i want to bring in the director of international security studies at the royal united services institute. he joins me from london. it's good to see you again, sir. do you expect much from these talks in belarus? there isn't seem to be high hopes. >> to see a diplomatic breakthrough on the conflict, and ukraine is not ready to back down at this point as it feels it's holding the russians rather successfully, and i think it's encouraging that russia is open to talks and that suggests they have some concerns about how the conflict is going. >> far from backing down, of course, vladimir putin putting nuclear deterrent forces on alert. what do you think he's doing strategically with that, or is that another sign where he thinks things are not going well and feeling more isolated as ever? >> vladimir putin has used the threat of nuclear escalation in past interventions in 2014. he also raised this, and it's clear signaling to the west to stay out of the conflict, and it comes at a time when

white house reporter jasmine wright joining me from washington. jasmine, to you first. explain the new u.s. sanctions against russia and what is still being kept back. >> reporter: well, these are first steps for president biden. they say an effort to both punish russia for its current actions but also to deter russia from committing anymore aggressive actions in ukraine. this is a first tranche, something that president biden said earlier today. i want to read you a portion of these sanctions and who they will affect. he outlined sanctions on two large state owned rush shoon financial institutions. you can see them under banks and russian's sovereign debt and sanctions on five russian elites and their family members. the point of these he says is to cut off russia's government from western financing. this comes after months and months of being told by the white house officials that they are preparing what would be devastating economic consequences should russia do exactly what they are doing now, which is beginning an invasion says white house officials. and so the pre

's take you to the white house and cnn's jasmine wright. she's actually in delaware traveling with the president. jasmine, after weeks of dismal economic news t white house was r ready for this when? >> reporter: that's right. the president is having a good week for a change here, boris and christi. the white house is taking a victory lap. we saw the president out touting the surprisingly good jobs report where the u.s. add fourth degree 67,000 reports and pro provided job support two months previous. take a listen to the president taking that victory lap. >> i know it hasn't been easy. i know january was a hard month for many americans and know that after almost two years, the physical and emotional weight of the pandemic has been incredibly difficult for people to bare. here's the good news. we have the tools to save lives and keep businesses open, keep schools open, keep workers on the job, and sustain this historic economic comeback. >> reporter: so there we heard from the president that he's trying to show his administration is in place

response, cnn white house reporter jasmine wright joins me now from washington. what are you hearing, jasmine? >> reporter: well, michael, in a lot of ways, the white house is trying to de-escalate. instead of matching putin's heightened rhetoric here, they're taking a step back and saying look, this matches president putin's history of a wide pattern of using unprovoked escalation and manufactured threats. white house press secretary jen psaki summed up the administration's position pretty well here in an interview sunday morning. take a listen. >> this is really a pattern that we've seen from president putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression. and the global community and the american people should look at it through that prism. >> now psaki added in that quote that the u.s. has the ability to defend itself, but it also should focus on calling out what they view as president putin's playbook. this comes as putin really has a seen a unified west in both its condemnation of ru

now, cnn white house reporter jasmine wright joins me from washington. good to see you, again, jasmine. so, what does the white house know as it's monitoring all of this happening? what are you hear something. >> well, michael, the president is spending his weekend at his home in delaware but a white house official tells me he is being regularly updated and staying in close communications with his national security team while away from d.c. but no doubt, white house officials are watching what is happening on the ground in ukraine. these developments with great concern. we know that over the past few weeks, warnings from them have intensified as to what they could predict could happen in ukraine, based on updating intelligence. and so far, a lot of things right now have come into focus, in terms of their predictions. and so, of course, officials are concerned about ukraine as a country, for the people, and also the nation's stability in terms of their government. but there, also, is great concern for president zelenskyy from white house' officials today.

cnn white house reporter jasmine wright joins me now from washington with a closer look at the new sanctions. bring us up-to-date, jasmine. >> well, michael, what's significant is that something of this scale hasn't happened yet, and so it is definitely the western country's attempt to isolate russia financially, responding proportionately to what president putin has done. from this joint statement from the u.s., canada and european leaders, it expels selected russian banks from the international financial country, and i think if we can isolate one thing it is what would happen to the russian central bank, holds up to about 6$600 billion cash reserves. really they're trying to take aim -- the western countries are, trying to take aim at a bank that keeps the russian country afloat. if we turn to s.w.i.f.t. that financial system that connects about 11,000 financial systems around the globe, the u.s. and european leaders are really trying to basically cut off selected russian banks from being able to actually deal in that, basically cutting them off from being able to be these global financial

