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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Kyiv Mayor Warns Of Difficult Night Ahead As Explosions Head; U.S. Will Sanction Putin, Lavrov, And Other Russian Officials; U.S.: Russia Plans To Kill Ukrainians Who Don't Surrender; White House: U.S. To Sanction Putin & Russian FM Lavrov; NATO Response Force Activated For First Time In History; Russia Threatens "Serious" Repercussions If Finland Joins NATO; Sources: U.S. Concerned Kyiv Could Fall To Russia Within Days; Biden Nominates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson To Supreme Court; Thousands Around The World Protest Russia's War On Ukraine. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 25, 2022 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: This as U.S. officials tell CNN the U.S. is concerned that the capital city of Kyiv will fall within days.

In the last hour or so, sirens could be heard across Kyiv, warning Ukrainians of possible airstrikes. It's midnight there now and the mayor is warning of a difficult night ahead. Earlier tens of thousands of people, including this chaotic, crowded Kyiv train station, were trying to escape the fighting and violence or to reunite with their families in other parts of the country.

This woman's husband told her it is too dangerous to travel across the country right now. But she says she's a mom, and her heart is telling her she needs to get home. CNNs Matthew Chance is live for us in Kiev right now. And Matthew, you were able to question the Russian Foreign Minister today, Sergey Lavrov, what did he say about the Kremlin's intentions?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right, I was able to speak to Sergei Lavrov earlier today. And I'll get to that in just a moment, Jake, because just as you've come to me, within the past few seconds, we are once again, hearing the air raid sirens bellow through the nighttime city of Kyiv right now, it's just turned midnight, as you're just reporting and listen to this.

This is what whatever is left of the people of Kyiv because a lot of them have left the city already. This is what they're hearing right now. And they're doing that, as Russian forces are poised to come in.

Just a few miles in this direction right behind me in the suburb of Obolon, about six miles in that direction. In fact, you've got a concentration of Russian armor, Russian forces that have been battling throughout the course of the past day with Ukrainian security forces.

Just further over to the left there is that airbase which we know for a fact because we saw it with our own eyes. Russian special forces have been located there. The Russian Defense Ministry says they have now taken it and they are in total control and that tallies with what we saw as well that Ukrainian say that they have control of it. We don't have our eyes on the ground right there right now. So we can't actually verify who is in control.

But there is a great deal of concern tonight about what happens to this city the Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko has warned that it will be, it could be a difficult night for the city is put hospitals on high alert. He says that security forces are patrolling key installations, bridges, things like that. And he's warned people to be on guard. Trains have been leaving the city special evacuation trains to take up to 10,000 people out of the city. They're traveling with emergency lighting to the west of the country. They will stop now. But that's what happened within the course of the past several hours.

Now, you're right. I did earlier get a chance to speak to Sergey Lavrov, in the U.S. now say they will sanction directly of course, and asked him what the intention was with those Russian forces now poised at the gates of Kyiv. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Why are the Russian forces now entering Kyiv surrounding the Capitol and battling with Ukrainian military, do you intend to decapitate Ukrainian leadership?

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine, nobody is going to somehow degrade the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We are talking about preventing Neo Nazis and those promoting genocide from ruling this country, because the current regime in Kyiv is under two external control mechanisms.

First, the West and the U.S., and second Neo Nazis, those who are imposing their culture and it is flourishing in Ukraine today. Ask for your feelings as someone who was in Kyiv at this very moment, I will stress read what Putin said no strikes on civilian infrastructure. No strikes on the personnel of the Ukrainian army on their dormitories or other places not connected to military facilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Those are not comforting is Jake to hear Sergey Lavrov there, the Russian foreign minister saying that civilians in this country are not going to be attacked, and the military infrastructure is not going to be degraded given what we have been witnessing over the course of the past 48 hours.

There was a possibility, a small glimmer earlier today of diplomacy, perhaps having it -- having a chance when President Zelenskyy of Ukraine basically pleaded said for the sake of people's lives. Let's talk about peace, that appeal being made directly to Vladimir Putin of Russia.

