zelenskyy in kyiv expressing hope that russia will be wea weakened by its brutal invasion. our team is standing by at key locations for cnn's live global war coverage. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in the situation room. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. there's breaking news this hour on heavy, very heavy fighting in eastern ukraine right now, part of russia's major new offensive in the region. there's new drone video just in that shows there isn't much left of a small village near luhansk. a ukrainian official says it was decimated by repeated russian air strikes as kremlin forces are in his words razing everything to the ground. we're also following new comments by russia's foreign minister about the war and the kremlin's nuclear stance. let's go to cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. he's joining us live from ukraine. hours after two u.s. cabinet secretaries visited the capital of kyiv, we heard from the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. tell us more about what lavrov is saying tonight. >> reporter: well, i think we should be clear, wolf, it did not appear that lavrov was speaking specifically about the potential use of nuclear weapons in this war. in fact, he said i wouldn't want these risks to be artificially inflated now, though he did go onto say the danger is serious, real and cannot be underestimated while going onto repeat what has been a frequent lament from officials. so it appears that his comments meant to be more general, but of course in the midst of a war in which you have the u.s. and the west on one side, the russia on the other and a bloody battle here in ukraine any comments about nuclear weapons are sure to raise nerves. this particularly after you had such a high level visit here to ukraine in the midst of this conflict. it was the highest level visit to ukraine since the invasion. defense secretary lloyd austin and secretary of state antony blinken made the risky journey to visit ukrainian president zelenskyy in the capital kyiv. there the u.s. promised the return of diplomats to ukraine and new military aid. president biden also finally announced a nominee for ambassador to ukraine. the current ambassador to slovakia, bridget brink. >> we don't know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign, independent ukraine will be around a lot longer than vladimir putin's on the scene. and our support for ukraine going forward will continue. it wi it will continue until we see final success. >> reporter: saying it intends to see russia, quote, weaken. >> we want to see russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading ukraine. so it has already lost a lot of military capability, and a lot of its troops quite frankly. and we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability. >> reporter: austin and blinken as well as other world leaders traveled in and out of the ukraine by train. within hours of their departure ruksa struck train lines in west and central ukraine five times. the focus of the russian military offensive, however, remains in the east and south. ukrainian officials say ukrainian forces are bracing for a new push in the kherson region. >> translator: i'm seeing in the last three days there's a lot of troop movement. there's also been quite an increase in troops. >> reporter: according to the mayor of odesa russian missiles killed eight people there over the weekend just as the country was celebrating the orthodox easter holiday. among the dead, said the ukrainian president, a mother and her baby. >> translator: among those killed was a 3-month-old baby girl. how did she threaten russia? it seems that killing children is just a new national idea of the russian federation. >> reporter: in mariupol there's still no safe way out for civilians from the steel plant, the last bastion of ukrainian resistance in the city. ukrainian officials continue to accuse russia of forcibly deporting mariupol residents telling cnn that putin is trying to depopulate eastern ukraine. >> russia is sending a message not only to us put also to other countries around russia and the rest of the world, surrender or be erased. >> reporter: russian forces have repeatedly attacked ukrainian railways. in fact the chairman of a state railway service here says russia is systematically attempting to destroy ukraine's railroad infrastructure. part of the intention appears to go after the supply lines that the u.s. and nato have used to get weapons from poland into ukraine to ukrainian military forces, but u.s. and nato officials remain confident, wolf, those supply lines remain open. >> and in the process they're killing a lot of innocent civilians. jim sciutto, stay safe. we'll be in touch. let's dig deeper now on these latest remarks by the defense secretary, lloyd austin, that the u.s. wants to see russia weakened, his words. our chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins is joining us right now. you heard the words of secretary austin. this seems to be an apparent shift of the tone in the u.s. >> reporter: it's certainly the sharpest language we've seen coming from officials. they're talking about what they want to happen and what they want to do when it comes to limiting russia's