cnn white house reporter jasmine wright joins me now live from washington eighth with a closer look. fill us in on what's been happening, jasmine. >> reporter: michael, something of this scale in terms of what the u.s. and allies announced today has not happened, making it really significant in its aim for western countries to try to isolate russia financially. so the u.s., european allies, and of course canada, they announced in a joint statement a couple of different moves. first they expel certain banks from the international banking community. then really taking, honing in on the russian central bank and their actions there. they announced new restrictive measures trying to attack the money that the russian central bank has in its reserves, about $600 billion that it is using currently to prop up the russian economy as it faces waves of sanctions. these restrictive measures are really trying to stop that, and of course but the ruble in freefall. as you said, for s.w.i.f.t., that international banking system that connects about 11,000 financial systems to world banks across the glo

for more, cnn's jasmine wright joins me now from washington. um, and bring us up to date on these moves. these -- these are the serious moves that, certainly, ukraine has been asking for. >> that's right, michael. look. something of this scale has not been done before, so it makes it significant in western countries' really attempt to isolate russia financially. so, in a joint statement with european leaders, the u.s. and canada -- they announced a couple different measures. first, um, on -- they expelled certain russian banks from the international community. and then, even more importantly, we are talking about the russian central bank. it announced new restrictive measures really trying to target the money that the russian central bank has in reserve -- about $600 billion -- trying to prevent it from basically propping up the russian economy, keeping it afloat as it gets these wave of sanctions and really trying to send that ruble into free-fall. and then as you said we were talking about s.w.i.f.t., that financial-backing system that connec

and jasmine wright at the white house. sam, i want to start with you, given what i've seen, uptick in tempo, of course, over the last couple of days, what's it like now, how's it playing on the ground in ukraine? >> reporter: well, president zelensky who has been looking at ukrainian military maneuvers in the south of the country, close to the sea, part of the black sea, currently being used by russian naval military maneuvers among other things, live firing exercises. he has reacted to these now multiple national calls from everything from the united states to the netherlands, germany, south korea, japan and others, all saying to their citizens to get out of ukraine, out of fear of a russian invasion. he's just said that -- he says that panic is a weapon that serves only purposes of the enemy. he didn't name russia, but of course, russia is exactly what he's talking about there. he's been repeating that refrain throughout. and indeed, weirdly enough, the russians have been bending it around saying, yes, it is indeed the n

cnn's jasmine wright is live at the white house for us. sten, jasmine, the president has a full plate, but this is one of those things, too, where people are sitting at home watching very hard. >> reporter: that's right, christi. the president had little to celebrate in this latest cnn poll. his first step in his response was really to show compassion, trying to show the american voters that he understands how inflation hurts them day in and day out, and, second, it was really to show that his administration, trying to message that his administration is trying to do everything that it can, utilizing every tool it can to help american voters, but we learned quite a few things in thiscnn poll that's the president's not in favor of. it's going to be a big consideration for them when it comes to the midterm elections, and his poll numbers right now are slipping ochltown screen you see that. 37% approve. he's under water there. so the president attached with that reality in addition to what we also learned, there is a lack of enthusiasm when it

jas jasmine wright at the white house. we going to take a quick break. when we come back, he played a president on television until he became one. >>> coming up here on "cnn newsroom," more on the leader now standing firm in the face of aggression from russia. stay with us. we'll be right back. >> my husband is still there. we will fight even if europe doesn't help us. ♪ ♪ no two dreams are the same. but there is one van equipped to handle them all. for over 120 years, mercedes-benz vans have been built, upfitted and ready to go. because we believe dreams - should never stay that way. at booking.com, finding perfect isn't rocket science. kitchen? sorted. hot tub, why not? and of course, puppy-friendly. we don't like to say perfect, but it's pretty perfect. booking.com, booking.yeah. stuff. we love stuff. and there's some really great stuff out there. but i doubt that any of us will look back on our lives and think, "i wish i'd bought an even thinner tv, found a lighter light beer, or had an even smarter smartphone." do you think any of us will look back

