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Putin Addresses Russians After Wagner Revolt In Russia; Putin: Rebels Understood They Resorted To Criminal Acts; U.S., Canada Launch Probe Into Titan Sub Implosion. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 26, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They will have watched these scenes in Rostov-on-Don, in the self of Russia with crowds cheering Wagner fighters and Yevgeny Prigozhin. And that would have sent chills through the Kremlin. That's not what they want to see on the streets of their own city.

And so, in an attempt to sort of regain some credibility, Putin in this very short speech, you know, gave some time to making it clear that it was him that gave the order to make sure there was no further bloodshed. And so, you know, he knows that Russian people, while they may have supported the critique of Yevgeny Prigozhin, supported his, you know, kind of condemnation of the way has been conducted by the military top brass.

He also clearly understood that Russians are not supportive of the idea of more Russians being killed. And so, I think that was probably an attempt by Vladimir Putin to, you know, sort of like, you know, show himself to have been the hero of the moment, rather than the president who looks incredibly weak as a result of this.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Yes, hero of the moment. And yet, the president who oversaw a country in which a private army was able to take a city in the southern part of the country that controls operations inside Ukraine and march a good two-thirds of the way up the highway towards the Russian capital. Remarkable events there. We've just heard from the Russian president. We're going to have much more on those comments, those breaking stories, right after a short break. Please do stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Just a very big moment that we see happening here. Moments ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing his country. He really needed to after the brief, but brazen armed rebellion that we saw over the weekend. Putin saying, quote, all the necessary actions to neutralize the threat were taken to stop the Wagner mutiny.

He called it a mutiny. He also said that Wagner troops may choose to sign contracts with the Russian military or go to Belarus. Clearly trying to appeal to some of them there. Back with us now, we have CNN international diplomatic editor Nic

Robertson. Interestingly, he did not say Prigozhin's name which is something that is a pattern for him when he is not really wanting to elevate an enemy of his.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And he elevates that enemy. The enemy that's right under his skin and has been for some time, Alexey Navalny. An enemy that has tried to neutralize. That he's tried to poison. That he's tried to have killed. Who is in jail? Who's going through a horrendous series of trials in Russian courts at the moment. Alexey Navalny a very different figure to Yevgeny Prigozhin. Yevgeny Prigozhin is a brutal thug and killer. Alexey Navalny is a champion leader of Russia's putative opposition that Putin had locked up.

So when Putin doesn't mention Yevgeny Prigozhin's name, you know that that guy has gotten to him, that he is a problem. And that this is something that Putin is clearly struggling to deal with. He likes to set the agenda. He likes to set the tone. He's trying to cast himself as a savior of the country right now. But he's got a big problem. We spoke about it before. He did not have Yevgeny Prigozhin rounded up, taken off the streets, when he could have done it, when he was in Russia, in a known location on Saturday. Now, it's so clear that this has now blown up to become a huge, huge issue for him.

SCIUTTO: No question. Does not appear to be over. Also joining us, retired Army Major John Spencer. He's the chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Madison Policy Forum. Major Spencer, good to have you on. I wonder, imagine yourself serving in the U.S. military. And a private army crosses the border, takes over a city with essential functions in running a war in Ukraine, and then drives two-thirds of the way to the capital. There's a deal that supposedly defuses the situation. But then you have the president go on national television -- international television and say -- accused that group of mutiny and betraying the country. Looking at that, is there any sign that the dispute is over for Russia?

MAJ. JOHN SPENCER (RET.), URBAN WARFARE STUDIES CHAIR, MADISON POLICY FORUM: No, absolutely not. And if I was a soldier, especially a Russian soldier in Ukraine, I would be very concerned, very worried. Morale is already low and now they're getting messages about what's happening to this force that's been in Ukraine gathering power. Because that's really what this is about for both Putin and Prigozhin is power and money. And Prigozhin has been the lap dog and done a lot for Putin. But specifically in Ukraine, you have almost a year Russian forces didn't take a single piece of ground outside of Bakhmut which Prigozhin built himself up to be able to take that rubblized town that he took.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Major, I'm curious to get your perspective on the capacity of Russian intelligence. Because it seems like nobody at the Kremlin saw this coming.

