but the head of the military in the donetsk region tells cnn that three people were being treated for a non-life threatening illness after an attack, after something was dropped from a drone. the pentagon says it is monitoring this development and an urgent investigation by the uk is already under way. and breaking moments ago, new video of fierce fighting in mariupol. plumes of smoke from shelling can be seen in residential areas on the hils above a shipping yard near the city's port. and even though russian forces have retreated from the kyiv area, there still much danger lurking there in northern ukraine. president zelenskyy describing the region as one of the most contaminated by mines in the world. >> translator: the invaders left mines everywhere. in the houses they took over, just on the streets and the fields. they mined people's property, mined cars, doors, they deliberately did everything to ensure that the return to these areas after deoccupation was as

dangerous as possible. due to the actions of the russian army, our territory today is one of the most contaminated by mines in the world. >> to that end, this morning, you can see this huge effort by ukrainians in and around kyiv to uncover and clean up the unexploded mines that were left behind there. overnight, we are getting reports of heavy shelling by the russians in the eastern part of this country. this, of course, is the area where the russians are launching this new offensive. really where we're expecting intense fighting in the days ahead. but, ukrainian officials are hoping that heavy rain will slow plans for the russians in that area. the rain is expected to last for several days. it could create acres and acres of mud here which would keep the russians on the road system and would make them an easier target. as for vladimir putin, he says russia's military goals in ukraine are noble and will be achieved. the reason we're telling you this, this is the first time we

heard of vladimir putin speaking in public. he has public events today. he has been talking about the war publicly for one of the first times in days. his claim is what he calls this special operation is going well. he also says that russia had no other choice. clearly russia did not need to invade its neighbor. want to go live to odesa, where we find ed lavandera. i want to start with you on these reports from mariupol, from the ukrainians there, that the russians may be using chemical weapons. what have you learned? >> reporter: well, this is something that the international community is beginning to investigate, but right now details are very difficult to get ahold of. but this is coming from the commander of a ukrainian unit there in mariupol who is reporting that the use of chemical weapons, some sort of chemical weapon and that a handful of people in that unit had been affected by a, quote,

poisonous substance of unknown origin. the commander in that unit also go on to say that at this point because of heavy shelling by russian forces, it's impossible to continue investigating. the ukrainian government is not confirming the use of chemical weapons at that point and cnn has not been able to independently confirm this as well, but the ukrainian government says they will continue to investigate. there's also another kind of dreadful note coming from mariupol as well. a marine unit, ukrainian marine unit, is in a facebook post this morning said that they are completely encircled by russian forces, that they are no longer able to get supplies of ammunition and food, but that they will continue fighting to the very end. and you know, this has been a horrific situation for weeks where there are still tens of thousands of people, civilians, trapped in that city. president zelenskyy is also talking about, as you heard at the top of the show here, a

major concern with mines and unexploded ordnances in the areas that have been evacuated by russian forces in northern ukraine. president zelenskyy saying that there could be tens of -- tens if not hundreds of thousands of unexploded ordnances in that area. and this really complicates and makes this situation so dangerous because there are so many people hoping to come back to their neighborhoods and their homes. this makes the situation incredibly dangerous for all of those civilians. zelenskyy also saying that deliberately doing this is tantamount to a war crime as well. john, as you talk about the renewed offensive by russian forces that eastern covid-19 is bracing for, we spent the last couple of days traveling from some -- traveling through some areas near the front lines. these are areas where we are seeing a large number of people evacuating. as we were driving around the last couple of days, it was really striking just how many buses and shelters have been set up along the way for people

trying to escape some of the edges of these war zones. so, i expect to see more of that in the coming days as this renewed offensive continues. john? >> ed, we were speaking to the military governor of donetsk, which is the region where mariupol is. and he said that based on different sources they think there are 20 to 22,000 people who have been killed in mariupol really not many more in other parts of donetsk, but that it's difficult to figure out the death toll. do you have any sense? and do you think we ever will? >> at this point without being able to get into that city, because it is just so incredibly dangerous, we're unable to do that. president zelenskyy is saying that there could be tens of thousands of people who have been killed in that city. that is an astronomical figure. it is hard to comprehend,