cnn's jasmine wright joins us live from washington. mine, the president is under fire for being soft on russia. what is this purpose to the u.s. now? >> reporter: well, laura, it is going to be utterly important for the u.s. and germany to show they are actually united on a plan to further deter russia any -- excuse me, any russian aggression against ukraine, but also on what consequences could come should russia in vindicate ukraine. and now this is kansas letter olaf's first time, as you said, visiting president biden in the u.s. since taking over from angela merkel and previewing this meeting today, white house press secretary jen psaki said they would discuss their deep and enduring ties between the two states and also their shared efforts on ongoing diplomacy to deter russia from any further aggression. but you're right. he is under fire for frankly not sending arms to ukraine, not undergoing efforts to shore up the eastern flank as other allies in the situation of the u.s. have done. now, national security adviser jake sullivan wa

sam kiley on the ground in northeastern ukraine, jasmine wright at the white house. thank you for your great reporting. do not forget to watch "state of the union" today, cnn's jake tapper will speak with national security adviser jake sullivan. >>> new this morning, canadian police say they are actively towing and ticketing parked vehicles near the busiest crossing between the u.s. and canada. >> the bridge has been closed for a week as demonstrators protest canada's covid-19 mandate. it's taking a major tool on the supply chain in america. >> reporter: good morning. you can see the ambassador bridge behind me, that critical link between the u.s., detroit, michigan, and canada. that bridge remains closed, but the crowd has thinned significantly. we saw in the early hours of saturday morning a heavier police presence. they sort of pushed back the police line a little bit. but since then, a lot of protesters leaving voluntarily. there's fewer trucks and cars blocking that bridge. part of that might be the harsher penalties that have been imposed since friday, things l

white house reporter jasmine wright has more details on the phone call between president biden and voladimir putin. >> jasmine, i want to start with you because i know you were talking about your sources and administration officials throughout the day. what else are you hearing about the critical call, and perhaps more importantly, what happens next? >> reporter: the president wakes up this morning ahead of a very critical week. i cannot stress that enough. this past week we have seen both he and his administration engage in a full-court press trying to dissuade russia from invading ukraine and that really reached a height yesterday during the hour-long call that president biden had with president putin while he was at camp david. now white house officials told us that the president made clear to putin what he would be risking if he were to invade. and now, phil, and christie, i want to read you a key line from a statement that the white house put out after the call. it really sums up things quite perfectly. it says president biden was clear that if russia undertakes a further invasion of uk

jasmine wright from the white house. and near kyiv and live in western ukraine in lviv. >> u.s. officials say russia is encountering, quote, stuffer than expected resist tense. that this was unexpected to him. >> who knows what is in his mind. a lot of people. they've stopped the russian advance in many places. zelenskyy has been appealing for more international resources. more explosions a around kyiv overnight. our teams saw that lighting up the night sky. they've been running battlesen the outskirts. the second biggest city, russian troops in kyiv. fighting going on there as well. they are still holding them back. your point about stiffer resist tense is true. you are seeing a lot of civilians and reservists getting into the fight. reporting earlier on a group of people and civilians taking up arms. one man told matthew he had never held a weapons until now. another with a box of molotov cocktails, petro bombs. the bravery in the resilience is incredible. the other thing that has been sad to see, i've been speaking with a lot of regular ukrainians. they too are defiant. they

. >> jasmine wright. thank you so much. day, jasmine. >>> early wake-up call in hollywood this morning. nominations for the 94th academy awards will be announced later this morning. who will be in and who will be out? here to solve it all, cnn entertainment reporter chloe milas. i'm way behind. i'm embarrassed to say. >> moms and toddlers can't watch movies. >> i watch a fair amount of tv, i'm just saying. who's going to get it? what's the buzz? >> let's go straight into best picture so you have a short list of some movies to start watching because you have a little bit of time. let's start with "doom." getting a lot of buzz. third adaptation of this story. first one in the '80s didn't do well. this one, big hit. if you are into sci-fi, it's for you. a movie i saw last night is called "power of the dog." it's a dark western. it gives me there will be blood vibes. interesting fun fact here. my husband actually didn't know this. benedict cumberbatch does an amazing job. and jesse phflemmins is in it. they have two kids. "west

let's go to washington and bring back in cnn's jasmine wright. jasmine, the president's language on this issue was somewhat guarded, somewhat winding. but his point seemed to be, do better. >> reporter: yeah, laura, that's right. look, the president appeared to use his words very carefully here, but the message was clear. he is calling for the nfl to be more diverse when it comes to their coaches and people in those higher places. and if you talk to a white house official, they'll tell you, they tell me frequently this is a theme of the president's presidency. that he wants more equity, more diversity both in the federal government, but also incentivizing private companies to do more to make sure that more of their staff reflects the country. i think that we can look at this little push from the president, though carefully worded, as part of that. and i just have to mention here that this, of course, is a stark difference from the president's predecessor, former trump who really attacked the nfl and attacked players who would be protesting on the

