news app. >> we have cbs evening news coming up next. back with more local news for yo at 7:00 ♪ ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs ♪ ♪ ♪ >> o'donnell: tonight, the russians advance as ukraine's largest cities are under brutal assault, killing more than 2,000 civilians. the shocking video of a man narrowly escaping death. ( explosions ) russians bomb civilian targets, schools, hospitals, residential buildings, as putin's troops gain momentum in key ukrainian cities. kleptocapture. as russia's richest man moves his super yacht to avoid sanctions, the new crackdown to seize oligarchs' prized possessions. our cbs news investigation into the nationwide baby formula recall after infant deaths. what we're learning about the health inspections where the formula was made. taking the stand: the only officer charged in connection to breonna taylor's death

testifies. and a community turning nightmares into dreams. ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> o'donnell: good evening, to our viewers in the west, and thank you for joining us on this wednesday night. just after the president's state of the union address where he said vladimir putin will pay a price, the united states has tightened the economic chokehold on russia today, announcing new sanctions on moscow for what president biden calls putin's war of choice. and the justice department just today launching a new task force to go after putin's inner circle of billionaire russian oligarchs. meanwhile, the russian military has intensified its bombardment of major cities across ukraine, while its 40-mile convoy headed towards kyiv remains stalled due to food and fuel shortages. a senior u.s. defense official telling us the pentagon believes russians are regrouping and rethinking their plans, but

still intend to surround and capture ukraine's capital. and the massive humanitarian crisis grows larger by the day, as nearly 900,000 refugees have fled the fighting to nearby countries. and ukraine's emergency service claims more than 2,000 civilians have been killed. we have a team of reporters inside ukraine, but first, cbs' nancy cordes joins us from the white house. good evening, nancy.e >> reporter: good evening, norah. from the white house where anti- russia protests just outside the gate appear to have become a permanent fixture. tonight, the white house is going directly after the heart of russia's economy-- the oil industry. >> nothing is off the table. >> reporter: president biden today moved to squeeze russia's biggest export, oil, restricting russia's ability to buy the technology it needs to refine oil at current levels. russia's indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets intensified today, prompting a dramatic vote

by the u.n. general assembly-- 141-5, to demand russia withdraw its troops from ukraine. >> we've seen videos of russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. >> reporter: exxon, boeing, and siemens joined the growing list of corporate giants pulling back on russian business. >> of course i'm depressed. all of us are. >> reporter: in an extraordinary interview with sky news, a top kremlin foreign policy adviser broke ranks and denounced the invasion. >> it's very embarrassing for all of us, not only because we turned out to be wrong, but also because all russians will be in a difficult position. >> we're coming for you. >> reporter: as president biden foreshadowed in his state of the union address last night, the justice department launched a new task force today dubbed "kleptocapture," to investigate and prosecute oligarchs who try

to evade sanctions. >> we're joining with european allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets. ( applause ). >> reporter: and they're not hard to find. in fact, a florida teenager who used to track elon musk's jet, has now shifted to the fleets owned by oligarchs, posting their movements on twitter. russia's richest man, alexei mordashov, now on the e.u. sanctions list, recently moved his $500 million super yacht to the seychelles. with the writing on the wall, u.k.-based billionaire roman abramovich announced he was selling london's power house. chelsea soccer team. the profits he said, would go to benefit victims will of the war in ukraine. the steps that the white house took today could slow russian oil production in the future, but not right away, because the white house is worried about doing anything that could cause shortages in europe or, norah,

drive the price of crude oil even higher than it is already. >> o'donnell: such a big concern. nancy cordes at the white house. thank you. well, let's turn now to ukraine, where tonight russian forces have escalated their attacks in heavily populated civilian areas in ukraine's major cities, prompting the u.s. secretary of state to say that russia's human rights abuses are mounting by the hour. cbs' charlie d'agata is in the capital city of kyiv. good evening, charlie. good to >> reporter: good evening to you, norah. u.s. officials tell cbs news that 200 stinger missiles have now been delivered to ukraine with hundreds more on the way. the united states has been sending arms to this country for years, but this is the first time these anti-aircraft weapons have been part of the package. the relentless bombing of kharkiv as russia resorts to brutal force to break the sies jt how bad it is and then... ( explosion )