SPENCER: Right, and I think this is what -- personally, I think Prigozhin was testing the system. There was -- one, it showed Putin has weaknesses. But also shows that his 20-plus years of making himself coup proof pretty much stood. Even Kadyrov didn't stand with Prigozhin. Although I'm sure that the Russian generals that sat with Prigozhin in Rostov-on-Don will have to answer some questions. But it is amazing that Prigozhin is going to be allowed to live even today. I think Putin's waiting for the smoke to clear and see what happened. I mean, maybe he's blind inside of Ukraine, because Prigozhin was gathering power.

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: It's really -- we were just talking about this today. He appears to be scot-free, but that does not potentially -- that's not the end of the story, perhaps, for Yevgeny Prigozhin very possibly here. Where does Putin go from here, major? I mean, he's had to give this brief speech to punctuate this moment. He had no choice. He had to do this. He had to get out there and have this moment where he was narrating this moment. Where does he go from here? What do you expect to see from him?

SPENCER: I think -- this is consequence management. And it isn't, you know, interesting that he spoke after Prigozhin. And Prigozhin still was able to get his message out there. I saw all the tweets and all of the social media about Prigozhin's message before Putin's. That's significant when you're playing for power. Putin is going to -- I don't know what kind of crackdowns he will do, but clearly, he's got to investigate where the weaknesses that allowed this to happen, both in domestically and in Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: One more question, if we can. I ask you to put your uniform back on for a moment and imagine now you're commanding Ukrainian forces on the eastern front in Ukraine. Do you attempt to take advantage of turmoil inside of Russia? Particularly given that Wagner forces have played such an central role in Russia's invasion in Ukraine and now questions about leadership. Their reintegration with Russian regular army forces. What would you do?

SPENCER: Yes, absolutely, Ukraine should be taking advantage of all of this turmoil that's happening. Although the Wagner forces weren't on the line. It didn't create an opening tactically on the front line but it definitely creates openings in the psychology of the Russian forces, on the command and control. I mean, Prigozhin went to the headquarters of the Ukrainian war for this. Ukraine, I'm sure there will be both militarily, politically cognitively trying to take advantage of what Prigozhin has really mixed up and done here.

SANCHEZ: Major John Spencer, thank you so much for the time.

Let's discuss now with CNN's Bianna Golodryga. Because, Brianna, you have to wonder how the Russian people have absorbed the last few days, even as Vladimir Putin is saying that it's thanks to Russian society that this uprising was quelled. We saw the reaction that Prigozhin got on the streets.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, that was in the city of Rostov, and that's obviously the city from where the war is being commanded. I mean, I think this is a bit of whiplash for Russians that are watching what has been a leadership vacuums in terms of hearing from Vladimir Putin and the generals leading this war over the past 24 to 48 hours. And this speech, I have to say, was a bit oversold, given that it was pegged as something that would define the future of Russia.

What in fact it was, was a speech that most of us would have anticipated in the early hours of this mutiny, Friday, Saturday. Where was this Vladimir Putin that we just saw right now? I mean that would have made more sense.

And now what's interesting is, A, what happens with Yevgeny Prigozhin -- whose name he did not mention. Sort of the way he does not mention other detractors and opponents' names. And also, what is the future for Wagner? I mean, on the one hand, you could view this as an olive branch that he offered some of the soldiers who he, A, accused of treason, but at the same time offered them an opportunity to sign with the ministry of defense. Go home to their families even, or to go to Belarus. And remember, that is in contrast to what Yevgeny Prigozhin has been saying that Wagner is alive and well, that it's just relocated to Belarus. So, I think the next few days should be interesting. I do question why Vladimir Putin waited so long and would impact at all this could have on his hold.

KEILAR: Yes, and speaking in the 10:00 p.m. hour local time, right, in Moscow, as he addressed his country and the world watching -- and certainly he knew that. We're learning, Bianna, from Belarusian state media that President Lukashenko is going to be answering questions from journalists on Tuesday. I wonder what you think that may look like.

GOLODRYGA: Well, I don't expect Lukashenko to go rogue. I would be very worried, as I said earlier, I wouldn't take a life insurance policy on Yevgeny Prigozhin anytime soon. He's a supplicant of Vladimir Putin. And this was something -- as we noted and heard from Vladimir Putin specifically, thanking Lukashenko for stepping in and acting as an intermediary here. But he's going to be doing -- making no, you know, no doubts about the fact that he's going to be doing whatever Vladimir Putin wants him to do. So, I would expect to hear similar lines from Lukashenko that we heard from Vladimir Putin today.

