anti-ship missiles. this comes one day after russia suffered a massive military and symbolic defeat. russia's flag ship vehicle in the black sea sank after ukraine claimed that it struck the warship with missiles. the kremlin maintains a fire broke out on board, and jake tapper just interviewed ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy about the latest developments in the war. so let's begin with jake live in kyiv on his new interview with president zelenskyy. jake? >> thanks, brianna. that's right. we met with president zelenskyy at the presidential palace. we had a very far and wide ranging interview about many topics. one of the things that he addressed in english, most remarks were in ukrainian, obviously we'll translate but one of the things he said in english had to do with what the cia director just said yesterday which was that the united states is on the lookout for any possible use borne out of desperation by putin of tactical or low yield nuclear weapons. so here is what president zelenskyy had to say to that. >> the director of the cia warned that he's worried putin might use a tactical nuclear weapon in this fight. are you worried? >> i think with all of the world, all the countries have to be worried because you know that it can be not real information but it can be the truth because when they begin to speak about the battles or enemies or nuclear weapons or some chemical issues, chemical weapons, they should, they could. i mean, they can. for them, life with people, nothing with truth, i think, not be afraid. be ready, but that is not the question to ukraine. not only for ukraine, but for all the world. i think so. >> so the whole world should be worried, not just ukrainians. don't be afraid, he said, be prepared. but as you heard him say, in his view, putin has so little regard for life, especially ukrainian life. it would not surprise him were putin to use chemical or even nuclear weapons, brianna. >> jake, did he say anything about the warship because we get different stories from the ukrainians and the russians about what happened. >> he did. of course, i asked him about the warship and he actually was pretty cagey about it saying history will record what exactly happened with that warship, but he noted, of course, that it is now at the bottom of the black sea. >> that is very interesting that they are kind of keeping that close to the vest. this widespread battle in some ways is already under way on a smaller scale in the east, but we're waiting it to be launched in a widespread way, this battle for donbas. what did he say about the timing of that? >> he said, he talked a lot about the battle of donbas which is, of course, pending and he said the fate of the war will be, will rest on what happens there. he did express confidence throughout the interview that ukraine ultimately will win, but he's obviously concerned. it's been tough. it's been weighing upon him, all of the civilian casualties, all of the images, the videos that all of us have seen on social media and on cnn of grieving widows and moms and dads and children and others, weighing on him very much. we had a very lengthy conversation about the fact that world leaders constantly every holocaust memorial day say never again and yet there always seems to be some genocide happening in some part of the world and he sounded rather disappointed in the world, in terms of the idea of never again. they're just words, he said. he doesn't believe them anymore. >> i mean, he obviously sees a lot of parallels, jake, and he is jewish, which goes up against what vladimir putin is saying about this being the denazification of ukraine but sees parallels of what's going on here and what happened during world war ii. >> yeah, and the idea that putin is attacking this jewish president of ukraine by saying that this is a denaziification campaign he views as preposterous, that he, a jew who lost ancestors in the holocaust would be a nazi is so preposterous. he obviously thinks that especially post-bucha, there is something different going on now in terms of what diplomatic negotiations might come forward, might happen in the future. it seemed to me based on remarks he made and obviously we'll bring you more of these remarks throughout the day and on state of the union on sunday, it seemed, he seemed to think that there was less ability to negotiate, less willingness to negotiate now that the russians have committed such atrocities in places like borodianka and bucha and the incident you just covered, the 7 civilians being shot at while trying to evacuate. obviously the train station at kramatorsk. war crime after war crime is what's being described, so i think the idea that there would be room for negotiation, we keep hearing people in the biden administration saying that the weapons they're providing will give zelenskyy and ukraine a better position at the negotiating table. i don't know how much negotiation there is room for at all right now based on what president zelenskyy told me just a few minutes ago, because there have been so many horrors. i'm not sure that he thinks the ukrainian people would accept much in terms of negotiation. >> how do you capitulate when someone is doing that to your people. jake, like you said, this is a long and broad ranging interview. can't wait to see it. jake tapper in kyiv and you can, watch more today on the "the lead" at 4:00 p.m. eastern and you can see the full exclusive interview, special hour of state of the union sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. thank you so much for that. we are just learning of another senseless attack on civilians here in ukraine. a prosecutor in kharkiv telling cnn russian forces open fire on two evacuation buses killing at least seven civilians. ben wedeman live for us in eastern ukraine with more on this. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this happened yesterday in the prosecutor in the kharkiv region, in addition to seven people being killed, 27 were wounded when russian forces opened fire on these two evacuation buses. and of course, we've seen multiple times since this war began whereby there have been agreements between the ukrainians and russians through intermediaries to have these humanitarian corridors, to get civilians out of areas where there's danger, but so many times, they've fallen apart because the russians opened fire on these corridors and in fact, yesterday, i was speaking to the director of the hospital and i said, in the city, severodonetsk, i said, what's your experience with humanitarian corridors? he said it's a myth. the russians try to open fire every time they do it. beyond that, many ukrainians are buoyed by the news, of course, about the sinking of the cruiser that went down in the black sea. now, according to the russian ministry of defense, the cruiser, what happened was that there was a fire of unknown origin on the warship that caused it to explode. that ship was damaged and then it sunk in rough seas as it was being towed to port. what we haven't heard about is the crew. there have been no pictures of the crew. russian media is saying that they've been returned to base but there's no photographic or video evidence of that and it must be a cause of concern for their families. >> ben, it must be a huge concern for their families. ben wedeman live for us in krkrma t krmatorsk. is that something just starting? >> yeah, there was a bombing of this city of an industrial site and what we've heard since then, we don't know of any injuries in that case but we've been hearing these sirens going off in distant explosions yet again, brianna. >> all right. ben, we know you are getting all too used to that but stay safe for us if you will. ben wedeman in kramatorsk. retired brigadier general mark kimmitt, political military affairs under president george w. bush. also with us is cnn national security analyst former deputy director of national intelligence. general, i want to talk to you a little bit about what we just heard from jake's interview with president zelenskyy. he said, asked him, are you concerned about tactical nukes being used and he said basically they could do it, of course, he's concerned but said other countries should be concerned. what did you think about his answer? >> well, i'm not surprised. i heard the notion of president putin using these weapons out of desperation. there is no battlefield purpose for using these tactical nuclear weapons. he has more than enough ammunition of other types. for him to resort to nuclear weapons would take this war in a completely different direction, an inflection point but any excuse he would have to use them because he either didn't have the right missiles, artillery or rockets would be foolish. that would be a completely different level and well outside of ukraine as well. >> unlike u.s. military doctrine, russian military doctrine allows the use of tactical nukes. it's considered as another option. but i'm wondering, as you're hearing people, sorry, as you're hearing people say, you hear experts say this is just another weapon that vladimir putin wouldn't think that it's anything that different, clearly, he must understand the world does, right? >> i do think that he does understand the difference. i mean, the russians are very aware of an escalatory ladder. so while they have that in their doctrine to use as mark just said, it would be a big deal, and i think that it would be seen by putin as being a big deal. but here's the deal. you know, we are entering this really dangerous phase of the war and the irony, the worse the russians do, the more dangerous they become. so as director burns said yesterday, there's no sign of this happening now, it is if putin becomes more cornered and desperate and there's certainly some signs on the horizon as they try to drive toward this may 9th victory of some sort, it won't be the end of the war but to show some sort of victory that things become more brutal. but i don't think we're at that point of the tactical nuclear weapon at this point. >> u.s. officials making it clear, hearing rhetoric but not seeing action on that. thank you so much to both of you. back to you in new york and you can probably hear the rain behind me in western ukraine heading east. this is actually something contributing here in the coming days to quite muddy conditions that are going to make it really hard to move some of that heavy machinery through the region. >> thank you so much. coming up for us, russia is also escalating its threats against the united states as the west is sending more weapons to ukraine. state department spokesman ned price, he joins us live next. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the waway. you said it, flo. and don't forget to floss before you brush. your gums will thank you. -that's right, dr. gary. -jamie? 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my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry and sandpaper. strypaper? luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue! russia is formally protesting the united states, shipping weapons to ukraine. cnn is learning that russia sent a diplomatic note to the state department this week warning the u.s. to stop arming the ukrainians or risk, quote, unpredictable consequences. this was first reported by "the washington post" and comes as cnn also learns that secretary of state tony blinken told european allies that this war could last or drag on through the end of the year. joining me right now is the state department spokesman, ned price. thanks for coming in. first, where i just left off, can you confirm that's the latest assessment the secretary of state is working with, the war could last through the end of 2022? >> this could be a protracted conflict. we are doing everything we can by supporting our ukrainian partners, by putting pressure on the russian federation to see to it we can shorten this conflict as much as we can to save lives. >> so is he working with that assessment of it could drag through the end of the year? >> it is possible, kate, but what we're trying to do is to shorten this conflict. we think we can do that by strengthening their hand at the negotiating table, by providing ukraine with an unprecedented amount of security assistance. at the same time, we're applying the same degree of pressure to russia with our economic sanctions and other financial measures. hoping these two things meet and that ultimately, a diplomatic agreement can be achieved to bring this senseless violence and aggression to an end. >> let's talk about the security assistance. the former diplomatic message