especially without having been able to get independent confirmation there on the ground, we're left to hear these dreadful and horrifying dispatchers from soldiers and marines talking about being encircled. the efforts of humanitarian organizations who have spent weeks trying to get into this area and have been turned away specially civilians left on their own to drive their own car, to some sort of safe haven. and in the hopes of getting through some sort of russian check points along the way without being taken into custody or killed all together. and then on top of that, what brianna and john, what we hear also from refugees escaping these areas that are under russian occupation is you do get a sense of their homes being pillaged, taken for food and supplies and dealing with the fear of all of that. it will take weeks, if not months, for all of this to come to an end and for us to be able to get a strong grasp of just

how horrific the situation in these communities has been. john and brianna? >> yeah. that is the word to describe it. ed lavandera live in odesa, thank you for that report. villagers living in northern ukraine are relieved that russian forces have finally retreated. but now they are living with what has been left behind. for many, their lives will never be the same. cnn's clarissa ward has this story. >> reporter: ukrainian soldiers returning from the front, jubilant after a humiliating defeat for russian forces in the north. in the neighboring villages, exhausted residents are emerging from their homes. after five weeks of russian occupation and the horrors that came with it. on day four of the war, this peaceful community became a front line. and nowhere was off limits. russian forces transformed the

local school into their base. principal natalia shows us the carnage that was left behind. she's saying that they were using this as a toilet as well. the main entrance is now spattered with blood. the scene of heavy fighting. russian soldiers took cover in classrooms and treated their wounded with whatever they could find. so you can see they were eating here. these are some russian military rations. walking the ravaged hallways, she says she is still in a state of shock. what wasn't destroyed was looted. we are for education. education is the future. our students, she says. it's such a shame that our occupiers didn't understand this. why steal everything?

this is a school. in several classrooms there are signs that some of the russian soldiers felt ashamed of their actions. a message on a chalk board. it says forgive us, we didn't want this war. but forgiveness will be hard to come by here. the local cemetery, she takes us to the graves of six men who authorities say were executed by russian forces on the day they arrived. it's so hard to get over this, she says. they murdered them. she says the russians held on to the bodies for nine days before dumping them at the end of the village with instructions to bury them quickly. >> we dug very fast so they wouldn't shoot us, she says. but there was shooting over there and heavy shelling. among the dead, her neighbors, brothers egor and oleg.

outside the family home, we meet their mother olga. for days she thought her sons were in hiding. until a neighbor called her with the devastating news. the agony and the grief are still very raw. they were very good boys, she says. how i want to see them again. do you have any idea why the russians would kill your sons? >> who knows. there was a bridge that was blown up. somebody shot at a russian drone, she says. the russians were searching the village and rounded them up on the street. six boys. i don't know anything else. a few streets away caterina is also looking for answers. her daughter, victoria, a

schoolteacher, was taken by russian soldiers on march 25th. they said they found information on her phone about their forces, she says. they told me she was in a warm house, that she was working with them and she would be home soon. but victoria never came home. we hope that she will get in touch, caterina says. with somebody, somewhere. in this small community of 2,000, it seems no street has been spared. the invaders marked their newly-seized territory with crude graffiti and battle markings. another z on their fridge. but brave residents like tamara carried out quiet acts of resistance. we kept it.

we kept it, she says. showing the ukrainian flag given to her husband for his military service. we hid it. a bold risk in anticipation of this moment, when russian troops would be forced to retreat. and the villages would finally be free. >> so much destruction left behind. our thanks to clarissa for that report. new this morning, multiple u.s. defense officials tell cnn that the u.s. and ukraine are now in intensive discussions about a new round of security assistance to address russia's changing priorities, the offensive in the east. joining me now is democratic congress woman sarah jacobs of california, on the foreign affairs and armed services committee and previously worked at the united nations and state department. congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us this morning. before i get to the weapons, i do want to ask you about the reports we're hearing out of mariupol, these investigations into whether the russians are

using chemical weapons there. your reaction to these reports. >> you know, obviously the reports that we're hearing are terrible and very concerning. i know that we're still working on getting confirmation, but to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if the russians were to resort to using these chemical weapons. it's the same kind of tactics we saw them use in syria. we know the general that was leading the russian efforts in syria is now leading the russian efforts in ukraine. it's why i think it's so important that the u.s. works with the icc to make sure that we are collecting evidence of war crimes and that the u.s. officially joins the icc as a party so that we can make sure that putin is held accountable for these atrocities that we're seeing. >> if it is confirmed and as you noted it is not confirmed yet that the russians are using chemical weapons there, but how would it change what the united states is doing vis-a-vis ukraine? would it increase or how would