capability to conduct invasions like this one. and that was precisely the question secretary austin was asked after he became one of the highest profile officials to go into ukraine since this invasion started. and he was asked specifically, wolf, how the u.s. view has changed in the last two months and what they wanted the outcome here to look like and now where they stand in that. this is probably the sharpest language, the most explicit language we've heard from secretary austin talking about limiting russia's capability. >> i would say it's consistent with our view and the president's view and secretary austin's view that we are going to do everything we can to push back on president putin's aspirations to subsume ukraine, to take over their territorial integrity and sovereignty and aspirations he had as of two years ago to go beyond that. >> reporter: wolf, we should note this comes as they also made big news today by announcing they are going to start sending in u.s. diplomats back into ukraine. they won't be going into the capitalf kyiv yet. that of course is where they were before thisivation started. instead they'll start making day trips into lviv, much closer to the polish border. secretary blinken said over the next several weeks they'll discuss how to get them closer to kyiv, but of course the number one concern behind the seens, wolf, has been the safety and security of officials if they did go back to kyiv. we should note this comes as president biden did say today he does intend to formally nominate bridget brink as the ambassador to ukraine. that is a huge deal given that is a post that's not had a permanent ambassador for three years. >> an important development, indeed. kaitlan collins at the white house for us. now to north eastern ukraine and the embattled city of kharkiv hit by intense new russian attack. our chief international correspondent clarissa ward got an up close look at the extensive damage in a bombed out government building. watch this. >> and what people here fear in this city is that kharkiv could be the next mariupol. because of the amount of bombardment and the real intensification we've seen of that bombardment especially in the last week. i just want our cameraman and producer to be a little careful here, but i do want to show you this. because it gives you a real feeling for just the enormity of that blast. i mean, absolutely astonishing. it literally took out six stories, and that's why as you can probably imagine we're hear from authorities here that they do believe some people are still trapped under that rubble, but it is just simply impossible for them at this stage with bombardment continuing day in and day out in this city for them to try to dig down underneath that and get a sense of just how many people may have lost their lives here. >> joining us now live from kharkiv right now. clarissa, as you said in that report residents of kharkiv, they fear they could be the next mariupol. but you still see people living there, right, refusing to leave. give us the latest. tell us more. >> reporter: well, wolf, this is a city, ukraine's second largest city that has been pummelled day and night now for nearly nine weeks. cruise missiles into government buildings but also just relentless shelling. we went to one area on the north eastern outskirts of the city where it is often raining artillery. and yet you do still see people who are living in that area. we went to one apartment building, there were three or four people there at least in the city center. they estimate roughly half the population, so up to a million people potentially are still living here, which is extraordinary when you think of just how hard hit kharkiv has been. it is in the northeast. it is less than 30 mile from the russian border, and it's an important strutategic point as russian forces have been trying to push down, take the city and sort of launch this three pronged attack in this new offensive on donbas. that eastern flank of kharkiv has become strategically important. it's also important to note, though, wolf, this is not a one way street. while russia has been pounding this place with cruise missiles and artillery, ukrainian forces have also launched a number of successful counter offenses. at one stage russians were in the city briefly. they successfully pushed them out. and while we do hear steady booms throughout the day and night, a lot of that is outgoing as well as ukrainian forces continue to try to stave off any potential encirclement of this city. you heard as i said people fearful it could be the next mariupol, but if the fight they've put up here bayou crepian forces is anything to go by it seems very unlikely that russia in its current statewide be able physically logistically to completely surround and take over this city. this is very resilient and courageous place, wolf. >> it certainly is and you're one of our courageous journalists. we just showed some new drone video coming in from the area of luhansk. this village totally decimated by the latest russian assault. this village posing no threat at all. they leveled basically so many residential apartment buildings, hospitals, hotel, churches, all sorts of areas in this. and you can see how this village has really been