tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> thanks for that, tom. we have this just in to cnn.mage from days of fighting. you can see a massive crate were a burnt out school on one side. part of a hospital across the street is also destroyed. other images show damage to an apartment complex and a church. there do not appear to be any identifiable military targets in the city's center. also, a column of russian artillery vehicles is seen just north of the city. and two bridges that had been destroyed appear to be replaced by pontoon bridges. i'll have more from ukraine in just a few minutes. but first, let's bring in john vause in atlanta. >> hello. thank you for that. we'll see you again soon. but when we come become here on cnn, launch for launch, after north korea tested its so-called monster missile, south korea responded by firing its own missiles from air, land and sea. but what would really happen if the north fired an icbm directly at the united states? risk and reward.t's poe and wiwith a clear plan, rayna can enjoy wherever she's headed next. that's the planning g effe

so tom foreman is out front to tell what you the weapons are, what they look like and the devastationa massive blast lighting the sky and scorching the ground. military analysts can't say precisely which weapons russia is using but this has some convinced moscow is stepping up the conflict in a terrible way. >> my guess is that that's a thermal weapon. that's a fuel air explosive. very, very devastating weapon. >> reporter: a cnn team spotted launchers for thermoberic bombs near the ukrainian border. they have two blasts, the first rapidly filling the air with fuel vapor, the second igniting it with catastrophic effect, make something victims feel as if the air is being sucked from their lungs. daniel wasserbly is with international defense review. >> say you have people hiding in basement or behind walls. they're not protected against something like this. aerosols c and everybody dies an awful death. >> reporter: they're pointing to debris that they're launching cluster bombs, missiles that crack open in the air flinging dozens of powerful explosives in all directions. >> if you were

tom foreman shows us just how devastating these weapons can be. >> reporter: a massive blast lighting the sky and scorching the ground. military analysts can't say precisely which weapons russia is using, but this has some convinced moscow is stepping up the conflict in a terrible way. >> my guess is that that's a therm thermobaric weapon. it's a very devastating weapon. >> reporter: a cnn team spotted launchers for thermobaric bombs year the ukrainian border. they fire missiles which produce two blasts. the first rapidly filling the air with fuel vapor, the second igniting it with catastrophic effect, making some victims feel as if the air is being sucked from their lungs. >> let's say you have people hiding maybe in a basement or behind walls. they would not be protected against something like this because the aerosols can get into the basement. they can move around walls and they catch fire, and everybody dies a pretty awful death. >> reporter: human rights watch is also pointing to debris as evidence that russians are launching cluster bombs, missiles that crack open in the air, f

joining us is tom foreman to tell us more about these. what makes these so different? >>> when they were launched, in this case everything dropped from a plane, this accelerates so rapidly. hypersonic means five times above the speed of sound. mach 5 or mach 10, 7,000 miles an hour. in doing this, what it generates is essentially what would be called a plasma cloud around it. this is by the compression of the atmosphere. one of the questions has been does it make hard to control it from an exterior source. do they have to have all onboard guidance. once you take it all aside, you have it traveling at this extraordinary speed with precision far, far away. this whole can unis 800 miles across. it can be fired even from russian airspace and travel all the way across the country and hit a target pretty easily, brianna. . >> how lasting is this threat? >> that's the question. we have to look overall at the weapons. when you have a weapon like this, it is still not experimental but not as stable as others out there. flying at that speed generates tremendous heat. some of the

because as tom foreman is about to show you, the united states has pointed out time and time again putin'sbefore, including in syria. i want to warn you what you're about to see is graphic. >> reporter: people suffocating, foaming, convulsing and dying. this was a result of a gas attack by the syrian military on their own people in a town held by rebels in 2017, according to u.n. investigators. just one of dozens condemned by the west. >> it's a serious matter. it requires a serious response. >> reporter: but little action followed as syria denied any wrongdoing with the help of longtime ally russia. >> translator: the american side can't not understand that the syrian government troops did not use chemical weapons there. >> reporter: it's a pattern russia has been linked directly and indirectly to chemical 2004 ukraine's prowestern presidential candidate victor lukashenko suffers a mysterious and potential poisoning. it utterly changes his face and again raises the specter of russian involvement. >> translator: i had never felt anything like it before. >> reporter: 2006, a former kgb offi

ukrainian and russian militaries turning toward more kinds of deadly drone strikes in this war, tom foremanle strikes and artillery blasts, evidence of another deadly blast appeared, so called loiterring munitions or so calle called kamikaze drones to hit behind enemy lines. >> the aspect of these weapons is a significant psychological factor on the battle field. >> reporter: unlike massive military drones which fly hundreds of miles an hour over vast distances often to drop missiles and return home, loiter loit loitering munition drones are small and portable, can be carried in a backpack, can cruise about 60 miles an hour for 15 minutes while on board cameras and gps hunt for nearby enemy assets, once a target is spotted and command is given, drone can sprint up to 100 miles an hour, dive and explode on impact but as the battle has raged military analysts say the ukrainians who have such drones, too, have turned the tables on the russians, using them to much more deadly effect. >> my personal guess is that probably about 20 to 30% of the kills that the ukrainians are registering against r

tom foreman who is a washington nationals fan, although we will not hold that against him, everyone wantse talking about april 7th and they're talking about doing a full season, 162 games. that was very much in question. right now they have this tentative deal on this five-year collective bargaining agreement ending a 99-day lockout. the longest one in 26 years. still has to be fully ratified by the owners, players, everyone has to say we're fully on board but that's considered a formality. so this seems like a done deal. >> so the lockout essentially stalled free agent signings. so the teams right now, and maybe even opening day, might look different. are we going to see a bunch of big stars signing contracts over the next few days? >> and how. they haven't been able to talk to management since this lockout started, so now the work of four months has to be compressed into a few weeks. they'll be scrambling to figure out who's playing with whom, who's on the injured list. they have to get spring training started this weekend. with so many players coming from overseas, they have to figure