it increase the u.s. cooperation or aid? >> president biden has been very clear that we will respond proportionally to attack using chemical weapons. we will continue supporting the ukrainians with the tools they need to protect themselves and their civilians. it's why i actually think this s300 system that slovakia sent is so important because that's one of the delivery systems you could use to deliver a chemical weapons the s300 will be able to protect against that. and i think we'll probably see additional sanctions and more accountability for putin now and as i said, making sure that we're working with the icc so that there's true accountability down the road as well. >> additional sanctions. but the sanctions frankly if he's using chemical weapons hasn't stopped him to this point. certainly in syria he felt no compunction to stop there. what about the migs, if they're using chemical weapons, why not make sure the ukrainians are

getting war planes that they asked for to fight the russians? >> well, i think the most important thing we can do right now is make sure we're giving the ukrainians the kinds of weapons that will be most effective. so, the reports i've seen if they are true in mariupol is that these chemical weapons were delivered by drone, which means that a mig, an airplane, would not be effective in stopping it. the things that are most effective are the javelin, anti-tank, the stinger anti-aircraft, the arm drones we see they're using from turkey. we're working with our partners and allies to get more of those there. the s300 system to be able to protect their skies, missile defense and what the uk is delivering on these anti-ship. those are the kinds of things that are most effective in protecting civilians. and that's why it's so important that we don't get focussed on necessarily these big, shiny objects, which we've actually seen this war has shown has been less effective. that's what the russians have. and we get the ukrainians what

they really need to protect their civilians. >> you bring up the international criminal court, wanting the united states to change its posture toward this organization. explain how. and what difference you think that would make to what's actually happening on the ground here. >> so right now the u.s. signed the icc treaty, the rome statute but has not ratified it. president bush said we unsigned it. there are two laws on the books that right now prohibit the u.s. from really being able to engage with the icc or spend any money to work with the icc on their investigations. and so i'm working on legislation right now to try and address those legislative issues. and i've been encouraging the biden administration to forcefully support the icc investigation here to make sure that the u.s. can help them with collecting evidence. we know that evidence collection is an incredibly important piece of the icc being able to do their job and that we have specific tools, like our intelligence community, that will be helpful in that evidence

collection. and then to make sure that we are working with the icc on those tribunals and then working to hold accountable who they find guilty for these crimes. >> if the russians or when the russians i should say launch the full scale assault in the east that everyone is expecting could be large tank battles there, do the ukrainians have what they need to push that back? >> we are working tirelessly with ukrainians to make sure they have what they need. we have seen historic levels of security assistance go to the ukrainians from both the u.s. and our partners and allies in europe and around the world. i think that that show of unity and show of support has been incredibly meaningful and why we have seen that putin has had to change course and has had to minimize what he's trying to do in ukraine. you know, he thought he was going to be able to take over the country very quickly and that hasn't happened because of the kinds of security assistance that we have been giving to the ukrainians. and i think we will continue to

see the incredible resilience and bravery of the ukrainian military as we have this whole time. >> congresswoman sara jacobs i do appreciate you being with us this morning. thank you very much. >> of course. hours after an interview with cnn, russia takes a kremlin critic into custody. plus, just in, vladimir putin speaking publicly. we have not heard him in days talking like this. we will tell you what he said and why it's of concern. new reporting on the condition of wnba star brittney griner held in russia since february. stay with us. ♪ ote collllection and the cutest boxed lunch we have ever seseen. ...but you can f find him rigt now on upwork. when the worldld is your workfoe finding the perfect project manager, designer, developer, or whomever you may need...

