dictator who declares war and commits genocide half a world away. i want to bring in my guests. the eastward movement of these russian troops, closing in on mariupol, which has been a huge concern for weeks now, the mayor of that besieged city this morning says he thinks 20,000 people, a staggering number, have been killed so far in that city. yeah, halle, i think that number is just an estimate. the people we are talking with coming out of mariupol say it is impossible to count the bodies, count the graves and know how many are still trapped inside. the mayor said he believes 100,000 people are still trapped inside. there are no humanitarian
reconstitute. a time we need to help zelenskyy with more equipment. there is not a diplomatic or economic solution in the near time. it s going to happen on the battlefield and the ukrainians have proven against the russians that they can beat them. and you don t have to beat the whole russian army, but segments of it. that s what happened in afghanistan and i don t know why we are not supplying more example. poland has 350 t72 tanks. president biden, pick up the phone, and call the president of poland and say we have 350 drivers, we will backfill poland as we have agreed to with 250 abrams tanks, bring in more multiple launch rocket launch systems to fight the fight. if he defeats putin here in the eastern part he has defeated the russian army and i think he can do it. focusses on mariupol, not allow them to consolidate in the east, he can do it.
finished last night s reporting. the military says its defense systems intercepted at least two russian missiles midair before they could strike their intended targets in the city. while russian troops have taken control of the port city of kherson, they re closing in fast on mariupol, today president putin did acknowledge the russian military is taking casualties and promised $50,000 to the families of fallen soldiers. this video shown on ukrainian tv shows a russian soldier given tea by locals, breaking down in tears as he s allowed to speak with his mother. in an effort to find a diplomatic breakthrough today, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky reached out directly to president putin. i think you have to talk with putin, the world has to talk the putin because there are no other ways to stop this war.
reporter: mariupol is a city completely surrounded now. a cold brutality to the russian tactics here, and that is to destroy everything. razing mariupol to the ground and crushing the will of its people. our reporter, nick martin, reporting on mariupol. now to a rescue mission which affects ukraine s spirit of defiance. in kharkiv, a missile struck a building. there was a survivor in the rubble. our responder watched as they innorred air ride ignored air raid sire tones finds one man. reporter: the city of kharkiv looks battered and bruised. every street in every neighborhood has been touched by war. there are some districts here that have been blown to bits.
corridors again. the ukrainian president volodyomyr zelenskyy said some 35,000 people were able to get out of these humanitarian corridors yesterday. but the reality is it s extremely difficult to verify numbers that high. today we understand that about 2,000 people were able to get out of the town in eastern ukraine where earlier this week a military strike hit a medical facility, a hospital there. we know of course yesterday a military strike hit a hospital in mariupol where the situation is particularly dire. the president says the corridors are being opened to get people out of mariupol. he says the buses to pick people up and aid is on the way, but at this point there s no evidence that that aid or those buses had actually arrived. local officials in mariupol say their bombing campaign continues. their roads are being cut off, and they say the russian aim is to completely cut off the city from the rest of the country. and we know the situation is