destroyed by the russians. is more of this going on based on your eyewitness accounts? >> reporter: i mean, we were getting some facts from the mayor and some statistics here in kharkiv, and it's just staggering, wolf. 67 schools hit since the beginning of the war. 54 kindergarten or nursery schools, 16 hospitals, universities, government buildings. there is nothing really that appears to be off-limits. and particularly now with this new russian general who's been put in place to lead the russian charge who was nicknamed the butcher of syria, you are seeing a doubling down on these sort of very brutal tactics where there is no regard for civilian life, wolf. >> we want you to be careful over there. clarissa ward on the scene for us as she always is. thank you very much. we'll stay on top of these developments. meanwhile just ahead is the u.s. congress willing to give ukraine more funding to defeat the russians? i'll speak live with a key member of the senate foreign relations committee. senator chris murphy is standing by. we'll discuss that and more when we come back. but then something amamazing happened. hello? carvana worked with my shift manager and got everything sorted out so i didn't miss out on the car. super helpful. i was over the moon, even though i was 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>> well, i think this is reiteration of what our policy has been from the beginning, what we are trying to do here is make russia pay a significant price for this unprovoked, brutal invasion of ukraine, a price that will affect its ability to conduct this war but also a price that will be noticed by other countries, countries like china, which, you know, clearly have designs on ultimately getting control back of a place like taiwan. so i think it may just be a different way of saying what we have been saying from the beginning while u.s. troops are not going to be in ukraine fighting this battle we are absolutely going to use u.s. policy to weaken russia to the point that ultimately the money necessary to conduct this war will dry up and other countries get the message. >> russia has just struck five key railway stations right in the heart of ukraine killing a lot of innocent civilians. it's also intensifying its assault on the eastern part of the country. what doesthality say to you about the scope of russia's military goals at this point? >> they're desperate. first of all, let's just state the obvious. it's remarkable that secretary of state blinken and secretary defense austin were in kyiv because everybody thought he was going to be gone, was going to be in russian hands within days. it's just evidence of how badly this war has gone for russia. they have been forced to resort to terrorist tactics. tactics designed to kill civilians so as to try to bring zelenskyy to the table to stop this carnage. i just came back from the balkans. many of my colleagues were spread around the world trying to deliver a message to countries right now that are on the fence. i was in belgrad, serbia. as he becomes more brutal and targets civilian my hope is more countries like india, like serbia, like israel will get off the fence and join u.s. sanctions. that will make those sanctions even more effective. >> after three years without a u.s. ambassador to ukraine president biden has now announce a new nominee to become the next u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bridget brink. how essential is it for the united states to have an ambassador in place in the capital of kyiv to reopen the embassy there? how soon do you think she can be confirmed? >> i hope she can be confirmed in a matter of weeks. this is a career state department leader, someone who has deep experience in the region, no question about her qualifications. it comes at the perfect moment when the europeans are beginning to send diplomats back in. i know that we are beginning to think about the conditions upon which we can reopen the u.s. embassy. a little bit different for u.s. embassies. we tend to be the first embassy that gets targeted so we have to make sure if we're going to send diplomats back in that they are 100% say, but i think we can confirm her hopefully in a matter of weeks if not sooner. >> she's a career diplomat, a foreign service officer. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. coming up, is there any viable diplomatic solution left of the war in ukraine? i'll ask a key member of the ukrainian parliament. that's next. comeme on. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there an innovator in all of us. ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs, or if you plan to, or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. at adp, we use data-driven insights to design hr solutions to help you engage and retain top performers today, so you can have more success tomorrow. ♪ one thing leads to another, yeah, yeah ♪ there are lots of choices when it comes to your internet and technology needs. but when you choose comcast business internet, you choose the largest, fastest reliable network. you choose advanced security. and you choose fiber solutions with speeds up to 10 gigs available to more small businesses than any other provider. the choice is clear: get unbeatable business solutions from the most innovative company. get a great deal on this limited time price with internet and voice for just $49.99 a month for 24 months with a 2-year price guarantee. call today. my fellow xfinity customers! hi tim. the biggest week in entertainment is almost here! watchathon week presented by xfinity rewards! with free access to... ...stranger things from netflix... ...the boys from prime video... ...hbo max... ...starz... ...and peacock. just say “watchathon” into your voice remote and get ready to watch! i love you! i love you! i love you all! more now on the russian attacks on ukrainian rail stations, the infrastructure there including some in nato's doorstep right very close to ukraine within hours of a visit to ukraine by two top members of the biden administration. cnn's scott mcclain is joining us with the very latest. >> we took a train into kyiv from southwestern poland, so didn't see a lot except looking at the train windows on our way in. and in kyiv itself we went right to the presidential palace. >> reporter: just hours after the u.s. secretaries of state and defense left ukraine by rail, air-raid sirens sounded in western ukraine. the head of ukrainian railways says within one hour rail infrastructure in five places was hit by russian strikes. the farthest west was near a town. working in this building next to the tracks when she heard the explosions. >> translator: from this side air defense shot down a missile, then silence. the second explosion was on that side. we've seen black smoke. >> reporter: how loud was it? >> very loud. windows rang and we panicked. we were afraid. >> reporter: the governor emphasis office released this video showing fire and heavy smoke near the tracks. they say an electrical substation was hit though on the ground we weren't allowed to get close. in several places scattered throughout this area police and military are finding what they say are remnants of a russian rocket. this is one of them, twisted pile of melted, charred metal. they're finding these all over the place. what they have not found, though, is a large crater, and so they think this one was shot down. in the region the guv there said two separate strikes killed five and injured 18. ukraine's military command said in on online post russia was targeting in order to disrupt rail from partner states. the cause of the unfire is unclear but comes not long after the kremlin accused ukraine of striking another russian depot in the city of belgarad. ukrainian railways is constantly shifting and adjusting its routes depending where it's safest, and we don't know the exact route blinken and austin took, but there is a very good chance, wolf, that that route would have passed through one of the areas that was targeted by russian missiles just hours before they hit. >> yeah, that's worrisome indeed. all right, scott mcclain, thank you very much. let's discuss what's going on with a key member of the ukrainian parliament. and joining us from strasberg in france right now. thanks for joining us. good luck with all those meetings. what do you fear russia is now trying to achieve with these specific attacks on ukrainian railway stations? >> thank you, wolf, for having me. well, first of all they try to target the ways we get the supply of weapons and other aid. but we have a very good structure of railroads, different ways. and our workers can fix, you know, those railroads that were targeted and hit. you know, pretty fast. and other thing why russians are using this missiles that, you know, put alert onto the whole country. we have air alert it's trying to put terror to all it nation, you know, to all the population. not to feel secure anywhere the ukrainian state. but it just makes us more determined and angry and more determined to finish this war by kicking russians out of our country. >> yeah. i see the ukrainian military is clearly determined to try to achieve that goal. all this is coming right now as ukraine's defense ministry has publicly accused russia of what they're calling a planned provocation in neighboring moldova. how worried should allies be that putin will allow this fight in ukraine to spiral beyond ukraine into moldova, for example? is this a serious concern? >> we had to explain -- i had to explain that it -- they tried to target which is actually occupied a part of moldova by russian troops since the 90s. so they sort of want to put this from eastern ukraine to southern ukraine and connect. but it's been 62 days of war. yesterday we had the ministry of defense of -- you know, the head of defense and foreign affairs from united states in kyiv, and russians thought they would be having a parade by this time and conquering kyiv. you know, it didn't go the way they wanted, and it will not go the way they want with southern ukraine and move to moldova, but they will accuse and try finding excuses about the terrorist attacks. they do invade with this neighboring villages close to ukraine. they say someone has taken them. we don't care about these villages in russia. we want to liberate our labd, and that's why we need the support in weapons to take them out and to liberate the people who are right now suffering from this occupation. >> this is clearly a critical moment, indeed. the ukrainian parliament member, thank you for joining us. good luck over there in strasberg as well. we'll stay in touch. thank you. there's more breaking news just ahead. russia now raising new concerns about nuclear conflict as the top kremlin official is calling the danger, and i'm quoting now, serious and real. 