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remarks since this war started, saying that russia's military goals in ukraine are noble, as atrocities are growing on the ground here. that coming down from state media here in the last hour. joining me now is nic robertson. noble and also saying that russia didn't have a chance here, nic. obviously -- or didn't have a choice. obviously russia had a big choice here. >> it did. but this is putin's narrative. it has been since the beginning that russia was forced into this war with ukraine because of nato, the u.s., europe's aggression that russia was on the back foot, being disadvantaged. so it had no other option but to do this. and he really sort of focuses this down on the donbas region. putin saying that the goals will be achieved. but i think when he uses this term noble, you can certainly get a sense of, you know, his trying to convince russians that all the suffering and the loss

of soldiers that they're going through is worthwhile. this is sort of moral boosting, believe in me. i've got this. this is the right thing. we're doing it for the right reasons. we will get there. it's not clear that he's going to. it's not clear that he's going to with this next offensive that's coming is going to win against the ukrainian forces. the austrian chancellor who met with putin yesterday came away with very clear impression that putin's attitude to the war has not been tempered by the defeats. that he intends to continue and intensify. and this is what the speech that he gave thousands of miles away from russia, thousands of miles to the east of moscow rather, the opposite direction from ukraine, meeting with belorussian president lukashenko. this speech really seems aimed to sort of try to boost the moral of russians and say that this is all doable. we've got it.

>> be very interesting to see if he can deliver on that. nic robertson, thank you so much, live from brussels, belgium. so this morning a russian opposition politician taken into custody by moscow police just hours after a cnn interview aired in which he was critical of vladimir putin. >> this regime that is in power in our country today, it's not just corrupt, authoritarian, it's a regime of murderers. it's important to say it out loud. it is really tragic, frankly. i have no other word for this. that it took a large scale war the middle of europe, which vladimir putin is now conducting against ukraine, for most western leaders to finally open their eyes to the true nature of this regime. >> that was a gentleman who survived two suspected poisonings. joining me now is sara sidner,

anchor of the big picture on cnn plus. that was some interview. clearly taking a big risk and now detained by moscow police. >> yeah. i think a lot of people are very worried about what's going to happen next. this is someone who is a young man. he's in his 40s. he has been a very vocal critic of vladimir putin for many, many years and long before we saw the sanctions because of what has happened in ukraine, he's been asking for these sanctions for a very long time, which he says is the reason that the kremlin and as he says putin and his cronies came after him and poisoned him not once but twice. both times his doctors said he had a 5% chance of survival. we should talk about what he has said about the west and their position in all this. time and time again, john, he has said, look, if the west would stop coddling him over the years, after he has poisoned all of these different people, after -- this is an accusation

the kremlin always says that putin had nothing to do with this and that the kremlin had nothing to do with this, but he points to some evidence that the kremlin and putin did have something to do with poisonings and also murders of opposition leaders. and here is what he said about how he feels the west has coddled him and could have predicted what was going to happen. >> i have absolutely no doubt that the putin regime will end over this war in ukraine. doesn't mean it's going to happen tomorrow. the two main questions are time and price. not monetary, i mean the price in human blood and human lives. it has already been horrendous. but the putin regime will end over this. there will be a democratic russia after putin. one of the most important things that we all -- both here in russia and you in the west should be thinking about right now is about how to rebuild those bridges, how to reintegrate the post-putin democratic russia into the international community because when that moment comes, it will be too late to think about it.

we have to prepare for that future today. >> so, here he is saying very forcefully and you haven't heard this a lot from people because people don't like to make these kinds of predictions but in his mind there has been a history of russia going into these conflicts and then the result of them later on, sometimes takes years, whoever was in power at the time falls. so he says we think this is going to happen again. it's just a matter of time. >> and do you have any update on his condition? or his whereabouts? >> there are reports from his lawyer who says they have figured out which jail he has been put into. they don't know how long he'll be there. could be a couple weeks, could be longer. he is still with us. still alive. and they are working to get him out. >> sara sidner, remarkable interview, taking remarkable risks that man to speak with you. thank you so much for being with us. watch sara at 9:00 a.m. only on cnn plus. just in, former president

obama speaking about vladimir putin and confronted about his actions as president when russia invaded crimea. plus, the breaking news shelling this morning in ukraine, but the russian advance could be slowed by the weather. we have a live report from the ground. ♪ offer you just can't miss. the for a limited time, get a 5g phone on us! (mom) delightful. (vo) with no trade-in required. (d(dad) i love it. (vo) what's not to love! verizon is going ultra, so you can get more..