The Russians came back, actually and said, Look, we'll meet you. We'll meet you in the Belarusian capital Minsk. Obviously, I'm paraphrasing them a little bit. And we can talk about Ukraine's neutrality, not something that President Zelenskyy brought up but obviously the Russians are suggesting that if there is going to be any kind of peace talks it will be on their terms

[17:05:08]

And it will be to discuss how Ukraine backs away from any suggestion is going to be involved with the NATO, Western military alliance and how it is going to be a neutral state in the future. That's not something that at least in public, Ukrainian officials are prepared at this stage to discuss.

TAPPER: It is something else to watch Sergey Lavrov just tell lies that everybody in the world can see or just demonstrable lies, just shamelessly telling lies. Neo Nazis. The President of Ukraine is Jewish, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It's incredible.

And Matthew Chance reporting live in Kyiv. I would like to know just for people out there who don't understand or know much about Kyiv. This is the capital city and it is the most populous city in Ukraine. The population is 2.8 million people, that's bigger than the city of Chicago. Imagine air raid sirens going off like that in Chicago, Illinois, and you get an idea of the magnitude of the scale here. Matthew Chance, thank you so much for your brave reporting. As always stay safe.

The threat is not just in the capital. Of course, today Ukrainians fought a Russian advance at a Key Bridge in the city of Kherson, which you can spot along the bottom of your screen on this map. Kherson sits along a river just north of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh was able to get a remarkable firsthand look at the aftermath of that fighting. We want to warn you ahead of time. Some of the images you're about to see are graphic and you might find them disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

N NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): For a moment, this was a bridge too far for Vladimir Putin. As we arrived in the town of Kherson just before dusk on Thursday, the fighting had crossed over to our side of the river, meaning Russian tanks were in the sleepy streets.

But the night brought no rest. Jets flying low, terrifying locals, air strikes.

Here, a mother's bedtime duty is to switch out the lights not to calm her kids, but to protect them from the Kremlin's jets overhead. The boys are noisy, but the girls quiet. It's safer here than on the street, says Lana (ph). Ruslan (ph) jumps in, you'll kill us all, he says.

Moscow's games scar here. I did hear blasts, but I was not afraid. They had a tank, he says.

But by dawn, it was a case of the Russians are coming. But also maybe not. Ukrainian forces had reclaimed the bridge, but not without a cost. I asked Victor if the Russians would move back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Russian not follow out. Russians about 3,000 meters.

WALSH: Locals peeked through the wreckage for ammunition.

(on camera): So strange to see civilians picking up leftover armor from vehicles here to shows you how many people are involved. Now on a local level, (INAUDIBLE) that he's doing it again that are stopping everywhere to pick up whatever they can.

(voice-over): It's unclear if the bodies here were discarded because they were Russians, or because there were just too many. The Ukrainian military you can see here is the bit that was pushed back. The defenders still holding this bridge stayed hidden. Waiting are cameras away from their positions.

On the bridge, the living surreally passing the dead.

(on camera): He's saying the Russians are on the other side of the bridge, but you can't see them. But they aren't disturbing civilians.

(voice-over): Anyone who wants to run Ukraine needs this tortured piece of concrete.

(on camera): This is the Dnieper River which basically cuts Ukraine into the side here, which connects to Russia. And this side, which connects to Europe, a vital piece of Ukraine to fight over and it's been obviously very intense here in the past days.

(voice-over): There are no winners here. Just holes that will need filling in and shreds of lives that need collecting. Vladimir is here helping himself to a hot dog. The other Vladimir Putin wants to steal lives here hold for his wider vision of empire restored.

For the people in this town, it means afternoons with the noise of rockets landing in the streets. At dusk, the balance of power changed again. Shells landed around Ukrainian positions, and it seemed now houses. Ambulances unable to get in. Then came this noise, the sound of an attack helicopter, acute violence that seems to have led the bridge to change hands again.

[17:10:02]

Minutes later, local officials said the city's defenses had fallen. But victories here are laden with loss and so bitter in the mouth.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WALSH: Does appear that the city's defenses are now in Russian hands that what we saw at the end of that report was essentially the Russian push through those Ukrainian holdouts here, a city really on edge at the moment, Jake.

