and russian expert jill dougherty is in moscow for us. but i want to begin with sam. sam, hello to you. new explosions in kyiv tonight and kherson the first ukrainian city falling to russian forces. russian tanks are now patrolling the streets of kherson. explain why this is such a strategically important city for putin. >> well, it's a very important city indeed for the russian campaign against ukraine. it's also a terrible loss for the ukrainians because it's at the mouth of the dnieper river, the river that effectively dissects the country. but on top of that it's pretty close to the head of a very important water canal that carries water into the crimean peninsula, an otherwise parched patch of land that the russians illegally annexed back in 2014 in their last military invasion of the ukraine. the ukrainian authorities cut off that canal supplying water into crimea back then. and now that the russians have got control or will have control over that area that means that they can continue to or restart water supplies, and that is a very major step forward for them.

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to get right now to our worldwide coverage, let's get right to cnn's matthew chance in kyiv, jill dougherty is in moscow, sara sidner on the border in poland, and oren liebermann at the pentagon. matthew to you on the ground in kyiv first. the white house is keeping an eye on this massive 40 mile long russian convoy. we have new satellite imagery showing images of it. it's reached the outskirts of kyiv, which we know putin wants. the ukrainians have been incredibly strong so far, but what's on the way now looks like an enormous second wave, matthew. >> yeah, it does, and i think it marks the end, perhaps, of that initial strategy of vladimir putin to fly in special sources in small sort of cramped groups and hope that the ukrainian military fold and, you know, achieve a quick takeover of the ukrainian capital. if that was the initial tactic, that has completely failed. the airports haven't necessarily been held that were originally taken by the special forces that were flown in. the defense of kyiv has been, you know, really much more impressive by the ukrainian security forces and the vari

and we don't really know that yet. >> all right, jill dougherty there.ro-war symbol has emerged in russia and it's a symbol of division between those that believe russia is right in invading ukraine and really most everyone else who sees it as pure aggression. phil black shows us. >> reporter: it's impossible not to notice. many of the russian vehicles invading ukraine carry a distinctive mark. trucks, tanks, fighting, engineering and logistical vehicles, they are advancing through ukraine with the letter "z" painted conspicuously in white. the people being invaded for noticed. here in the eastern ukrainian town an angry crowd swarms after and attacks a single vehicle. it's only obvious connection to the war, the letter "z." >> it's almost certainly some kind of tactical grouping. there's a million different theories what "z" means, but i think it's just a mark because the easy thing to mark is like a square or triangle. >> reporter: in a war where wanny be conquers are not flying their national flag that has taken on significance. he was standing next t

jill dougherty is an adjunct professor at georgetown university. o a former cnn moscow bureau chief. and, jill, really such a beloved colleague of mine, it is good to see you back in washington. you were there for several weeks. as you have been doing for the better part of three decades, i might add, going back to russia. again, today, we have world leaders reaching out to vladimir putin. no signs of wavering, jill. do you believe that it is sanctions that may make the difference here? i mean putin, himself, has said that this is economic war. >> exactly. that's the word he uses, although you can't you know, talk about the war as war anymore in russia. but, you know, i think that is the question, paula. whether ultimately sanctions can change his mind because they show no sign of doing that. it's still relatively early, you know, there -- this was the biggest packet of sanctions, ever. and so, it -- they are having effect actually quite quickly. but ultimately, that effect will grow and grow and there could be more sanctions down the tube. so, will

cnn contributor and russian affairs jill dougherty standing by. she is formerly cnn's moscow bureau chief. jill, has putin lost support for this war at home? >> you know, it's hard to say whether he has lost support because obviously, he is continuing doing what he wants to but you can definitely say those protests are continuing literally on a daily basis. there are more today. i think we have some video to show you from the city. these are, you know, moscow, st. petersburg and some of the bigger cities. and this -- actually, this is from st. petersburg, kind of an older woman being taken off by the police. there have been arrests. the total so far is about 8,000 and counting that have been arrested since the beginning. and then, also, the information wars continuing. the two independent outlets, tv rain and echo moscow radio were blocked and now they both shut down today in fact. and hope -- hopefully, they say coming back online. but tomorrow, which is friday, the parliament will be considering a new law that would finish fake as they say using

let's go to our contributor jill dougherty, formerly the moscow bureau chief.e details for us. is the suspicion there russia is underestimating the numbers to help shore up support for putin. is that right? >> reporter: well, that certainly could be, wolf. and you know, many countries when they go to war kind of do the same thing. but obviously if you look at these numbers, 498 killed, officially according to the ministry of defense of russia, and more than 1500 wounded. and the ukrainians are claiming that that is is far higher. they're saying 6,000. now there are some other independent western views that it might be about 5,000. it is very hard at this point to say. but there is no question that the russians want this to be a small number as possible. this is a very sensitive subject, wolf, here in russia. you go back to wars, previously like dur chechnya and the soldiers' mother committee, i remember dealing with them during the chechnya wars and they would always fight for information about how many people have been killed, how many of their sons had been k

