let's bring in nick payton walsh, live in donetsk, ukraine. let's start with the anniversary of the maidan demonstrations. were you there last year. >> reporter: after seeing a year ago those scenes unfold in central kiev where a decade ago a government had been ousted in similar protest peacefully to see it collapse into snipers shooting at times unarmed men dead in the streets around us it seemed that ukraine was embarking on a terrifying new episode in its history then and i think even those who thought worse was coming could never imagine we'd be standing in donetsk now in the middle of a civil war. the noise you hear behind me is a remarkable small, but noisy children's festival. but just hours earlier, part of this city have been hit by shelling. you referred to a cease-fire. i have to say it is that in name but we've soon very little sign of an actual cessation of fire by either side since it was signed over a week ago now. it was midnight last week last early sunday that the guns were supposed to fall silent. we heard dramatic silence

hours remaining till a supposed truce whose details and viability seem distant still, nick payton walsh>> and both the ukrainian military and separatists have agreed to create a buffer zone. here's a look at how this will work. both sides have agreed to pull heavy weapons back equal distances from the front lines. >> this zone will be about 31 miles wide for shorter range artillery. longer range systems will have a wider buffer zone 140 kilometers or about 87 miles. the withdrawal process should begin no later than monday and must be completed within two weeks. >>> german chancellor angela merkle will be watching. she's one of the key negotiators signing in minsk. >> we look at how she became one of europe's most influential leaders. >> reporter: german chancellor angela merkle is anything but your typical politician. she was raised in east germany during the cold war, the daughter of a lutheran minister and teacher. she was a brilliant and dedicated student and fared well under the east german regime but longed for more access to ideas. and that came in 1989 with the fall of the berlin

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nick payton walsh is in donesque. >> reporter: fredericka the shelling has been intense the past few nights and tonight is no different. today we saw how people are picking up the pieces from the last 24 hours of shelling, which killed eight separatists, so many civilian homes here destroyed by artillery. while this is the backdrop to peace talks, donesque is finding a deathly routine of picking up the pieces. here lived and died vladimir home alone when the shells struck. these flagments may have been hit to hit a separatist base nearby, idiots the man says. around these shops, a day earlier, shells landed a woman died two others wounded,'s lost dragging this self declared public further away from ukraine. >> as so often in nakdslike this the net effect is so often clear amongst the residents of donesque and it fuels the loathing they have for their government in kiev. the way out towards the rest of ukraine is complicated, this day is full, we're told. she says they're all fleeing the shelling. take a look at what one stray shell did to one warm happy family life here. he shows us

nick payton walsh is out front. >> we're at international airport. ukraine's army is still shelling here. despite being pushed out of this former strong hold two weeks ago by russian-backed separatists, themselves heavily armed. this is their form of airport shuffle. we're moved in an armored car towards a new terminal of the airport. separatists have taken this territory. it's still regularly under fire from the ukrainian military. we pull into the airport long term underground parking. occasionally shells are still landing here. >> the fight killed hundreds as ukrainians used service tunnels to hold part of the complex. the men claim these bodies were left in the ukrainian retreat. last call for passengers on this walkway passed months ago. these pictures from three years ago showing how it used to sparkle. hard to imagine how just six months ago we were here flying out of the the state of the art international terminal. look at the destruction and how this symbolizes how far eastern ukraine has fallen. >> morters often fall here so we move fast. t

. >> nick payton walsh went to the family's home in donetsk and he shares their story. >> reporter: it was here when this family got their first running water for a week and quickly made the kids a bath. two and a half years, seven and a 14-year-old their god mother explains. then the first shell hit. direct here on the bath itself. all three were killed but their parents were both in the front bedroom whose windows didn't even shatter. this civilian area is still being shelled here 34 hours before a cease-fire. the family is now a shell, numb in mourning. the tiny coffins ready for tomorrow. >> translator: i went to get them a towel in the other room. the lights went out. everything flew into the house. what cease-fire? i curse every day those who killed my children and all those of the country. people who want to live peacefully we lived, grew up, took our children to coolschool. these are not people. >> reporter: the father dennis is alone talking to himself. peeling vegetables for the wake. my grandchildren were killed she says. innocent. mr. poroshenko your cease-fire. any quiet t

nick payton walsh is in donesque. >> reporter: fredericka the shelling has been intense the past fewd tonight is no different. today we saw how people are picking up the pieces from the last

our nick payton walsh is in eastern ukraine. nick we're hearing border fire behind you. on? >> reporter: well wolf actually a change in what we've been hearing. recently we've been hearing the shelling impact over there. for the first time since i've been here i've heard the shell fly over where we're standing at the moment. they're being shot from a new direction. we know little more than that. but we are hearing from a european diplomat with good knowledge of what's happening on the ground that -- investigating what both sides are doing here. -- amount of military movement both in donetsk and the republicans on the separatist sides. and that may suggest -- spris separatists side for their part -- [ inaudible ] >> nick i'm going to have you hold on for a second. we're beginning to lose some of you audio. i want to straighten that up and get back to you. we hear the mortar fire behind you. be careful in the meantime. jim sciutto is here with me in washington. the president was blunt. there are many in washington republicansance democrats, maybe within his own administrat