TAPPER: And Nick, you mentioned that there are still civilians in that town Kherson. Are people trying to leave? WALSH: Not on a large scale. As turns out, we can see, they just don't know what comes next. I mean, as we were standing here, Jake, a moment ago, the owner of the hotel we're standing in said that she'd seen a masked man with a rifle walking around in the street here. We haven't seen that ourselves.

But this is a city really on edge, because they know the Russian army is on the outskirts of the town, that the Ukrainian army as far as they know, they've been pushed back. And they are essentially trying to work out whether or not the Russian forces care about coming into here, care about taking control of this pretty sleepy town on a river.

And so while it's deathly silent in the middle of the night here. We've seen sort of a random guy and a flashlight in a courtyard over there moving around. That's just us observing the circumstances. Everyone's really on edge here as to what the next move is. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Kherson, Ukraine. Thank you. Stay safe. Joining us live to discuss Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York. He is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. Chairman, good to see you. Thank you so much for being with us.

Our own correspondent has seen the bodies of fallen fighters still lying on the battlefield. What more do you think the Biden administration could be doing today, right now, to try to stop the current and future bloodshed in Ukraine?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY) CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: I know that the Biden administration is threading the needle, and keeping us unified with our European allies, which is absolutely key. And as you see this more and more sanction to this more still yet to come. And there will be additional pressure that's going to come from allies, not just our European allies, but allies, in Asia, allies on the continent of Africa, allies and democracies across the world. And that unity is what's going to ultimately defeat Putin. He would like to divide us.

And as you've seen thus far, our allies and the United States have steadfastly stood together, and increasingly increasing the sanctions on them, and having dialogue and conversation and working in lockstep. And that's ultimately, what's going to be his defeat, and the Russians, and unfortunately, the Russian people, also going to feel some damage because of this outrageous, aggressive and murderous actions of Putin.

TAPPER: I want to get your reaction to something we heard from Republican Senator Ben Sasse, of Nebraska earlier today, take a listen, please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): Putin is not going to be deterred. We got to make sure his cronies feel the pressure so that they can look back at him and say, What the hell are you doing? These corrupt mobsters, they don't have any desire to live in the hellhole Moscow that Putin wants to create. They want to live in London and other places, and they need to be locked out of those places.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you think that would be effective just to criminally go after every single one of these oligarchs that that Putin helps protect and who helped protect him?

MEEKS: I think that the oligarchs, if there was criminal actions on their part, in the end, that process will take its own accord. And they will and those individuals that as we may be seeing war crimes here, et cetera. And that will take place at the appropriate time.

Right now, what we need to do is to make sure that we stay united and move forward so that the pain that Putin is -- will feel continues. And we've got to make sure that there is no we didn't -- our NATO allies have already went forward with Article 4. There's no Article 5 of NATO yet. But there's been threats, even by Putin, to Estonia, for example, who will be sending some weapons over to help Ukraine and we will continue sending weapons over to help Ukraine. And if there's a violation, then then we have a Section 5 issue.

But we're going to move forward on the Section 5, where all of our allies are continuously in contact and working with one another that continued to escalate the sanctions against Putin. And I think Putin has also seen the result of the Ukrainian people that, you know, I was just there Jake about three weeks ago and when I talked to them and not just think of the disaster that's taking place now in Kyiv, but when I talked to them there they said they will fight.

[17:15:11]

And you see that they are indeed fighting. I am some have said that they pushed back from the bridge and it was going back and forth, but against, and people who have not even been trained of being armed to fight. They do not want to be under the dictations -- the dictator Putin trying to take over their sovereign property.

And I just today, you know, the messages that I see, you know, as far as the resolve of the Ukrainian people to make sure that Putin understands that there is going to be resistance, and they're not going to be able to come in under the lies.

I mean, you said earlier in the show the absolute lies that he is getting -- he is acting like a lot like Hitler himself, by his actions, as opposed to trying to flip the coin and saying something is happening in Ukraine. Is only one aggressor, one aggressive in this. NATO is a defensive organization. Only one country sent troops to the --initially to the border and lied and said that they had no interest and attacking Ukraine. They lie. So you know that you cannot believe or trust anything that the Russians under Putin say.