i want to go to jill dougherty, who is standing by in moscow. our contributor on russian affairs, long-time putin watcher. jill, you reported earlier today that according to the kremlin spokesman putin was unlikely to watch tonight's speech, that he prefers reading reports afterwards. so i'm wondering what you expect putin will make of the reports of what the president said tonight. >> well, you know, i think those personal comments by joe biden were probably things that would get under -- into the craw of the russian president. things like dictator, putin alone is to blame, more isolated than ever. but i don't think they're going to engage in that. you know, you can't really defend yourself by saying no, i'm not a dictator. but what they can do is try to pick apart the argument. tonight on russian tv they did have a very short -- right after biden's speech they had a very short report, kind of summing up what he said. and they got a few things, u.s. is closing airspace to russian airplanes. the fact that american forces would not be fighting rus

. >> jill dougherty, you've covered russia for so many years. is there any evidence that as a result of the slow progress here in ukraine and the very high russian losses as well as the economic cost being imposed by the west, that putin is under any domestic pressure to change here, to pull back? >> you know, jim, i think in the beginning, and it's early, just two weeks this conflict has been going on. in the beginning, you had among average russians and it's hard to talk about average russians, but let's talk about middle age supporters of president putin. you have a lot of emotion going on because they're getting a completely different picture of this fight. and what they're looking at is russian speakers under attack by ukraine, and bay nato. they believe russia is under attack and supporting president putin because he's protecting russian speakers but i think what's going to change, what could change is this economic situation. these sanctions which are monumental at this point and in a few minutes, we'll hear more economic pressure on russ

. >>> joining us to discuss, jill dougherty, former cnn moscow bureau chief. morning. we have a combination of events now, we have our own reporting that the u.s. is assessing russia pulling back from its designs on kyiv, and it is already observing some of the forces pull back because of the losses they have encountered. we have russia claiming this is the plan all along, we wanted to focus on the east and the south. we know that's not true, but big picture, do you see russia admitting defeat here? in effect for its goals of taking all or most of ukraine? >> they will never admit any type of defeat. i think that's impossible, politically, for putin. we all know that. i think what they have done here and this is why it gets confusing is they have changed their goals. they have changed the goal post. so the definition of what they wanted, going way back, has really kind of changed. i was thinking of the word denazification, which is still huge, still talking about the nazis, quote, in ukraine. but denazification used to mean get rid of the government, maybe eve

. >> earlier i spoke with jill dougherty, who covered russia for years as cnn's moscow bureau chief, university professor. i asked what she's hearing from russians about this conflict. >> i think it depends on what russians you're talking about. so if you take, let's say, the voters for vladimir putin, which would be middle-age d people wh are not necessarily on the internet, big buputin supporter they are watching russian state television. what they are getting is a diametrically different vision of what's happening in ukraine. they are not seeing the death and destruction in the main part of ukraine, in kyiv and some of the other cities. they're seeing the war in the donbas region in which russians have been under attack, and of course the kremlin is saying it's genocide, which is not correct. but in any case, they're seeing a very distorted picture of really what is happening overall in ukraine. so what they think is that russia is defending russia, that ukraine is being used as a tool by nato and the united states to attack russia. so those people are on board with putin, at leas

i'm here with moscow bureau chief and cnn contributor who just returned from russia and also jill doughertya few years. you took a selfie that i want to show as you were leaving, and it's pretty clear that you were not sure if you were leaving moscow for the last time. you had to leave because it is illegal to report accurate information. >> well, just to be precise, i had actually stopped being bureau chief and was back in the states. but i went back for cnn to provide commentary. good timing, right as the war began. but what happened was the russian government passed a law that defined any fake information or disinformation about the war could be punished by the media, could be punished by 15 years in prison. that law was so broadly written that nobody knew how it would be defined. so a lot of the western media decided they had to leave because it was really unclear. >> and you just heard that clip from the man in ukraine not able to convince his own father in russia, and it's because there are journalists like you who did go back, and you who have been there on and off, and other colleag

and russian expert jill dougherty is in moscow for us. but i want to begin with sam.re now patrolling the streets of kherson. explain why this is such a strategically important city for

jill dougherty, appreciate the reporting, jim sciutto as well. coming up next, a live report from the strategic port city of odesa and david petraeus' insights on what russia got itself into and where it may lead in the coming days and beyond. later, we'll check in with a woman i spoke to two nights ago. she is braving it out with her three children in a shelter. really a basement, frankly. it's not a bomb shelter. what they're seeing and feeling when they stepped outside briefly today as well. o policies to farmers, you could save yourself an average of seven hundred d and thirty dollars. (customer) thatat's something. (b(burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers. ♪we are farmers.bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum♪ with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. it can all add u kesimpta is a ce-monthly at-home injection... that may help you put these rmchallenges in their place. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions, and slowing disabi

