Here. Nastia is sailing ships, she says. Ukraine has been at war all the eight years shes known. I think it will be better without them, she says. It was uncomfortable having them here. Her parents nearby say fear meant their slept in their clothes all the six months. Its kind of strange here to see how almost unaffected so much of this town has been and how life seems to have slipped comfortably back into normal when the russians just picked up and left. And it gives you a feeling of how normality must still reign just a matter of six kilometers away from the border in russia. But normal is never coming back, particularly to here, the borderline itself. Russia retreated back over it but must now live with the hatred it has stirred. The fact that Ukrainian Forces are able to push right up to here, the beginning of the Border Buffer Zone with russia, russia is just a matter of kilometers in that direction, is yet another Calamity Moscow has imposed upon itself. Its opponent in this war that its struggling so deeply to defeat is now so close to russias own towns and cities. Reporter a moment long coming says local soldier anton. How did you feel walking along the ukrainerussia border . Some people have waited this for eight years, he says. It is the start of our victory. Across the once sleepy fields here lives and harvests stalled, wilting. Yet another year will come. Reporter jake, the abiding impression from seeing areas reclaimed by the ukrainians is just the vacuum, frankly, that is left when russia disappears. Life almost sliding back to normal six months ago, particularly in those areas, and startling to hear from ukrainian officials their suggestion that some of the units that fled the area around kharkiv were in fact so heavily injured or damaged theyve entirely been disbanded. Now, today ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appearing publicly, seemingly unscathed from the car crash he was involved in yesterday, has been talking about the discovery of mass graves in the town of izium south of where im standing. One of the key logistical points down from Vof Vovchansk you saw in that report. More grim discoveries as ukraine continues to press forward in its southern offensive. This all comes as two major adversaries of the west meet face to face. President xi of china and president putin of russia. Promising to Work Together and support one another as cnns ivan watson reports. This is the first time the two strongmen have met in person since the start of the invasion of ukraine by russia. And a lot has changed for both of them. Reporter two leaders united by their dislike of the u. S. Xi jinping making his first trip outside of covid lockeddown china in more than two years. Face to face with his russian counterpart vladimir putin, who quickly addresses the elephant in the room. Translator we highly appreciate the balanced position of our chinese friends in connection with the ukrainian crisis. We understand your questions and concerns in this regard. Reporter questions and concerns about russias deadly war in ukraine. A shift in tone from the last time these two men met. At the start of the beijing Winter Olympics in february xi and putin announced a friendship with no limits and called for A New World Order not dominated by washington. But only weeks later putin launched his invasion of ukraine, and it has not gone according to plan. Russias military battered, its economy increasingly isolated. Putin now needs china more than ever. But in his Public Comments the chinese leader made no mention of ukraine. The white house argues when it comes to this war chinese friendship does have limits. We havent seen the chinese do anything overtly to support the effort by mr. Putin inside ukraine. Clearly, they havent publicly condemned it. I think the chinese as they watch whats going on here, they recognize how isolated moscow is from the rest of the international community. They recognize the economic costs and consequences that this wars having on the russian economy. Reporter thanks in large part to the ongoing covid lockdowns of entire chinese cities the chinese economy is also taking a beating. Something xi cant afford to ignore as he prepares to grant himself a third term in office. The chinese and russian navies are conducting joint patrols in the pacific ocean. But these types of shows of force have been challenged by the fierce resistance displayed by a much smaller Military Fighting on the battlefields of ukraine. When it comes to the ukrainian war, jake, chinese friendship with no limits, well, it basically amounts to beijing accusing the u. S. And nato of provoking russia, forcing it to invade ukraine. But the kind of rhetoric ends there. Chinas also provided an economic lifeline to russia by buying up record amounts of discounted russian oil and coal. But youve got to wonder, the Russian Military setbacks on the battlefield, the scenes weve seen over and over again of ukrainian farmers towing captured russian tanks, must have diminished the image of putin in the eyes of his close friend xi jinping. Ivan watson reporting from hong kong for us. Thanks so much. Joining us line to discuss republican congressman mike turner of ohio who serves as a ranking republican on the house intelligence committee. Congressman, thanks so much for being here. Lets start with this meeting between chinese president xi and russian president putin today. How significant do you think it is, putins acknowledgment that beijing had questions and concerns about the war in ukraine . Well, its very significant. You know, this meeting is a far cry from the meeting that they had in february where they declared no limits because apparently there were limits because china offered no military assistance to putin or russia during their incursion into ukraine. But also putin stands with xi much diminished. When he first stood there, even the United States thought that he would go easily into ukraine. He did not. That complicates things for president xi as he looks to what he might want to accomplish militarily with taiwan. And also putin rallied the entire world around their military incursion, which of course makes it more difficult for china to then undertake a similar incursion toward taiwan. And the other aspect of this is you have the reports of just the atrocities that are occurring in ukraine. It really shows that russia, the brutality of what theyre doing, and certainly that doesnt play well anywhere. Were learning more about these atrocities as the ukrainians recapture territory. The u. S. Government has been pretty careful not to call this new part of the war where ukraine is recapturing territory, theyre not calling it a Turning Point in the war. Theyre not calling it a critical moment that will determine the outcome. Heres a quote from a u. S. Defense official. Its more important than ever that we dont appear to be spiking the ball. What do you think . Is that a valid concern . Its always a concern whenever there are advances on the part of ukraine in that russia has options. And we dont know what options they might deploy. And certainly thats of a concern. But one thing we do know is ukraine is making advances, russia is losing territory. This is significant and its real. It certainly has put russia in a disadvantaged position. It certainly has shown that their Military Capability is not what they had believed in that region. But the other thing, it has put off their ability to have referendum in the area and then claim that they have annexed that territory. Holding off those plans really sets back putins agenda. And