TAPPER: Chairman Gregory Meeks of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today, sir. Coming up, a new terrifying threat from the Russians as they waged an unprovoked deadly war on Ukraine, those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:03]

TAPPER: We're back with breaking news in our world lead. The Biden administration believes that Russia will threaten to kill the families of Ukrainian soldiers if those soldiers do not surrender. That's according to a U.S. official who spoke to CNN. Let's go straight to CNN's Kylie Atwood live for us at the State Department who's breaking the story. Kylie, is the State Department saying why they think this will happen this threat to soldiers.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not yet telling us exactly what this is based on. I mean, presumably it's based on U.S. intelligence because they've been sharing a lot of what they've been seeing in U.S. intelligence reports before of course, it happens.

But, Jake, this is incredibly alarming that the United States believes that these Russians are going to come in and threaten to kill the family members of Ukrainian soldiers, not just those soldiers themself, but their family members.

The other thing that this U.S. official is saying is that they believe that the Russians are creating a disinformation campaign that cast Ukrainian soldiers as standing back and surrendering, when that's not actually what's happening. So essentially, creating the idea that they are surrendering so that it's out there so that it then discourages those Ukrainians to surrender around about way of getting them to surrender with disinformation.

TAPPER: The Kremlin also is saying and again, we have to keep everything they say, we need to think about the fact that they lie as a as a professional purpose. But the Kremlin is also saying that they're ready to talk with Ukrainian officials in Belarus, specifically in Minsk. Is there anyone in the Biden administration who thinks that offer is an actual sincere offer?

ATWOOD: Well, listen, we've heard State Department officials, Biden administration officials, saying that Russia has only engaged in a pretext of diplomacy that, you know, in the days and weeks leading up to this invasion, that they weren't actually investigating, sorry, indicating that they were in good faith at the table.

And so when you see this proposal put forth, U.S. officials say no, now is not the time to engage in diplomacy. You can't have productive diplomacy when you have a gun to the head of the Ukrainians.

TAPPER: All right, Kylie Atwood at the U.S. State Department for us. Thanks so much. Sticking with our breaking news, the White House just announced that the U.S. will sanction Vladimir Putin specifically. Will that do anything to stop his country's invasion of Ukraine or our sanctions even an outdated threat? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:54] TAPPER: And we're back with more breaking news in our world lead. Just moments ago, the White House confirmed that the U.S. government will sanction a Russian President Vladimir Putin himself as well as sanctioning Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. This is decision made in tandem with European allies when on similar sanctions.

Earlier today, as Putin continues to wave off consequences of intended economic strangulation. Our panel joins us now let me start with Julia Ioffe. Julia, more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials tell Bloomberg News that they've quote, been deeply dubious that sanctions would change Putin's behavior yet, after Biden made clear last year that the U.S. would not send troops or heavy weapons to Ukraine. There were no other solid options. It was left to his team to try to prove for the first time that the threat of economic warfare against a major adversary like Russia would suffice when military deterrence was not an option.

I guess the question I have is do you think sanctions are outdated? A relic of a previous era, especially when it comes to Russia? And do you think the U.S. sanctioning Putin directly will do anything?

JULIA IOFFE, FOUNDING PARTNER AND WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, PUCK NEWS: Well, I'll start with the second question, because it's the easier one, I don't think it will do much because I think it's pretty clear that Vladimir Putin is not in this for the money. And even though he has enriched himself in the post of the presidency, it's just -- it's not the point anymore for him. The point is power and his world historical role as Russian, as the Russian President, in his mind, at least.

As for sanctions, they're a very imperfect tool. And I think this administration, I've heard similar things from administration officials, I think it's the first time a U.S. administration both sees the Putin regime and Putin himself very clearly, and has come to recognize that sanctions aren't really a preventative measure as much as they are a punitive measure.

[17:30:00]

And there is an understanding as far as my reporting shows inside the White House and State Department, that they understand that, that this isn't -- that they're not implementing these sanctions to deter him because he will not be deterred. I'm not sure that anything would have deterred him, in this case, unless there were maybe U.S. troops on the ground and like tactical nukes. Otherwise, he seemed pretty dead set on doing this, but also doing nothing and not punishing Russia for invading a sovereign country is also not an option.