and he survived that blast. with ukrainian forces refusing to fold, the russian military has unleashed punishing artillery and airstrikes. the city of 1.4 million people suffering heavy losses as indiscriminate shelling rained down on apartment buildings, buses, even ambulances, the university in flames. ukraine says more than 2,000 civilians have been killed. the besieged port city of mariupol has taken a battering, residents rushed to the hospital, innocent victims of ceaseless shelling. "do i need to say more," a doctor asks. "he's just a boy." in another port city, kherson, there are reports tonight it's fallen to russian forces, making it the first big city to fall. >> they're telling people to stay inside, shooting in the air. >> reporter: in another example of courageous citizens making a stand, hundreds formed a human

barricade to prevent russian troops from taking over one of the country's largest nuclear power plants. a wrecked convoy of russian armored vehicles line a street north of the capital. president zelensky claims 6,000 russian soldiers have been killed, more than 200 tanks destroyed, dozens of helicopters downed. numbers russia disputes. but in the information war to control the narrative, ukrainian tv showing russian prisoners saying they were sent as cannon fodder against peaceful people defending their country. here in the capital, families and children will spend another night in the subway, fearful of what's to come, how long it will last, and just how bad it's going to get. and we are learning tonight that the prosecutor of the international criminal court intends to launch an immediate investigation into possible war crimes against humanity here in ukraine. norah.

>> o'donnell: cbs' charlie d'agata in kyiv, thankyou. well, as the battle inside ukraine grows more intense, so does the resistance of ordinary citizens who are taking up arms and facing down russian troops. we've seen video of teenagers and men and women in their 60s getting into the fight. cbs' chris livesay is in lviv. >> reporter: it's a cold welcome for this invading russian soldier. he holds two grenades in the air to keep these angry ukrainians at bay. and gives the town of konotop a choice: surrender or be annihilated by artillery. the villagers chase him back to his armored convoy shouting, "shame on you," and "get out of here." then, the mayor asks the people what they should do. "fight," they shout. and fight they will.

the pravda brewing company switched from making craft beer to craft ballistics, says director taras maselko. >> we need to make sure we are ready. >> reporter: the brewery is also forging hedgehogs, sharpened steel beams that can stop tanks dead in their tracks. and these nasty little welcome mats, called stingers, which can blow out military tires. i see you with the molotov cocktail, and i see the russians with tanks. it feels like david and goliath. >> we stand against a huge army, but we will stand to the last. >> reporter: military analysts say even if putin wins in battle, holding a country this large and one that despises living under his rule could prove impossible. norah. >> o'donnell: chris livesay, thank you. tonight, a major move by the white house signaling a new phase in the pandemic. the administration announced a new detailed national road map for how the country will prepare for future outbreaks.

it might not be a return to normal, but it could be the new normal. here is cbs' mola lenghi. >> we are moving forward safely. >> reporter: the new covid plan includes an aggressive monitoring system that the white house says can detect new variants earlier and trigger a faster response with vaccines and treatment. >> i'm good. >> the president's plan launches a new test-to-treat initiative to provide individuals access to testing and treatment for free, all in one stop. >> reporter: but it's those new variants, warns dr. peter hotez, that could slow the progress the country is now making. >> i think the only asterisk that you have to put on that is that this is more of a pause than the end of the epidemic in the united states. so many of us are anticipating the rise of another variant of concern. >> reporter: still, baltimore, boston, and philadelphia are dropping indoor mask requirements this week. los angeles county is expected

to lift its indoor mandate friday. new york city public schools remain masked, but the state school mandate expired today. >> it's very exciting, because we get to see each others' faces and how everyone is going to react to this is amazing. >> reporter: today, florida governor ron desantis admonished a group of students at the university of south florida for wearing masks. >> you do not have to wear those masks. i mean, please take them off. honestly, it's not doing anything, and we have to stop with this covid theater. if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous. >> reporter: well, here in new york city, the mayor plans to make an announcement friday about the public school mask mandate. meanwhile, one possible game changer in the nation's effort to get back to normal is the white house's new test-to-treat initiative, which provides antiviral pills on the spot to those who test positive, norah. >> o'donnell: mola lenghi, thank you. lenghi, thank well, we learned today that senate judiciary hearings for supreme court nominee ketanji brown jackson will begin on monday, march 21. the nominee was on capitol hill today meeting with senators.