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(combative yelling) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. before i got aura, twenty-four of my online accounts were hacked! he uses the same password for everything. i didn't want to deal with it. but aura digital security just dealt with it. what were we worried about again? shopping on public wifi is sketchy. but with aura digital security, my devices are protected in like 3 minutes. it's time to protect your life online with aura's all-in-one digital security. try for free today at aura.com what was that password anyway? ew. a ukrainian official now says russia is gearing up for a major new attack on the kherson region of ukraine. cnn international security ed editor nick paten walsh on the ground for us in ukraine. and there's growing concern russia is preparing this military offensive against where you are in ukraine tonight. ukraine's eight largest city. zelenskyy's hometown. tell us what you're learning. >> something may be approaching from the south, from the direction of the first city occupied by russia at the start of the war where a ref random is happening tomorrow, possibly a sham to join that area closer towards the russian federation. we've been traveling to the south outskirts of here today seeing fears i think and the defense being put in place suggestions, too, that about 30, 40 kilometers to the south of the city there are in fact russian forces pushed up on the western side of the dnipro river that splits the country in two. there was a lofty plan floated last week by the russian general command the second phase of their operation would involve pushing in the south of the country all the way across to moldova. you were discussing earlier the break away of that country from russia. that seemed a little far-fetched given how russian forces have struggled for two months to get past mykolaiv to the west of where i'm standing. the auraltenative possibility to this clear buildup of forces is they might head here, symbolling because it is zelenskyy's hometown and might take them towards the other onslaught by russian forces in the east of the country by curbing round to the west, so to speak, and joining up there. so a lot of fears here we are beginning to see something as referred to by the local military head here intensifying attacks towards this city. wolf? >> stay safe over there. nick paten walsh on the ground for us. thank you very, very much. cnn national security analyst james clapper is joining us. he's the former director of national intelligence. general clapper, thank you so much for joining us. let me get your analysis of these new comments, first of all, from the russian foreign minister, sergei lavrov. he used the word nuclear is russia's pripsple position but the nuclear threat he says is serious, it is real and cannot be underestimated, direct quotes. how do you interpret that? >> with concern that we -- i think cia director bill burns put it very well when he said statements like this cannot be taken lightly. at the same time this is kind of russia's security blanket, if you will, to make them feel strong when they can, you know, bring out the nuclear card spoe so to speak. and it's something we have to be mindful of, and i personally have viewed it with concern since putin's mention of nuclear weapons. so it's something we have to watch. >> certainly is concerning. what do you expect -- how do you expect putin will react to the visit to ukraine by these top two u.s. cabinet officials and specifically defense secretary austin's comments that the u.s. wants to see russia weaken? he used the word weaken. >> well, there may be a relationship there. i don't know what the sequence was in the timing, but obviously putin is not happy i'm sure about the visit of secretary austin, secretary blinken. and for my part i was really pleased about what secretary austin said about, you know, our objective here is to weaken the russian military so that they can't do these invasions of their neighbors whenever they feel like it. and i think there should actually be more rhetoric to match what i believe we're actually doing, meaning we're not there just to defend -- help the ukrainians defend their country, but we're there to help them push the russians out. so i thought that was a great statement by secretary austin, and it could not have pleased putin. >> certainly could not have pleased putin. you're absolutely right. james clapper, thank you so much for joining us. always good to have you here in the situation room. coming up, a cnn exclusive. more than 2,000 text messages reveal former trump white house chief of staff mark meadows' eye popping exchanges with members of the trump inner circle before and after the january 6th insurrection. here's to real flavors... real meals. real good. l of knorr's high quality pasta and rice sides are now made with no artificial flavors or preservives. knorr. taste for good. i strip on public transit. i strip with the guys. i strip all by myself. breathe right strips open your nose for relief you can feel right away, helping you take in air more easily, day or night. 