So it's almost like pro forma. But at the same time, you know, I'm seeing Russian friends and journalists tweet about this. It's having a very rapid effect on the Russian economy, and it's only going to get worse and worse, but it's not Putin and his inner circle that's going to suffer, it's going to be the average Russian yen (ph).

TAPPER: David Sanger --

IOFFE: And then (INAUDIBLE).

TAPPER: Say that again, Julia, I missed that.

IOFFE: Sorry, I was going to say that the average Russians didn't have much say in this to begin with.

TAPPER: Yes. Exactly.

IOFFE: It's an (INAUDIBLE). Yes.

TAPPER: The David Sanger, if sanctions don't work to deter somebody like Putin, is there anything that would?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first of all, we haven't tried the sanctions that would really affect him the most. So it's nice to sanction him personally, and Secretary Lavrov personally, but they don't keep a whole lot of money around in places that they'd be able to get at. Putin's money is believed to be held by some of the oligarch families, it's well concealed.

The second, Jake, is the history of sanctions working. If you were to like take a piece of paper and lay out what countries did it work on and which ones didn't work on? Oh, South Africa, it worked on a roughly a democracy --

TAPPER: Although it took years and years and years.

SANGER: And it took years.

TAPPER: Yes.

SANGER: Cuba? Put -- they were put on first by Kennedy. We're still waiting for them to actually take effect and deter them. North Korea, it's been a real great success story. Iran? President Trump re-impose sanctions after he pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying would bring them back to the table. It didn't. I could go on with a much longer list.

It was interesting yesterday that President Biden said during his speech, and the news conference, a brief news conference that followed, we never really thought sanctions would change his behavior. Well, we had a lot of officials who said, that's what the intent was.

TAPPER: Including the Vice President.

SANGER: Including the vice president, Jake Sullivan, others, but the fact of matter is, they didn't. So what would make a difference? If they were able to cut off the oil and gas revenue? Well, that's 40 percent of the Russian government's annual budget revenue. That might actually impress them.

But because Europe has been gotten so dependent on Russian gas, and more dependent now than they were a few years ago, that's not an option. So we've sort of taken off the table the sanctions that have the best chance of working. TAPPER: And Colonel Leighton, for the first time ever, the NATO Response Force has been activated, that has never happened before in the entire history of NATO. What does that mean? Give us a sense of the strength of the NATO Response Force up against Russia, if Russia were to go into a NATO allied country, NATO member country and this NATO Response Force is actually used?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. So the NATO Response Force, Jake, is a 40,000 strong military force has to get the approval of all 30 members of NATO in order to actually be activated. They did that, they have a nice, fairly, lengthy statement that talks about doing that. And it has not been deployed yet.

But when it is deployed, the basic idea is that it can move rapidly. It'll include elements of the army forces, the land forces, naval forces, Air Forces, and of course, Special Operations Forces. So it's designed to be a very quick method to go after a, you know, an incursion into NATO territory.

TAPPER: And David, something else just happened today. Finland yesterday said that because of Russia invading -- Finland is not a NATO member, Finland is trying to be neutral and all of these. Finland said yesterday, the Prime Minister, that because of what Russia did, this might make Finland, you know, rethink its posture when it comes to NATO membership and maybe tried to become a member of NATO. And the Russian Foreign Ministry said today basically threatened Finland that this would really have disastrous political and military consequences. What's your response to that?

SANGER: So you see the problem now of not being in and not being fully out, but being sort of neutral, which is that once you show any interest in going into NATO, suddenly, Russia would threaten you on the theory that they could overrun you before NATO got around who admitting you into the club and thus surrounding you with the defenses. It's no accident that Vladimir Putin picked Ukraine in this case. He understands Article Five. He knows what would the result would be if an attack on one became an attack on all. He doesn't want to add to NATO's numbers. He's trying to subtract from their numbers.

[17:35:09]

TAPPER: And Julia, President Zelensky of Ukraine just gave a speech where he said, quote, this night we have to stand ground. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now, unquote. But, of course, it's not just Ukraine's future at stake right now.