cnn's jasmine wright joins us live. smine, this is perhaps the most critical foreign trip of her vice presidency so far so what exactly is she hoping to add to the conversation? >> reporter: well, laura, you're right. i think it's a little bit less about breaking new ground here and more about deepening the work that president biden and other u.s. officials have already done in this space. so experts and officials tell me that her goal is three-pronged here, right? it is to maintain the close connections with nato allies and partners, it's to message support for ukraine sovereignty and it's a message to rushing shah that the u.s. stands ready to respond but also to any hope of diplomacy here. now this does not come without risk for the vice president. as you said, her biggest international trip yet as she will be under the most, largest international gaze so far. we know as the face of the administration at this very premiere security conference, allies and advocates are going to be looking at her, watching her every wor

cnn's jasmine wright joins us from washington. p? >> reporter: the trip will be all about reaffirming the u.s.'s commitment to nato, its partners and of course to ukraine. and it could not come at a more critical time. i could not emphasize that enough. we heard national security adviser jake sullivan saying we are well within a window of attack here. secretary of state antony blinken said it could come before the olympics sunday. it starts on friday. the vice president has a big task here, a very big diplomatic test as you said. so white house officials tell me that she will be meeting in-person, one on one on the side lines with allies. that is one of the great things about this conference, how many groups a principal can meet with. of course, she will be giving remarks, really reaffirming the u.s.'s commitment to nato, to its allies abroad and ukraine and ukraine sovereignty. that is a big deal. and now the vice president's trip will fit within this full-court press from administration officials, from the president himself, all

we've got jasmine wright in washington with the latest on sanctions on russia. arwa damon is on the other sift border from me in poland. matthew chance and which are ris sa ward are in kyiv in ukraine. fred pleitgen is live in russia. fred, dramatic scenes you reported on yesterday with russian armor going over the border. tell us what's going on today. >> reporter: similar scenes are going on today. the first thing we saw as we arrived here about half an hour ago, there was russian rocket artillery fire being shot off. at the same time, the russians are saying that they have now entered that town of hearken. there seems to be pretty heavy street fighting going on. whether or not that's going to mean more casualties for the russians or whether or not they're taking more casualties, really impossible for us to say. the only little sign that we might have seen, if you look over my shoulder, you can see that the russians have parked three ambulances at that final checkpoint where it then goes toward ukrainian territory and also towards that the front line in hearke

. >> all right, jasmine wright, our thanks to you in washington, d.c. fred pleitgen, thanks for your reporting as well. >>> meanwhile russia's media looks very different from most news coverage around the world. cnn contributor jill dougherty has the details for us from moskow. >> reporter: at the very same time that cnn and other western media were showing the attacks in kyiv, western tv was not showing live coverage from kyiv. in fact, it was showing pre-taped reports some of them very dramatic showing reporters in flack-jackets standing in front of tanks but coming instead from that break away region in the eastern part of ukraine, the donbas region where those two break away republics that were recognized officially this week by russia are located. this is all part of the messaging from the russian government on state tv constantly showing the people in those locations claiming that they are the victims of genocide, that they are being attacked by the ukrainian government. the ukrainian government, of course, denying that. but it is an attempt to ju

. >> jasmine wright there in washington, d.c. thank you so much. >>> if russia prevails in the war and does take over, there's a lot of speculation that ukraine is not going to lay down and take that and the ukrainians will rise up and there will be a guerilla war and insurgency. douglas london is a retired operations agent with the cia, and an author "spying and the lost art of american intelligence." he joins me from virginia. if putin overthrows the ukrainian government militarily, how likely do you think there would be an insurgency and how effective might it be? >> an insurgency is likely to occur, and that it's clear that the u.s. military has openly been providing support as well as other western nations, but i am confident the cia has been providing support to its counterparts, and they have had a lot of time to prepare with what they are going to do. >> you pointed this out in a fascinating piece in foreign affairs, on the flip side i guess mr. putin experts such a thing and has his own counter plan. how messy could it b