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she's worried. she's upset what's going on. let me just read to you. quote, mark, i was just told there's an active shooter on the first familiar of the capitol. please tell the president to calm people. this isn't the get the president to stop . the next day, january 7th, she's not so scared anymore and actually apologetic and she says to meadows, quote, i'm sorry nothing worked. they weren't able to stop the certification, then, on january 17th, we see, this is three days before biden's inauguration, she's trying to figure out how to keep donald trump in power and she says, quote, in our private chat with only members, several are saying the only way to save our republic is for trump to call for marshal law, she doesn't know how to spell marshal, i don't know about these things i just want you to tell him, they stole the election, we all know they will destroy our country next. please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after biden and anyone else. this is stunning. three days before election day, she's trying, still, to overturn the election. >> you also obtained some text messages from so-called prominent voices of reason unfolding with mark meadows, right? >> so this is trump's inner circle, all allies and what are they saying on january 6th? they are reaching out to try to get trump to stop the violence. so let's just give you three here. mick molvaney, former acting chief of staff says marks, he needs to stop this now. can i do anything to help? representative william timmonds, the president needs to stop this asap and from former chief of staff of the rnc, all capital letters, tell them to go home, three explanation points, not just that, his own family. donald trump junior, he's got to condemn this, you can read it on the screen, asap, the capitol police tweet is not enough. meadows, i'm pushing it hard, i agree. and then this next is new, donald trump junior, this is one you go to the mattresses on. they will try to eff his entire legacy on this if it gets worse. these texts underscore what the committee has been saying which is what donald trump wasn't doing was dereliction of duty even though people closest to him trying to get him to act. >> excellent stuff, excellent reporting jamie, thank you very much and we'll continue coverage and much more news right after this. >> a at fidelity, your dedicated this iss the planning effect. i didn't know my genetic report could tell me i was prone to harmful blood clots. i travel a ton, so this info was kind of life changing. maybe even lifaving. ♪do you know what the future hol?♪ we all have heroes in our lives. someone who cares about other people and gives of themselves. to help others, who can't always help themselves. those are true heroes. and for a kid like me, who's had 13 operations, and can now walk, you might think that i'd say my hero is my doctor, or nurse, or even my physical therapist, and they are. but there's someone else who's a hero to me, and 1.5 million other kids and counting. it's someone who gives of themselves so that others will get the help they need. who is it? 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>> many of its users are government officials or government accounts politicians or business leaders. that could have really important effects on how the rest of us perceive many of these topics that have so many influential people engaging on. >> one concern critics have, musk's goal of bolstering free speech on twitter and his complaints about twitter sensoring too much content and its permanent bans of some users. >> i don't think we actually want any anything-goes twitter, because we've seen that white supremacists and conspiracy theorists are willing to use the platform to spread lies and disinformation to suppress people of color from voting and to spread hate and harassment campaigns. >> something that -- >> musk's push for more free speech lead to see questions about the accounts of the former president, barred from twitter last year after the january 6th attack. >> the big question about how twitter handles donald trump's account going forward is one that musk has not touched at all but one that he will inevitably be forced to confront. >> today, donald trump told fox news that even if twitter moves to reinstate his account under elon musk's leadership, trump himself says he's not going back to twitter. he says he's going to join his own social media platform called truth social within the next few days. >> thank you, brian, for reporting for us and our viewers, thank you for watching, erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, russia ramping up. ukraine accusing putin's forces of attacking moldova as ukrainian military chief tells "outfront," putin is using phosphorus bombs. plus, untouchable. why the united states reportedly is holding back on sanctioning an incredibly close ally of putin's, someone rumored to be his long-time girlfriend and going to the extreme to stop the spread of covid, shanghai putting up fences to keep reside