IOFFE: Yes, it's the future of Europe. You're already seeing, you know, within the first 36 hours, 50,000 refugees have flooded into Europe. It's also the future of Russia. I think this will take Russia and Ukraine into interactions we have yet to fathom.

TAPPER: Yes. Julia Ioffe, Cedric and David, thanks one and all for being here.

We're going to continue watching the breaking news in Ukraine. There is another important breaking story, of course. President Biden made history today with his Supreme Court nominee. That stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:01]

TAPPER: In our politics lead, it is historic day for the Biden presidency even as the White House is continuing to watch this ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Today, the President nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Jackson will fill the seat of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

And as CNN's MJ Lee reports, she would then become the first black woman ever to serve on the highest court in the land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's horrific to watch. It's heart-wrenching to watch

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden closely watching Ukraine as conditions on the ground rapidly deteriorate. The President speaking on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier today.

PSAKI: He commended his brave. Leadership, his brave actions, the brave actions of the Ukrainian people who are fighting to defend their country.

LEE (voice-over): As U.S. intelligence officials warn that Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv could be captured by Russian forces within days.

PSAKI: And we've continued to see Russia as progression. Even as we've seen resistance on the ground, Russian's military -- Russia's military continues to advance toward Kyiv. So there is that real possibility.

LEE (voice-over): The two leaders speaking after Zelensky publicly suggested his country is not receiving adequate support from the U.S. and that sanctions are not enough to stop Russia's intensifying invasion.

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE (through translation): Just suppose they had Russia was hit with sanctions yesterday. But these are not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil.

LEE (voice-over): Biden again consulting with NATO leaders, as NATO announced the activation of its response force for the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to take this seriously.

LEE (voice-over): The U.S. also announcing sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Amid the conflict overseas, the President also marking a historic day at the White House.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, as we watch freedom and liberty under attack abroad, I'm here to fulfill my responsibilities under the Constitution to preserve freedom and liberty here in the United States of America.

LEE (voice-over): Nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

BIDEN: For too long, our government, our courts haven't looked like America. I believe it's time that we have a court reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation.

LEE (voice-over): If confirmed, Jackson would be the first black woman to serve on the highest court.

JUDGE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: As it happens, I share a birthday with the first black woman ever to be appointed as a federal judge, the Honorable Constance Baker Motley. Today, I proudly stand on Judge Motley's shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under law.

LEE (voice-over): Jackson, a former clerk for Justice Breyer, expressing gratitude to her former boss in her remarks.

JACKSON: Justice Breyer, the members of the Senate will decide if I fill your seat, but please know that I could never fill your shoes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: Now that confirmation process is already underway. Judge Jackson is expected to start meeting with senators next week. And notably, Jake, President Biden noted today that Jackson has been already confirmed by the Senate three times in the past, including by getting some Republican support. But, of course, we've already started hearing some criticism of this nomination from some Republican senators, including the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who today said that she was the favor choice of far left dark money groups. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, MJ Lee, reporting from the White House for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Here to discuss, President Biden Supreme Court Congressman James Clyburn, South Carolina, the House Majority Whip. Congressman, two years ago today, to this very day, then candidate Biden pledged to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court if elected. President Obama tweeted her selection has, "Already inspired young black women like my daughters to set their sights higher, and her confirmation will help them believe they can be anything they want to be.

We should note that Biden made that pledge, because he wanted your endorsement. Tell us what this history making pick means to you.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC), MAJORITY LEADER: Well, thank you very much for having me, Jake. It means a whole lot to me. But also, it means a whole lot to my three grown daughter -- my daughters, or among those people who spoke to me back when we were going through all of our decision making, trying to decide what to do here in South Carolina, to pick a nominee. And the Supreme Court lacked of an African American woman, was constantly being discussed. And so that's how I decided to put that into the mix when I talked to candidates two years ago.

[17:45:09]

And so the President is making history today, but he's also fulfilling a commitment that he made. And that's the kind of Joe Biden that I know.