. >> jasmine wright in washington, nic robertson in moscow, sam kiley in ukraine, thanks to all of you. we'll check gab. >>> back. >>> guys, guys, okay, okay. >> police are cracking down on the trucker protests that have been causing disruptions for weeks now. this morning tensions escalating for the second straight day in ottawa. moments ago police say protesters fired gas canisters at officers. the demonstrators opposed to covid health restrictions have been out there in groves. at least 100 have been arrested so far. paula newton is in ottawa. paula, what is the situation? >> reporter: fred, really unprecedented scenes. what's going on is police are enforcing historic emergency right now that is going on, and they're using police forces, and different methods of policing to, in their words, take back the streets of ottawa. as you just mentioned, we saw scenes of dozens of defeated protesters saying they would not leave, and that is when the police start to do confront them 678 they are saying they will continue to use more aggressive tactics throughout the day, police insisting they

cnn's jasmine wright is live in washington. e president is trying to get back to the days of advice and consent when it comes to the senate. >> reporter: that's right. the president is doing his bipartisan due diligence when it comes to picking a nominee for the supreme court. one of the greatest responsibilities a president has, that is what president biden said in the past. he will meet with the judiciary committee top leaders, senator dick durbin, democrat chair of the committee. ranking member chuck fwrasly republican. the president is a creature of the senate. he held both of those roles in the judiciary committee. he knows this is all about process and this is important to him. we can look at this as him kicking off the process of a 28-day stretch because we know he said he wants to announce a nominee by the end of february and of course this is february 1st. so while this process kind of happens out in public with the president, there's also going to be things happening in secret behind the scenes with the white house as

jasmine wright has the story. the president admits there's confusion on what to do. >> reporter: yeah, he did. it matters because governors are moving on. that includes democratic governors. even if that means defying cdc guidelines. that has two really prominent effects. first, it makes the federal government look like they are a few steps behind when it comes to tackling the pandemic. also, it creates uncertainty among americans who don't know really where to look or who to trust on the issue. biden spoke to that. listen. >> it is confusiconfusing. it's worrisome to people. what i've tried to do, i've tried to make sure we have all the vaccines needed, all the boosters needed, all the masks needed. all the protection needed. >> the president is trying to default back which is trying to help health officials trying to get some advice on how to join the governors. push the population, push the country into this new phase that they recognize is here past this pandemic. but they haven't figured out what metrics to p

jasmine wright, thank you so much. >>> pivoting to big defensive news, major moments for donald trumpn court this week, federal judge saying civil lawsuits seeking to hold the former president accountable for january 6th could move forward, a new york judge also ruling donald trump and his children ivanka and don jr. would have to sit for a probe. let's bring in our next guest. mr. garber, always appreciate your assess meant. appreciate you coming on. i want to ask you about conservative lawyer conway. he argued trump's time may be running out. some of these civil matters may be where he faces consequences. how do you weigh the seriousness of these developments? >> yeah. so this was not a good week for the former president, but it is not over. we have seen him be very wiley in the past in these litigation matters, but i agree with conway that it's these civil matters that could prove problematic. look at the january 6th civil lawsuit. we've seen congress do an investigation that's playing out in public, but the house has very limited ability to force people who don't want to testify t

. >> cnn's jasmine wright is live for us in washington with more on this. good morning. until now the white house has somewhat resisted using the term invasion. why the switch now? >> the white house views president putin's recent actions as setting up a rationale for him to further invade ukraine. now we saw white house press secretary jen psaki a part of that clip. she pointed out a couple of kirch things. first, she pointed out president putin's speech on monday night. he was angry. he tried to rewrite russia's history, ukraine's history when it comes to sovereignty. and president putin's recent actions in the two pro kremlin territories that he recently declared independent saying basically that it is setting up for him to take more territory by force here. this comes after cnn learned that u.s. intelligence allowed u.s. officials to come to the consensus that president putin may be mounting an even more full invasion when it comes to territory and ukraine. so you're right, it was a reversal after an administration official declined to go that far and monday night ca