. >> cnn's senior international correspondent nick payton walsh joins us live now from eastern ukraineg to the comments from the separatists doesn't sound like they're invested. are you seeing preparations on the ground to get ready to stop fighting in 36 hours? >> reporter: frankly, the opposite jim. we have been hearing from the self declared deputy minister of defense for the defense and what they felt of ukrainian territory, it's a key town both want to take before the cease fire kicks in and whether he felt it was separatists or ukrainian territory and he said clearly it's ours and the troops should give themselves up only it. the picture seeing now are over an elaborate device of an artillery shell to fire over the heads of those troops and that then fire and drop leaflets on them explaining terms and reasoning behind them surrendering and clearly heavy weapons in the city as well. part of the pr strategy to try to get them to surrender. most troublingly, seems like moscow believes they should be on separatists side of the lines agreed in minsk. a key flashpoint and saw today our

today, nick payton walsh was able to return to the city after a two-week absence.destruction on a wide scale. many residents looking for a safe place to stay after their homes were destroyed. russian separatists now control the city after ukrainian forces pulled out on wednesday. >> up next, the bizarre things the defendant said and did leading up to killing the american sniper certainly suggests that he was insane, but proving it in a murder case isn't nearly that simple. the legal view on insanity and the latest from the trial ahead. people with type 2 diabetes come from all walks of life. if you have high blood sugar, ask your doctor about farxiga. it's a different kind of medicine that works by removing some sugar from your body. along with diet and exercise, farxiga helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. with one pill a day, farxiga helps lower your a1c. and, although it's not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug, farxiga may help you lose weight and may even lower blood pressure when used with certain diabetes medicines. do not take if allerg

nick payton walsh is joining us from donetsk in ukraine. that's a hard hit area and you have been to other areas that have been bombarded. how is this likely to play in the ukraine, what we've just heard from the chancellor and the president. >> reporter: i think many may have been waiting for the conference. now frankly they sounded like two world leaders very key not to upset anybody before the minsk negotiations rather than explain how bad things could go for russia if a cease-fire wasn't agreed. lingering in my mind was the very last thing that barack obama said there. they spent a lot of time, both of them, talking about how united they were. and then he talked about how the transatlantic partnership needed to be sustained. they sounded at times that they began to doubt the -- which made it sound like there were further kind of quiverers in his bow not clear on arming. again i heard the phrase, if diplomacy fails, what do they need to do the change the calculous of vladimir putin. if i was in the kremlin right now i would not be that c

nick payton walsh went to the airport. it was a beautiful brand new airport. airport is now destroyed. >> that's true. this is the kind of destruction that russian vs brought all across the territory. right now there's been for several days now massive shelling of a town 13 kilometers away from the line the russians agreed to, back in september where civilians are trapped in basements. there's terrible suffering going on. the shelling of the pro-russian separatist continues taking a huge toll on civilian lives. >> we'll stay on top of this story. thanks very much for coming. that situation is getting worse. remember you can follow us on twitter. tweet me tweet the show. you can watch us live. dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. thanks very much. erin burnett outfront starts right now. >>> breaking news. isis most bar baric video yet. a jordanian pilot burned inside a cage. jordan vows revenge tonight. >>> we talked to family who refuses all vaccination for their son. my guests are the leading experts on vaccines. >>> a the one time new england patriot sta

cnn's nic payton walsh is in donetsk, ukraine where he witnessed shelling earlier today. nickked to you earlier you were healing shelling and seeing orange glows in the background. what's happening right now? >> reporter: no change to the backdrop here. 45 minutes to go until we're supposed to see a cease-fire a peace which will potentially bring an end to one of the most violent confrontations on the doorstep of europe since the balkan wars. a leadup to that i want you to hear the shelling incoming and outgoing sounds of shelling in donetsk it's been happening quite frequently. no let up as all. the fog has slipped in as well. but there's also a great sense of uncertainty about the next 40 plus minutes ahead. in 50 minimums time ukranian president will address the people on television. many think that will be the order he gives the ukranian forces to stop fighting. this is very messy technically. we've spoken to a spokesperson for the separatists who said they've now taken an important part of a town called dubalsova a key to this agreement. they've taken a part of that and e