the hearings will last four days, including two days of questioning by senators. if confirmed, judge jackson would be the first black woman on the supreme court. we want to turn now to an important cbs news investigation into powdered baby formulas that the f.d.a. is advising consumers to avoid. this follows at least five infant illnesses, includinginfal possibly two deaths. cbs news has learned at least eight additional babies have allegedly gotten sick, all from what their family's lawyer tells us was powdered formula made at abbott nutrition's plant in turgis, michigan, which has had problems in the past. here is cbs' nikki battiste. >> i was panicked, i was crying. >> i doctors didn't know what was going on. it was just-- it was unreal. >> reporter: natalie caselli and tyler rowland say in late october they rushed their son, hayes, to the hospital after his fever suddenly spiked and he had blood in his diaper. >> you could hear it, like, the

formula going through, and just going straight through his stomach. >> reporter: caselli says she took these pictures of similac baby formula just before the doctors gave his diagnosis, salmonella. >> i was like, how does that happen. >> reporter: four months later a potential answer. that formula is among the four now-recalled types of powder baby formula, all made by abbott labs, in its sturgis, michigan, plant. >> early in september of 2021, there were complaints to the f.d.a. so when you have these kinds of outbreaks, you need a trusted manufacturer that consumers depend upon to act rapidly, responsibly. >> reporter: in this statement to cbs news, abbott says stored samples of the recalled batches tested negative for both cronobacter and salmonella. and that at this time, the cause of the infants' infections have not been determined. >> how could they have missed this, if in fact their baby

formula was contaminated. >> unfortunately, we often do find there are shortcuts. there was carelessness, there was oversight. >> reporter: during an f.d.a. inspection of the sturgis plant in september, it issued five citations. during another inspection, the f.d.a. found several positive cronobacter results from environmental samples and a review of abbott's internal documents by the f.d.a. indicate abbott previously destroyed formula due to this contamination. >> it's horrific to hear that this happened. and now there are two baby-- i don't want to start crying, but there are two babies that have died. that's really sad. >> reporter: baby hayes is now six months old and doing well. the f.d.a. says it continues to investigate the complaints. i asked the f.d.a. this morning when its own tests of the abbott sturgis plant came back positive for cronobacter, but so far, norah, no comment. for

>> o'donnell: nikki battiste with all that original reporting. thank you. the only person charged in connection with the death of breonna taylor took the stand in his own defense today. former louisville police officer brett hankinson is not on trial for the 26-year-old black woman's death, but for firing into a neighbor's apartment during the botched raid in march of 2020. asked if he did anything wrong during the raid, hankinson replied, "absolutely not." >> if my daughter was shot at or bullets came into our house, that would be very concerning, and i apologize to her for that. and miss taylor's family, she didn't need to die that night. >> o'donnell: hankinson is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, and if convicted, faces up to five years in prison for each count. the jury will get the case tomorrow. and there's breaking news tonight. an alabama man linked to the right wing oath keepers has just pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy for his role in the

assault on the u.s. capitol. army veteran joshua james is the first of 11 january 6 defendants charged with sedition to plead guilty. oath keepers leader stewart rhodes is also charged. james said rhodes told his crew, "be prepared if called upon and use lethal force if necessary against anyone who tried to remove president trump from the white house." well, still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," an exclusive: melinda french gates tells gayle king how her divorce will affect her work at the gates foundation. tes foundation. as i used to be. i noticed i wasn'tp my wife introduced me to prevagen and so i said "yeah, i'll try it out." i noticed that i felt sharper, i felt like i was able to respond to things quicker.