. >>> let's go to cnn's jasmine wright live for us from washington with the white house angle.ning. how is the biden administration responding to criticism? something that jim just sort of hinted at there, that the latest sanctions are not enough to deter putin from further invasion here? >> reporter: laura, the white house wakes up on high alert waiting to see what russia's president putin will do in terms of the situation. i think in terms of the white house's stance, the administration's stance overall, u.s. ambassadors to the u.n. really sums it up perfectly. she said putin was playing into a playbook, after he declared those two separatist backed regions in eastern ukraine as independent, she said that it really -- basically worries the peace keepers there and sets up a pretexts for war. in terms of a way forward, we do know that the white house is going through with those sanctions that they announced yesterday. the president signed. you can see him on the screen here, that executive order that are limited but do target those two separatist-backed regions prohibiting any

sam kiley is in ukraine, nic robertson in moscow, jasmine wright at the white house, and kylie atwoodt the state department for us this morning. sam, let me go to you first. we heard the ukrainian president there telling everyone to stay calm. is that the pervasive feeling inside ukraine? are citizens feeling calm? >> i have to say that most ukrainians have been showing a remarkable level of calm. they have been signing up in relatively small numbers to home guard and reserve units. the ukrainians claiming they can mobilize over a hundred though people in addition to their 200,000 plus in their regular army. a different army than the russian-backed separatists faced in 2014. president zelensky was speaking about the dangers of panic in the south of the country, a military exercise where impossible route in for the russians and where i'm standing is another route into the north. only 30 miles between here and the russian border where over the last week or so russians have been building up very substantial force of armor and surface missiles and lately reports of long-range artillery be

let's take you to jasmine wright who joins us live.hat other messaging are we getting from the white house? >> reporter: the president made it clear, he believes the u.s. is on the brink of war, saying because of new intelligence, he's now convinced putin made the decision to invade ukraine. take a listen to him in his own words on friday. >> as of this moment i'm convinced he's maude a decision. we have reason to believe that. we're calling out russia's plans loudly and repeatedly, not because we want a conflict, but because we're doing everything in our power to dismiss the reason for why russia would want to invite ukraine and keep them from moving. >> reporter: that's a major shift from president biden who said weeks ago he did not know or believe putin made that decision. that has changed. meanwhile defense secretary lloyd austin reiterated the same thing. he said he agreed with president biden, that they believe putin has decided. this comes as the u.s. has gotten more intelligence to really form that decision or that consensus r

cnn's jasmine wright is in washington with the very latest this morning. president macron actually brokered this potential summit between putin and bieden. what more do we know about how all this developed? >> reporter: laura, it came after a week of last-ditch diplomacy. president biden convened a rare security meeting with his advisers in the situation room with the white house with one official telling me it lasted nearly two hours as they tried to chart a path ahead on this high-tensions issue. and so shortly after president biden spoke with french president macron who, as you said, acted as a broker, he had had multiple conversations with russia's president putin. and so they agreed to this on principle, but i want to be clear here that there is no time set, there is no venue set for this presidential meeting. it all exists in principle on the very high condition that russia does not invade ukraine at all. and, of course, this comes after we heard lots of warning from u.s. officials over the weekend. we've learned that u.s. intelligence officials had

let's go live to washington and bring in cnn's jasmine wright. good morning. the reporting here is pretty incredible from the white house team. it also has shades of the raid that killed osama bin laden. >> reporter: yeah, stunning amount of detail from officials who over the last 24 hours have given more and more detail about some of those really tense moments in "the situation room" as the president monitored this raid in real time. he was joined by his vice president and other national security officials. they described moments filled with anxiety when they watched the helicopter on the ground malfunctioning. we learned that was destroyed by u.s. special forces to moments of levity when they saw children coming from -- coming safely outside from the first floor of the building. remember, the u.s. -- the isis target lived on the third floor above families and so that was the reason why as we heard jomana say, the president opted for a special forces mission. to of course another tense moment when that initial bomb went off, the isis target killing himself an

jasmine wright reporting from the white house.hank you so much. >>> let's go to cnn's michael holmes, he joins us from lviv, ukraine. michael, obviously the situation there extremely uncertain, the ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky saying yesterday that ukrainians would not panic. how are people there preparing where you are? >> reporter: yeah, i've been here for over a week now, boris, and it's been really interesting and a little humbling in a way to meet ordinary ukrainians and see how they're dealing with this. they hear the u.s. and others pretty much every day say it's happening. i mean, the russians are coming. it's imminent. put yourself in their position. imagine how they feel. but it's remarkable, too, how stoic everyone is, death getting on with daily life but fully aware that that life could be upended any way. they are concerned but are not panicking at all. they are preparing. i spoke to the mayor of this city, a beautiful historic city in the west of ukraine and i asked him if aufgs's leaders if they were liste