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state department with more on this. kylie, what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, so this is new information about brittney griner's situation while she has been detained in russia, as you said, since the middle of february. she has twice a week been able to see her representatives while she has been detained. and she's also able to receive letters and correspondence, according to espn reporting. but it also mirrors what cnn reported last month, according to a source familiar that she has been able to see her legal team multiple times a week while she has been detained. they said she is doing well. that she is in good condition. now, of course, this comes after just yesterday the wnba commissioner ahead of their draft spoke about brittney griner. of course she is an american basketball star. and the commissioner talked about how diligently the legal is working to bring her home and talked about how unimaginable the situation must be for griner. we should note she was in russia playing basketball on the off

season and the state department has said that they are also working with the league to try and bring her home as swiftly as possible. >> all right, kylie atwood live at the state department. thank you for that report. former president obama weighed in on russia's invasion of ukraine and confronted about his own actions the 2014 invasion of crimea by russia. >> is this the vladimir putin you had to deal with? >> putin has always been ruthless against his own people, as well as others. he has always been somebody who is wrapped up in this twisted, distorted sense of grievance and ethnic nationalism. that part of putin, i think, has always been there. what we have seen with the

invasion of ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might not have anticipated eight, ten years ago. but, you know, the danger was always there. >> hindsight is 20/20, you go back to crimea, do you ever think, could i have done something differently? >> you know, the situations in each of these circumstances are different. but i think that what we're seeing consistently is a reminder of why it's so important for us to not take our own democracy for granted. why it's so important for us to stand for and alie ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence. and i think that the current administration is doing what it needs to be doing. >> i want to bring in josh rogin, washington post columnist and cnn political analyst.

josh, what do you think about what the former president said? >> well, brianna, to be clear, the blame for what's going on in ukraine lies on putin squarely and russia, not on any u.s. administration. at the same time, if we don't understand the mistakes of history, then we're doomed to repeat them. and we have to be honest about how we got into this situation. part of that were bad mistakes made by administrations on both sides including the obama administration. let's remember that in 2008 putin invaded georgia and 2009 the first thing the obama administration does was order a reset with russia. and in 2014 when putin annexed crimea and invaded ukraine what the obama administration did is they worked to pressure ukraine into making a deal that didn't remove russia from eastern ukraine. at the time those decisions seemed rational, but lessons that putin learned is if he pursues aggression that eventually the united states will back down and let him get

something for his aggression. and, that doesn't excuse the mistakes that the trump administration made, george w. bush administration made. what we see is president obama intentionally deflecting and ignoring his own role in what -- how we got into this mess that we're in. >> yeah. why might one think that vladimir putin would invade ukraine in 2022? because he did it once before. i mean, they took over and annexed crimea, which was part of ukraine. there is a history here, a direct history here. clearly as you say president obama didn't dodge that. every administration dating back 20 years has perhaps misjudged vladimir putin along the way and had a hand in creating an atmosphere where putin might have thought he could get away with this. has putin changed? i was speaking to fareed zakaria overnight, josh, his view is that this is a different vladimir putin now, albeit maybe with some of the same motivations he's always had, but

something changed within the last few years, whether it be covid and the isolation or all the money he's awash with oil revenue. what do you think? >> i think -- i actually disagree with fareed. he came to power, he's the same putin he's always been. came to power with violence. consolidated with horrendous aggression and has always increased that aggression wherever he's able to. wherever the world allows him to. sure is he getting more reckless and more dangerous as he gets older and closer to his retirement, sure. but, this is not just how putin has always been. this is how all psychopathic totalitarian dictators are. their appetite grows with the eating. that should be the lesson, appeasement doesn't work. you can't make semi-okay deals with psychopaths and in the end when you recognize a leader who is willing to commit mass atrocities, you have to realize that's never going to change. so i think putin is being his best self or his worst self,

let's say. but he hasn't changed his stripes. he was always a psychopathic dictator. we just failed to recognize it. by we i mean the bush administration, obama administration, the trump administration and a lot of us. but now there could be no doubt. and what happened in ukraine was not unpredictable. in fact, it was predictable and predicted especially by the ukrainians for the last eight years. so, we can't sit here and say, oh, well we didn't know. maybe putin just became crazy last year. that's not true. again, we have to be honest because we have to understand who these guys are. because he's not the only one. we can't act surprised every time another psychopathic totalitarian dictator pursues his aggression. we can see who that would be next. if ie were taiwan, i would look hard at that history and making sure not to repeat it. >> josh rogin, thank you so joining us from washington. ahead, cnn is on the ground on the outskirts of kyiv with a