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day after day. feel the clarity— and make today the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear. >> o'donnell: tonight in her first tv interview since her divorce from microsoft mogul bill gates, billionaire philanthropist melinda french gates tells "cbs mornings" co- host gayle king the split won't prevent them from continuing their two decades of work at the bill and melinda gates foundation. >> reporter: both of you made it clear, the gates foundation, the two of us will still work together. how are you able to do that? >> well i think, you know, first of all, we both want to work together. we founded this institution, you know, back in 2000. >> reporter: and you said "we." >> yes, both of us. it has both of our names on the building. i believe in that institution. i believe in what we do. my values are baked into that institution. so i have always felt like it calls us to be our higher selves. and i think the thing that people don't realize is that even during the difficult times,

the last 18 months, while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together. and i'm not saying it was easy.. and i'm not saying it was but we did. and i just-- i know for me, i had days where, you know, i would be in tears the hour before an online meeting, or i'd be angry, but i still rose to my higher self. and i think we can continue to do that. >> o'donnell: and gayle will have more of her exclusive interview tomorrow on "cbs mornings." she tells me there's lots in this interview worth watching. coming up next, a place to call home for the youngest victims of colorado's wildfire. re. and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days from when symptoms first appear. if you have symptoms of covid-19, even if they're mild don't wait, get tested quickly.

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>> o'don q1 >> o'donnell: colorado's marshal fire was a nightmare for the thousands of residents who lost everything. now there's an effort to turn those nightmares into dreams. here's cbs' janet shamlian. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: for those who know the frustration of assembling kids' furnure... >> this one's really tall, this one's really short. >> reporter: this is a labor of love.

but these parents don't know the children they're creating bedrooms for, only that they're just like the ruff boys. >> your guys' fort was here. >> reporter: what gave you the idea for this? >> for my kids i would want them to be in a safe place and feel comfortable and safe and lovedk again. and i said let's just build a bedroom. >> reporter: this is lindsey mcmorran's garage, full of everything needed to create a dream bedroom for a child who lost theirs. >> all kinds of fun stuff. >> reporter: donations pouring in for her group "hope lives here colorado."" for for six-year-old brook barnard and her eight-year-old sister emily, a small slice of normal. >> the husband and i, we finally sat on the couch and it was just like a collective exhale that, like, the girls are okay. >> what is that! >> oh my god! >> reporter: and better than okay at the ruffs' rental home. >> it melts my heart every time they walk in.

>> reporter: 30 times so far, but another 100 children on the waiting list for dream bedrooms and new memories. janet shamlian, cbs news, superior, colorado. >> o'donnell: nothing better. we'll be right back.

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captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by right now at 7:00. >> it is unfortunate that he took the case into his own hands. >> i don't blame him. i 100% don't blame him. why a former ufc champion charged with attempted murder in san jose is seeing a show of support tonight. plus, a stolen van goes up in flames. what we are learning about the moments just before the deadly fire in oakland. >> i don't understand why people cannot wait another nine days. the contra costa county school district writes its own rules unmasks, and a surprising result. we are tracking it all. a weekend chance shower moves into the bay area tomorrow but the amounts are heading in the wrong direction. an updated look at what we expect coming up in the first alert forecast.

>> thanks. good evening, we begin with the former ufc champion accused of taking the law into his own hands. as kenny velasquez appeared in a san jose courtroom to face an attempt at murder charge, his supporters rallied outside. kiet do has more on what led up to the shooting and why friends are in the former fighters corner tonight. >> reporter: the former ufc champion had his first appearance in court today and the arraignment will continue until monday morning. the judge said given the nature of the charges, she said no bail, so velasquez will stay in jail for now. >> reporter: velasquez made his first appearance in shackles, jail uniform and flanked by three bailiffs. the judge issued three restraining orders for the people inside the bullet riddled silverado pickup truck. velasquez, nodded his head and said nothing else. the drama began february 25th when investigators say haley duarte was accused of