from russia coming in this week warning the u.s. to essentially stop arming ukraine and that wording of unpredictable consequences should the support continue. what does the state department take as the meaning of that message? >> kate, look, i'm not in a position to confirm any private diplomatic correspondents but i will say this. if the allegation from the kremlin is that the united states and our partners around the world are providing billions of dollars worth of security assistance to our ukrainian partners, precisely what our ukrainian partners have requested and that our ukrainian partners are using that very security assistance to extraordinary effect, to repel this russian aggression, well, then we're guilty as charged. but here's the other thing, kate. the russian federation shouldn't be surprised by this. we warned the kremlin, we warned moscow long before this aggression started that if vladimir putin went forward with his plans, we would do three things. we would provide unprecedented levels of security assistance to our ukrainian partners, what we're doing. that goes above and beyond what we provided them well before this invasion started. we would mount unprecedented costs on the kremlin, again, in terms of the economic sanctions and other measures that i talked about before, and that we would reinforce and reassure nato. president biden likes to say big nations don't bluff. president putin may not have been aware but all three accounts that the united states does not bluff. >> you may not be in a position to publicly confirm this diplomatic table but the rorting is solid, ned, there has been lies coming from russia throughout this invasion but the fact that the way this was received, would you take it a different way because it comes in this formal diplomatic official message, do you take this threat, would you take a threat like this more seriously? >> kate, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to support our ukrainian partners. we have to remember that what the ukrainians are doing with the security assistance we and our partners around the world -- >> so no matter a threat, if it came to the state department via this official message, no matter the threat, it's not going to change anything about the level of assistance, especially what was just announced by president biden that's heading over to ukraine? >> we have an obligation to continue to do what we're doing, to support our ukrainian partners, we're going to continue to do that. the russians have said some things privately, they have said some things publicly. nothing will dissuade us from the strategy we've embarked on. >> the range of what unpredictable consequences is is something i'm quite interested in. the cia director just yesterday saying the united states, publicly saying the united states does not take lightly the threat posed by russia to use a nuclear weapon in ukraine. do you think that if russia is learning of unpredictable consequences, that is what that message could mean? >> kate, i used to work at the cia. i don't work there anymore. i'll let the cia director characterize our current intelligence. but i'll say a couple things. both of which shouldn't have to be said in the year 2022. number one. the use of any kind of weapon of mass destruction, be it chemical, be it biological, be it god forbid, a nuclear weapon, would constitute the height of irresponsibility, and number two, the use of wmd would elicit a cascade of consequences, not only from the united states, but from our partners and allies around the world. president biden himself has warned that there would be strong consequences for any such use. i'll also say this. we are constantly monitoring russia's nuclear posture. at this time, we haven't determined any need to change our own nuclear posture. but this is something that we're continuing to take a very close look at. >> so we know that there are these discussions over sending a high ranking u.s. official to visit ukraine. the secretary of state, his name is one of the names that has been out there. jen psaki ruled out that the president would go. why is that risk too great, do you think? >> well, kate, i think there's a broader point here and our diplomatic presence on the ground, our diplomatic engagement with ukraine, yes, you can signal that with a high level visit, you can signal that with the diplomatic team being stationed inside ukraine but i think if you look at the level of engagement that we've had with our ukrainian partners in recent weeks, you see a good degree, in fact, a frenetic degree of activity. >> i do not question that at all. i mean, the secretary of state said he's basically on the phone with his counterpart basically every day. >> not only on the phone, but we saw -- >> yeah, i mean, i'm just saying, the signals we're seeing and signals matter when it comes to diplomacy and symbolism matters when it comes to diplomacy. the prime minister of the uk going to visit with president zelenskyy, the country, many nations announcing they're going to be moving their diplomats back into kyiv. we haven't seen the united states, just wanting to understand, not questioning the level of engagement but the different application of these moves. >> well, we are, the state department here, we're taking a look at the security conditions inside ukraine. of course, we have a high priority and that's the safety and security of all of our workforce, our diplomats on the ground and others. so we're going to take a close look. when we determine it's safe and appropriate to move the diplomatic team we have on the ground in poland, the very team that's working day in, day out with their ukrainian government counterparts, when we determine that it's safe to move them back inside ukraine, absolutely. we won't hesitate to do so, but in the meantime, we're going to continue to engage with our ukrainian partners, we have the opportunity to see in person the ukrainian foreign minister several times in recent weeks now, including once on sovereign ukrainian soil. president biden spoke to president zelenskyy this week. secretary blinken spoke to his counterpart yesterday. that is not going to change. the level of constant engagement and coordination will continue going forward. >> ned price, thank you very much. >> thanks, kate. >> thank you. coming up for us, more protests planned today after a michigan police officer fatally shooting during a traffic stop. family attorney ben crump joins us next. r stylyle, with hundreds of design options. when a normal day is anything but normal, we fit your schedule, with our unique tub overer tub process, installd in as little as a day. when high quality is the only quality that matatters, we fit your standards, with a lifetime guarantee. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...the tightness, stinging, the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®... the majority of people s 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may incree your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®... ...with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today. inner voice (furniture maker): i'm rubbing the arms of my chair... ...admiring the craft and detail i've put into it. that way i try to convince myself that i'm in control of the business side of my business. intuit quickbooks makes it easy for you to get a complete view of your business. so you can sit back and... ...relax. 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>> reporter: well, kate, we are in front of the grand rapids police headquarters. we're expecting folks from the community to gather here in a couple of hours to join the family in demanding justice but yesterday was the first time that we heard from patrick leyoya's family. he father said he's deeply heartbroken, patrick was his life and now that life is over. and some important context, kate, the family fled a brutal war in the democratic republic of congo, a region plagued by violence since the late 1990s. they won asylum coming near in 2014. america was supposed to be a refuge, a safe refuge for their children, and now a mother is grieving the death of her 26-year-old son. take a listen. >> i thought i came to a safe land. i'm surprised and astonished to see my son. >> reporter: they're now making funeral arrangements. said the name of the officer in question be released. the police chief said that won't happen until charges are filed. kate? >> ben crump is representing patrick lyoya's family. thank you for being here. lucy played some of what the family said yesterday and that was the first time they were speaking at a press conference. what do they say? >> they're heartbroken. they can't imagine to leave a violent situation in the congo and then come to america and have their son shot in the back of the head by someone who was supposed to protect him. >> the michigan state police have taken over this investigation. the city's director of oversight and accountability, that's his title, he said they will seek transparency and the truth. you have been involved in many investigations into police-involved deaths. what is your level of confidence in this one? >> well, kate, when i look at this video, the thing that you left thinking is, how unnecessary this tragedy was. this police officer escalated a simple misdemeanor traffic stop to one of a deadly execution where he shot a young man in the back of his head and so, you know, when we think about what's going on in the world today, needless, everywhere here in the united states are condemning russian soldiers for shooting civilians in the back of the head in ukraine. we want to condemn for shooting unarmed black civilians in the black of the head. it's just, enough is enough. you look at that video and you say, he was in no immediate danger. why did he have to shoot the young black man in the back of his head? >> your career, at this point, has been about representing and helping families through these worst moments of their lives and this situation is particularly unique because the lyoya family came for safety and fleeing war and violence in the congo and now this happens. how does that impact you? how do you reflect on that? >> it's heartbreaking because we want to be able to tell everybody around the world that america is the great beacon of hope and justice, that we believe in equal justice under the law but it can't just be rhetoric. we have to make it real and that's why we need to get justice for patrick, so not only that we can see in grand rapids, michigan, that the promise of american democracy and equal justice is real, but that they can see it all around the world over in africa, over in russia, over in the ukraine. they can see that equal justice is for everyone. whether your skin is black or whether your skin is white. >> the investigation continues and we will continue to follow it. ben crump, thank you. coming up for us, violent clashes in a holy site in jerusalem, as christians, muslims and jews are celebrating some of their holiest holidays. details in a live report next. r. more brain performance? 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>> kate, even before those clashes this morning, there was a sense of a city on edge and anticipation because of the rarity of these three holidays all overlapping on the same day. ramadan, good friday and passover which is starting this evening. coming outside of the old city walls, one of the main entrances to reach the compound known as to jews, earlier this morning, the violence broke out, we were actually just outside of the compound. we could hear the booms and the fire crackers and the clashes going on. the scene was incredibly tense. israeli police saying they're responding to what they call violent rioters and at the mosque, throwing rocks and launching fire crackers at them and then more than 150 people injured as a result of things like stone grenades and rubber bullets. said three of their own officers were injured. having seen clashes like this at the compound, just around this time last year and it was clashes like these, this morning that helped spark that 11-day war between military in gaza and the israeli army. the question, more clashes tonight and what will they do, will we see another conflict or another escalation of the violence like we did last year. >> that is exactly the question right now. hadas, thank you very much for that. turn to this. some encouraging news on the pandemic. the fda has given the green light to a coronavirus breath test. yes, a covid breast thalyzer. inspect ir is the company behind the device and they say that it will give you results in less than three minutes and it will soon be available at doctors, hospitals and more than 91% accurate at identifying positive test samples and over 99% accurate at identifying negative test samples. so there you have that. coming up for us, drug overdose deaths in the united states hit a new record high. and now a new threat, mass overdose instance, dea calling for all hands on deck. i speak with the head of the dea nextxt. they just found out they can redeem rewardss for a second honeymoon. romance is in the air. like these two. he's realizing he's in love. and that his dating app just went t up. must be fate. and phil. he forgot a gift, so he's sending the happy couple some money. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do? 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>> thank you for having me on, kate. and, yes, this is the exact conversation we need to be having that the last time i was here, we were over 100,000 american deaths. now we're over 106,000 americans who have died from drug overdoses. and again, it's being driven, as you said, by fentanyl, which is the most deadly and addictive drug that is widespread in the united states right now. we see it in all 50 states. it is being mass produced by the criminal cartels in mexico. and what is happening is it's coming into our streets, both in -- as fake pills, counterfeit pills and also we put out an alert to state and local law enforcement to let them know that in less than two months, in seven cities across the united states, we had mass overdose events. three or more people who overdosed at the same time, at the same place, and in total, that was 58 overdoses that we tracked. and 29 overdose deaths. this is a trend that we have not seen before, and we wanted to be sure to get out to state and local law enforcement and tell them, we want to help in any way possible. both to bring justice for those whose lives are being lost through these tragic overdose deaths, which are poisonings, and also to stop the next death from happening. >> absolutely. >> to stop those pills and cocaine laced withen fentanyl. >> there's another one in dea's backyard in d.c. ten people died this week. they thought they were taking cocaine. it was mixed with fentanyl. is it clear yet what is actually going to make the difference? what's going to -- i'm not going to say stop its but it's such a huge problem, but slow the flood of this in the communities? >> well, there's a number of things that are vitally important. the first is what they're doing is trying to build our partnerships with state and local law enforcement. when those overdoses happen and that 911 call gets made, the first responders are the local police. they are the fire departments. and for far too long in our country we've treated those as though they were accidents. they're not accidents. they're poisonings. people are being killed. so we need to treat those like the crime scenes that they are. we then at dea are able to take those investigations from the drug trafficker who is selling that poison, the fentanyl that is killing americans at record rates, not just to that person but to their distributor, to their wholesaler and oftentimes we're able to trace that back to the criminal networks in mexico and to bring federal cases and federal investigations that can encompass all of that. that's a critical part of what we're doing. another critical part is what you and i are doing to make sure that everyone understands the depth of this harm, how deadly and how dangerous it is. >> i don't mean to jump in because i really want to focus in on that because you have also said to me that this isn't just an illicit drug problem. but also that you fear families and parents really underestimate the danger that fentanyl poses to kids who aren't even looking for illegal drugs. what is the reality that people need to wake up to here? >> there's two things. the first thing i would say is yesterday i was talking to a very senior dea agent. he's been on the job for 30 years. he's done tours across the united states and across the world. and he told me that he has never been as afraid for his kids, his family, his community as he is today because of fentanyl. so i think everyone needs to hear that message that we're the experts and we're seeing this catastrophically. the numbers are rising. and all of us have to understand this. the second piece, which is really important is that victims are dying. these are people who are not seeking fentanyl. the mass overdose events are individuals who thought they were purchasing cocaine. they were told in most of these instances they were buying cocaine. what they got was fentanyl. a couple who both overdosed and died and left behind a 1--year-old child. you saw the cadets, the military cadets in florida who thought they were taking cocaine and instead overdosed on fentanyl. so people need to understand when you're talking to family members to children, to you know, to adults, no pill is safe. there is not a single pill that is safe unless it was prescribed to you by your doctor. and filled at your pharmacy. and any drug today in all 50 states can be laced with fentanyl, which is deadly. and it's deadly at minuscule, minuscule quantities. >> just to put a fine point on it. with that study i mentioned off the top, the researchers said this is not coming from more teens using drugs. it's actually coming from drug use becoming more dangerous. and that's why you call it poison, and that's what it is. >> that's right. and we see this,io you know, w see young people who think they are buying a oxy online or on snapchat or tiktok. that they're getting a real prescription pill that's been diverted from a legitimate supply chain. instead they're getting fentanyl. there's not a week that goes by where i do not talk to a parent or child or loved one who has lost someone in this deadly epidemic. so at dea, we're doing everything we can. and we're grateful for the partnership we have with state and locals as well as all of us try to do more to meet this moment. >> obviously so much more is needed and a lot of coordination to do it. administrator anne milgram, thank you for coming on. thank you all for being with us today. i'm kate bolduan. 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