look at the aftermath of russia's aggression there. plus, millions of ukrainian children continue to suffer, whether they have fled or remained in their homes. one child with a moving message to his late mother. ♪ >> thank you for the best nine years of my life. you are the best momma in the world. i will never forget you. it's still the eat fresh refresh, and subway's refreshing their italians. so, we're taking this to italy. refresh. because bway now has italian-style capicola on the new mozza meat and supre meats. love the smell of italian food. subway keeps refreshing and refres-

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♪ momma, i will never forget you. a 9-year-old boy in ukraine writing a heart breaking letter to his mom after she was killed by russian forces. here is the ukrainian ambassador to the united nations.

>> momma, this letter is my gift to you on the women's day of the 8th of march. thank you for the best nine years of my life. many thanks for my childhood. you are the best momma in the world. i will never forget you. i wish you good luck in the heavens. i wish you to get to paradise. i will try to behave well to get to paradise too. such letters should not have to be written. if they are, it means that something has gone terribly wrong. including here at the united nations. it would mean its mechanism of maintaining international peace and security aren't working properly. and should be fixed.

but could they be fixed while russia is allowed to use the rights of a permanent member? if we are not able to stop the kremlin, more and more children will become orphans. more and more mothers will lose their children. >> we're told the boy's mother was killed while they were trying to escape from their russian-occupied town in a car. the boy stayed in the vehicle until local residents rescued him and took him to a shelter. >> i spoke to a 15-year-old boy who watched his mother die. first of all, people to appreciate the profound tragedy that is being inflicted on the ukrainian people but also why this will not be easy to forgive for them or forget. i think the ukrainians now are of the mindset that the only thing for them to do is win, is to push the russians out.

they made so many sacrifices already that they're not going to give in. they lost so much. this is not a moment where they feel like they have to give in or give up anything to to russians at all. >> yeah. the future of their country depends on it, they believe, as does the future of their families. all right. in philadelphia this morning, backlash after that city brought back indoor mask mandates because of a rise, a big rise, in new coronavirus cases. plus, why jetblue is slashing its summer schedule and what it might mean for the flights you booked already. ♪ thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take onene to four days to fully work. pepepcid. strong relief for fans of fast. where do you find the perfect project manager? well, we found him in adelaide between his daily lunch delivery and an 8:15 meeting with his client in san francisco.

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that oddly satisfying feeling

when you don't do it yourself. this morning, philadelphia health officials facing a backlash after announcing it will be the first major u.s. city to bring back an indoor mask mandate. this starts on april 18th. masks will be required on all

the city's indoor public spaces, because of a new surge in coronavirus cases. cnn's jason carroll joins me now with this. not a lot of happy people here. >> just about a month or so ago people were told in philadelphia, hey, you can take your masks off, get back to work, do your thing. but now they're being told just the opposite. you got to put the masks back on so you can imagine the frustration there. the city's health department says it needs to reinstate the mask mandate in order to get ahead of the recent spike in covid cases there. people there very soon will have to wear masks in places such as schools, restaurants and movie theaters. the city's health commissioner said yesterday's case count is more than 50% higher than it was just ten days ago. the city now averaging 142 cases per day. despite the numbers, it should be noted the city's hospitalization rate is still low. >> we don't know if the ba.2 variant in philadelphia will

have the kind of impact on hospitalizations and deaths that we saw with the original omicron variant this winter. i suspect this wave will be smaller than the one we saw in january. but if we wait to find out and to put our masks back on, we'll have lost our chance to stop the wave. >> nationally covid cases are trending upward in more than half of the states. back in philadelphia, a number of businesses there is a this could be a big blow to their bottom line as many of them were just now starting to get back on their feet. the city is trying to give people there a chance to get used to the idea and enforcement won't begin until next monday. still, levels of frustration, you know. >> curious, if you need the masks today, you need the mask today. why wait until next monday? you can affect people for the next four days. jason carroll, thank you very much for that. so if you plan on flying jetblue, you better listen to this. the airline is slashing the summer schedule, canceling 8% to 10% of the flights beginning next month.