sources tell cnn the u. S. Is still not likely to provide Ukrainian Forces with longerrange Missile Systems which ukraine has been requesting for months. Cnn has been told that the Biden AdministrationStill Believes providing those systems would be seen by moscow as an escalation and would result in a retaliatory step by moscow. Do you agree with that reasoning . I think this administration has been very cautious in what they have done taking very, very small steps because theyve been worried about provoking russia. But in this what russias always done is provocative. The atrocities that are occurring, their open threats to poland, romania, to the balkan the baltics themselves. All of that area i think is of Grave Concern and i think we need to be certainly supporting ukraine with everything we can give them. So you think theyve been too cautious . Is that what youre suggesting . Theyve been slow on the uptick. Congress has been leaning in on this, both on passing legislation for providing lethal aid and in funding lethal aid. But also its been slow to get in. You were reporting that certainly in the beginning sure. But i think at this point we really need to see a win by ukraine and theyre close. So what would you say to somebody from the Biden Administration who says hey, look at these you were just acknowledging the ukrainian victories, that didnt just happen. That happened because the west, led by President Biden and the United States, has been giving all sorts of aid, weapons systems, probably a lot of stuff we dont know about that you know about but you cant tell me. Well, what weve seen every time weve increased the capabilities and the lethal aid that weve given to the ukrainians, they have stepped up, been able to deploy those capabilities and theyve won ground. Thats whats exciting, is that were actually seeing successes. We hope the successes continue and we certainly think president zelenskyys leadership in rallying that nation and the military capabilities were watching being deployed are impressive. Cnns been told that former u. N. Ambassador and new mexico governor Bill Richardson met with leaders of russia in moscow this week. He does of course, as you know, historically provide help to families of hostages and detainees. And there are at least two americans being held prisoner in russia. But i want you to listen to what White House NationalSecurity Council spokesperson john kirby told me yesterday about richardson going there. Our message is that private citizens should not be be in moscow at all right now and that private citizens cannot negotiate on behalf of the United States government. We share mr. Richardsons desire to see Brittney Griner and paul whelan home with their families, and were working very, very hard at doing that through government channels. Thats the appropriate way to do that. And those efforts are ongoing. So is Bill Richardson freelancing and what do you think . Should he leave russia . Well, i wouldnt know to what extent that he is working with the administration through back channels or not. But i will tell you this. There certainly are Grave Concerns as to what the administration might be willing to give up in any of these negotiations. We certainly want what we would consider to be hostages freed. We certainly want americans to come home. And i think certainly everybody is very supportive of the administration in those negotiations. But we do have to be very concerned as to what we give in exchange. And thats something yet to be seen. Do you have concerns about the russian arms dealer in a u. S. Prison whos been floated as a possible trade . Absolutely. You dont think he should be let go . Well, no. And i think that when you start to signal also your willingness to give things that we should not russia also ups the ante. They never accept any level of concession as goodwill. They receive it as a walkback. All right. Very interesting. Congressman mike turner, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Coming up next an inside look at what it took to avoid a crippling freight rail strike. Plus new reports about then President Trump calling up one countrys king and offering him a piece of land that was not mr. Trumps to give. Stay with us. Doing on their pho . Theyre investing with merrill. Think miss allen is texting for backup . No shes totally in charge. Of her portfolio and daniel g. Shes building a Greener Futurere and hes. Running a pretend restaurant. And phil . Phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. Digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a Bank Of America company. 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The white house today, President Biden celebrated the tentative deal between Freight Railroad companies and unions representing rail wokkers. As Cnns Kaitlan Collins reports, this took weeks of intense negotiations and the direct involvement of the white house to get things back on track. Reporter a big win and a big relief for the white house. This is a great deal for both sides in my view. Reporter President Biden announcing a deal between unions and railroad carriers, averting a strike that could have caused an economic catastrophe. Theyre really the backbone of the economy. I mean, literally the backbone of the economy. Reporter the negotiations stretching for nearly 20 hours inside the Labor Department with President Biden himself dialing in after the 12hour mark and a final deal clinched around 2 30 in the morning. They feel good. These guys did by the way, theyre still standing. They should be home in bed. 20 straight hours. Reporter the president bringing the negotiators and labor secretary marty walsh into the oval office to hail the agreement as a win for both workers and the companies. This is critical, critical in keeping the economy moving. Weve got a way to go, but i want to thank them all, business and labor. Reporter the deal meeting the unions main demand to give workers the ability to take days off for sick leave or medical emergencies, and in a win for the companies saying workers will have to take unpaid leave to do so. The agreement coming after weeks of intense efforts by the white house, who feared that a strike would paralyze critical elements of the economy and potentially exacerbate inflation. He pushed them once again to recognize the harm that would hit families, farmers, businesses, and entire communities if there was a shutdown. Reporter and jake, all of this was a pretty delicate dance for President Biden, who has touted himself as the most prounion president to ever hold office. But of course did not publicly take a side here because what he really wanted was an agreement between these two sides to avert those economic consequences. Now, jake, theyve got this agreement. Its up to the workers to ratify it. All right, kaitlan collins, thanks so much. What made a Republican Senate candidate suddenly go from being an election liar to at least publicly claiming he accepts reality about who won the white house in 2020 . Stay with us. A perfect fit for l business. vo verizon has businessgrade Internet Solutions nationwide. w wayne for our notsoSmall Business too. vo get internetet that keeps your business ready for anything. From the network ameririca relis on. Get ready our most popular battery is even more powerful. The stronger, lastslonger energizer max. We lost about everything trying to pay for prescriptions. We spent our whole pension but couldnt keep up. So my husband just stopped taking his medicine. And then he had a stroke. 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