. >> joining me, abby phillip, seung min kim and jill dougherty.tin, studied putin a long time. when you see that, not just what he says but how he says it. the wave of his hand, the anger in his eyes. essentially beating up, heaping scorn on the elites of his own country who might oppose him. >> when i saw this, i was astounded. i've heard what he's been saying but this internal repression that is looming right now, he's calling them vermin and traitors. these are the people who will not agree with his war. and what is he saying? we'll have a necessary cleansing of society. this is almost going back to stalin. it's very frightening, and i think it's an indication, and i've seen this type of putin before, where he gets fixated, like on the chechens. i was in a meeting with him where he did the same thing. goes ballistic. and i think right now he's very worried about the domestic situation. he talked a lot about sanctions and how they're hurting the country. he's going to take care of it. but i think he's very worried and absolutely furious. >> the

jill dougherty was doing great reporting from moscow., left moscow out of fear that if they reported the truth about the russian invasion of ukraine they could wind up in jail for 15 years. what's it like for the media in moscow right now? >> there was a moment during the opening days of the war when you knew you had space to go out where the protests were happening and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the protesters, elbow to elbow with the riot cops and know that they weren't going to round you up, that you were very unlikely to be thrown in the truck with the rest of the protesters. that's gone. so when you're in that truck, putin essentially is -- has created a state where he can decide on what the rules and laws are going to be, and he has a massive apparatus to follow through those rules. it's very much looking -- looking like the sort of germany under the nazis before world war ii. remember what we heard from the nazis -- i was just following the rules, i was just following the rules. putin is creating the rules, and there is a

with me to share the reporter and insights nia-malika henderson, jill dougherty, and dan lamoff of "theospital in mariupol, a children's hospital, a maternity ward included, bombed today just as the deputy mayor said the city maybe had another day or two or three to hold out against the russians. the world says this cannot be participate of any war plan, but you've covered russian military campaigns in the past. this is what many predicted. putin would get backed into a corner and we would sadly see this. >> yes. it can be on purpose. it can be with the incompetence of the russian military, and i would presume they will blame it on the ukrainians. it's pretty obvious. at this point it's not working out the way it wants. and it is, i think, going to get worse where he cannot back down, so he will prosecute this war to the end. >> the flip side is you see images like this and if one of the questions is will the western solidarity, remarkable solidarity whether we're talking gove governments, businesses, pulling out, can that last? pictures like that will add to the spine of the opposition

. >> jill dougherty, appreciate it. sa sara sidner, jim shoe ciutto, clarissa ward. we're joined as well by retired general wesley clark for his take on the direction the war appears to be heading in the next 24, 48 hours, and later we'll speak with a woman who's in a bomb shelter right now, and has been there since thursday with her three kids, while her husband volunteers to defend the city. a remarkable story of bravery and resiliency, ahead. plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore 325 liquid-filled aspirin capsule is clinically show in a 7 day study to cause fewer ulcers than immediate lease aspirin. vazalore. the first liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing! - [narrator] it's a mixed up world. and the way we work looks a little different. but whether you embrace the new normal or just want to get back to the routines that feel right, x-chair continues to be at the forefront of change, which is why we've launched the all new x-chair with elemax. elemax combines gentle body temperature regulation with stress melting massage to increase your comfort

god's sake, this man cannot remain in power, our former moscow bureau chief and now contributor jill doughertyd this in terms of the response in country, of russia. russian media concentrating on, you know, #bidengaffes, but then censoring in a way the actual words that biden used that, you know, this man cannot remain in power. how does putin leverage that -- those comments coming from the united states' president in country? >> i think president putin has a real problem. when the president of the united states says this man cannot stay in power or the president of the united states says putin is a war criminal or the president of the united states says putin is a butcher, that gets through to the russian people.dougherty is right. the russians don't want to get this out. they don't want their people to hear that the president of the united states thinks that their president is a war criminal or a butcher or shouldn't remain in power. so i think this is actually a message, not just to president putin, but to the russian people. >> following these talks in europe, involving the united states p

russia expert jill dougherty is in moscow. phil mattingly is in washington and/or ren lieberman is at the pentagon for us. liszt let's begin with tim sciutto in lviv. russia has shifted to an aggressive bombing campaign. civilians are dying. kyiv is bracing for a more major assault. what is the latest? >> i'm told by u.s. officials the latest u.s. intelligence assessment is as russia's invasion plan has hit obstacles, including strong resistance from the ukrainian military, that it will use heavier firepower, more indiscriminate firepower as well. and that includes targeting civilian areas, sometimes deliberately. that's the view of the u.s. military at this point. we've seen evidence of that. the video that pamela was just referencing there, that was an administrative building in kharkiv. not a military target, hit with a devastating blast. and it's the expectation of the u.s. military that we're going to see more, not less of that. particularly, because what we've seen so far, don, is an attempt to encircle the cities such a