happening now, cnn is near the tense front lines in eastern ukraine right now with just a few hours to go before russia s war hits the one-year mark. ukrainian forces bracing for the possibility of new russian strikes tonight. also this hour, a top safety official declares the toxic train wreck in ohio was 100%, 100% preventable as initial findings in the federal investigation are revealed. the transportation secretary, pete buttigieg, visiting the scene where frustrated residents are growing more and more concerned about their health by the day. alex murdaugh takes the stand in his murder trial. the disgraced south carolina lawyer admitting under oath to lying and to stealing while denying he killed his wife and son. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. we begin with a grim milestone for ukraine and the world, for that matter, a full year since russia s brutal invasion. ukrainians bracing f
gratification. you kick the door in guns blazing and whatever happens happens. stop that, he s not my dad. sketches are a really fun way to talk about the culture with a quick turnaround. and i sketch you are satirizing life. satirizing. no, satirizing. my brain hurts. when you know people are improvising you are on the edge of your seats. everything you see tonight is being made up on the spot, we can t stress it enough. where is my mother? you have to go for it, you have to commit. i m rick james,one. we, we are going to do a sketch show. you don t comedy is like a concerto with all of its complications. sketch comedy is like a sex pistol song where people get in and get out and somebody gets hurt. i am so full of anticipation that my genitals are sucked up into my body company. sketches a really great way to deliver, do, because you can say so much. the best come in with a point of view about something they want to say. it makes it does feel any b
well, they say that while that war is going on in ukrainian land, they believe that it s essentially a battle of russia against the west and, of course, the west led specifically by the united states. wolf. fred pleitgen reporting live from moscow, thank you very much. let s go back to ukraine where cnn s chief international anchor christiane amanpour is joining us from the capital, kyiv. given the warnings about potential russian strikes, what s the mood on the ground in kyiv where you are just ahead of this very somber milestone? reporter: wolf, somewhat fatalistic and strangely optimistic. they believe given the developments over this past year that their resistance can win out. they believe that they re getting the help that they need. they see it from the nato alliance and from president biden and all the other nato leaders and just want as the ukrainian officials are now saying the mantra for the second year will be speed up the weapons. if the mantra for last year was
the battle of hitting hastings. battle of russia. seven or eight. 92. it was done live, and they would do like 33 or 36 episodes a year. that is a schedule. that is a real schedule. i think the hardest job in the world is to be a comedy writer for a variety show, because they have to come up with four or five sketches, different characters, every week our writers have to sit down to a blank sheet of paper that says be funny, and it is a whole new sketch. mrs. wiggins, i wonder if you could come in. hello? mrs. wiggins, i wonder hello? mrs. wiggins, i wonder hello? hello? i can t tell a joke to save my soul. i was a clown.
propaganda law, claiming, in part, it s a defense against u.s. influence. translator: i cannot put it any other way. the united states of america has become the global center of this sodomy. let them live there, do not touch us. reporter: antigay tirades are often embedded into coverage of what russia calls its special military operation in ukraine on state tv, making the war out to be part of a larger battle of russia against the west of its alleged moral decay. yaroslov, a gay rights activist in moscow, says he feels singled out. translator: this is the information noise that we are becoming victims of. we are being used as scape goats to distract attention and redirect the hatred of the electorate that supports putin and the war. reporter: russian president vladimir putin often portrays himself as the savior of traditional family values even