TAPPER: Well, just to take one step back from it all, sir, if I can. That decision that you made was rather momentous. If you had not endorsed Joe Biden, he would not be president. And if you would not exactly that pledge, then Judge Jackson would not be the Supreme Court nominee. I mean, that must feel pretty cool.

CLYBURN: Well, you know, I don't know all of that speculations. So, you know, he did it and it happened. I don't know, it may have happened without my endorsement or without that plan. But we made the endorsement when he made the pledge, and it has happened.

Now, I want to say that all of us started discussing this two years ago. And then all of a sudden, during the discussions, a lot of people made a lot of recommendations as to who it should be. I joined in that. And I recommended a South Carolinian who I'm very proud of the most South Carolinians all.

And she got considered. She was in the final three. She was not the toy. But let me tell you, this is a good choice, a choice that I think deserves really unanimous support. I know she won't get it. But she should get strong, bipartisan support. He is eminently qualified to serve on the United States Supreme Court. And I'm doing everything I can to be helpful.

TAPPER: You just alluded to the fact that you had wanted the president to pick Judge Michelle Childs, although you support the nomination of Judge Jackson. Did President Biden explain to you why he did not pick Judge Childs?

CLYBURN: No, he didn't have to. As you know, nobody had ever heard of Judge Childs across the country until Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott and myself, started talking about her. And she got a lot of scrutiny, most of it very positive. And I think the President, it was very positive on her.

If he were not positive, he would not have nominated her or would not have interviewed her among the last three people that he was considering. So he's very high on her. And I thank the President for honoring the state of South Carolina, honoring public colleges by interviewing her for this job. And I think that he did what he thought was the best thing to do in nominating the person that he did. And I support that.

TAPPER: So you just mentioned South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who joined you in publicly supporting the nomination of Justice Childs. We should point out Graham was also one of three Republican senators to vote to confirm Judge Jackson to her current position on the D.C. Court of Appeals. He did that last summer, but he attacked her nomination today saying that it suggests the radical left one, because Judge Child was not picked. What was your reaction when you saw that statement?

CLYBURN: I smiled. Look, Lindsey Graham and I are from the same state but we've had a different background and experiences growing up. So what he see in this nomination may be totally different from what I see. I do not see this at all the way he's expressed today.

I think it's a mainstream nomination. I think that she is an African American woman born and raised in the south, haven't been educated elsewhere, live in Washington, D.C. for a long, long time. And the way I see it, Washington, D.C. is below the Mason-Dixon Line. But she knows a lot about Southern living. And I think she brings diversity to this court that we have not had before.

TAPPER: Congressman James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, thank you so much. Have a good weekend, sir. It's good to see you again.

Back to the breaking news and our world lead, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is warning that tonight will be very difficult as people around the world are coming together to show their support for the people of Ukraine. That's next.

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TAPPER: Watching a video from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine today, a woman brushing glass from the window, still singing the Ukrainian national anthem. At the end there, she says, quote, long live Ukraine.

We want to take a brief moment to show you the global impact of Vladimir Putin's unprovoked bloody war and the fierce widespread outrage we're seeing from around the world. While war continues to unfold on the streets of Ukraine, in Paris, several hundreds of people gathered in support of Ukraine. And Berlin, Germany protests in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

[17:55:02]

More than 200 people showed up outside the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel and hundreds of Ukrainians gathered outside the gates of Downing Street in London. In the U.S., rallies in New York and Massachusetts. In North Carolina and in Colorado, Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans say they feel helpless and worried.

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This is horrible. Our families are there, little kids are there. Like last night, we pretty much didn't sleep at all because how can you sleep? How can you sleep knowing that their airplanes flying and dropping bombs on the city where are your families, your friends?

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Back in Russia, some 1,700 Russian protesters in more than 50 Russian cities have been arrested so far, protesting Putin's war. More than 900 of them in Moscow alone. We should also note, in just the last few minutes, Russia used its veto power to block the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning its invasion of Ukraine. We'll be right back.

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TAPPER: Don't miss CNN State of the Union this Sunday morning. My colleague Dana Bash will talk to Republican Senator Mitt Romney plus NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that's at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern Sunday on CNN.

Our coverage continues now with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Have a wonderful peaceful weekend.