this despite what it calls heavy demand for travel. pete muntean live in washington. i bet a lot of people listening to this are going what, what's going on? >> the big spring break travel rush is showing the airlines they have to plan very carefully for the summer. issue here is there is just not enough airline staff to handle the millions who are flying again. over the weekend, jetblue had to cancel hundreds of flights and the airline says it was a challenging staffing situation, made worse by bad weather. now jetblue is slashing 8 to 10% of its flights starting next month, and lasting through the summer. jetblue says it already hired 3,000 new workers since the start of this year. even still, it says this is necessary given the huge demand for travel. it is not just yet jetblue. alaska airlines is cutting flights through the end of june. delta airlines pilots say they're overworked. the shortages are making travel tougher for everybody. >> any update on whether the federal mask mandate for travel

will be renewed? >> it is something we are asking, something passengers are asking, something the airlines are asking. this is one of the last major mask mandates to remain in place after the rules began disappearing. now they're coming back in philadelphia, we just heard. question is whether the transportation mask mandate will stick around even longer. this rule was put in place by the biden administration almost immediately after he took office. masks still required on planes, trains, buses, boats, terminals until april 18th, in less than one week. just last night, white house covid-19 response coordinator dr. ashish jha said they will release a framework in the next few days. that framework will be used to make the decision on whether to extend the transportation mask mandate once more. remember, this was set to expire on march 18th, but was extended another 30 days. we told you that first here on cnn. not long after that, all the heads of the major airlines wrote the white house to say the mandate should be ended

immediately. it is airlines and flight crews on the front lines of enforcing the rules and the latest faa data says 70% of all those unruly passenger incidents we talk about them all the time this year have been over masks. we'll see if this ends this time or if it is extended once more. >> pete muntean, thank you very much. president biden cracking down on ghost guns in an attempt to reel in violent crime across the united states. john avlon with a reality check. >> guns and crime are always on our mind in america. and yesterday at the white house president joe biden took action to restrict so-called ghost guns, those unregulated easily available and untraceable weapons often bought from kits sold online. but later today, on the flip side of our gun politics, georgia's governor brian kemp is signing a law which will allow people to carry a concealed handgun without a permit in this state. now, there are some folks who believe an armed society is a polite society. and there are others who believe that people with guns are more

likely to kill other people. but this debate is all happening at a time when a new gallup poll shows concern about crime in america is at the highest level since 20 16, with 53% saying they worry about it a great deal. there is a partisan divide even here with 61% of republicans saying they are very worried compared to just 43% of democrats. so what is the real deal? well, here are the facts from the fbi. 2020 saw a 30% increase in homicides, and a 5% increase in bound crimes, the most recent year to date. those numbers are still far below the battle days of the early 1990s. let's make it concrete. last year police recorded 488 murders in new york city. every one a tragedy. that is still far below the more than 2,000 people killed each year in the early 1990s. on march of this year, major crime was up in new york city

over that same month in 2021, despite eric adams' efforts. it takes a little time to turn around a trajectory. people across the united states are frustrated, people after decades of taking crime decline for granted. the bound crime rate hit a low in 2014 and then began to climb. no single thing created this dynamic, but in addition to more illegal guns flooding the streets there are well intentioned reforms that didn't work out as planned. california, proposition 47 has back fired badly. it was passed in 2014 to reduce criminal penalties, decriminalizing thefts under $950. spoiler alert, this was a bad idea. critics say it helped spur a wave of shoplifting which led to a bipartisan called to amend the law in the state legislature. there is a recall directed at the son of a weather underground who pursued aggressive agenda as a prosecutor. new york, far reaching reform removed cash bail for most

crimes. and from july 2020 to june of '21, only 4% of people who have been released commit new violent crimes. but here is the real deal. that still translates to more than 4400 acts of violence by people who could have been behind bars. that's a whole lot of avoidable crime. now, it is cynical for some conservatives to decry rising gun violence and systematically oppose any efforts to combat that gun violence. it is also really bad politics and policy for some liberals to ignore how lowering penalties for crimes can erode the rule of law and reduce trust between fellow citizens. not a utopia, it is an invitation to anarchy and drives people to the other end of the spectrum with an election just a few months away. and that's your reality check. this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning to viewers in the u.s. and around the world.