[15:45:00]

SCIUTTO: What credibility should we give the story of this deal? We had the Belarusian opposition leader on this broadcast about an hour ago, saying she's seen no evidence that Prigozhin's forces are actually in Belarus, and has some doubt they will end up there. I mean, you have Putin's characterization. He's not afraid of the truth. Lukashenko is Putin's puppet here. I mean, should we acknowledge that perhaps we don't know what the next step is for Prigozhin and his forces. What is the most unlikely outcome for that?

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it's sort of pick your propaganda, pick your lie at this point. I mean, this is a Frankenstein-type of scenario that Vladimir Putin himself has orchestrated and developed over his 23 years in office. So, whether you think you can believe Dmitry Peskov, or Vladimir Putin, or Yevgeny Prigozhin, or Alexander Lukashenko. I mean, I think it is with a healthy dose of skepticism that we should be interpreting anything that we hear from them.

This -- it does appear, took the Kremlin and caught them off guard. And now there's a game of catch-up. And the big question is, was Russian intelligence aware of what Yevgeny Prigozhin was planning to do? This was sort of in the open. He was very public about his animosity and the vitriol he felt towards the leaders of this war. He didn't directly go after Vladimir Putin but he took it to a next level on Friday. We haven't seen him before question the validity of this war itself.

That having been said, there are thousands of Wagner mercenaries sort of hanging in the balance now. Vladimir Putin suggesting that he has quelled this revolt. And has stepped in to avoid further bloodshed. That was similar to what we heard from Yevgeny Prigozhin. Remember he said it was his decision as to why they turned around from Moscow. So, now it's just a matter of who blinks first. I want to see what happens in the next 24 hours, if we continue to hear from Vladimir Putin. I think it was interesting because some had expected that perhaps we would hear from him some change in military leadership. Whether it was Gerasimov, whether it was Shoigu who he was replacing, that didn't happen. And I think at least yet. And I think that is notable.

KEILAR: Yes, this was billed as a speech more about the future, expecting some major announcements. And we really didn't see that. So, are we going to as you're booking for, Bianna, going to be seeing that in the coming day. Bianna, thank you so much --

GOLODRYGA: And one other --

KEILAR: Yes, go on.

GOLODRYGA: Well one other thing, it was just interesting to hear Vladimir Putin finally express outrage that 12 of his airmen and pilots had been killed by Wagner forces. This was arguably the biggest hit that the Russian air force has taken in recent history. So it was a bit puzzling as to why they were given amnesty just a few days ago. Well, now you saw the reaction that most had expected right then and there.

SCIUTTO: Yes, you had in effect blue on blue, right? As the military would say, you had Russians killing Russians here. And Prigozhin himself said multiple aircraft taking down.

KEILAR: Yes, and until we saw what Putin said. It had been largely glossed over. Bianna, thank you so much. And we of course will be watching you on "THE LEAD" here at the top of the hour. You can stay with CNN for the latest developments on what we have been covering this afternoon. The revolt in Russia and these comments from Vladimir Putin.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Combing the deep seafloor, looking for debris. That is what the Coast Guard is doing in the North Atlantic as it investigates what went so terribly wrong on the Titan submersible. Five people, of course on board, losing their lives. Multiple international agencies are now looking into what caused the catastrophic implosion. The Coast Guard's Marine Board will review voice recordings and data from the sub and from the mothership. And it could recommend even possible criminal charges.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is following all of this for us from St. John's in Newfoundland. Miguel, can you tell us the latest on the investigations? And there are many.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many. Six investigations or inquiries in all, four different countries. And right now they are in the evidence gathering phase. Trying to understand exactly what happened. Hoping to prevent it again. The Polar Prince here is the ship that took the Titan submersible out to the Titanic wreckage on its doom voyage. It was docked across the harbor at a Coast Guard dock for much of the weekend.

The Canadian Coast Guard went on to the ship, did interviews with OceanGate employees, Horizon Maritime employees and family members who were on the ship. And then collected up all the data that they could -- video, voice recordings, computer data from that submersible as well.

There is also a physical search still going on, on the ocean floor. The U.S. Coast Guard saying that they have recovered some pieces of the sub, the Titan, and they may try for larger pieces. So that's the question now, if they cannot figure out what happened to that sub with the pieces they can get -- with the subs that they can down there, they will have to send bigger gear down to pull up large pieces of it.

[15:55:00]

Which is just too heavy for the subs they have right now. But right now, full investigation mode. The RCMP or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the national police force here, says that if they see evidence of criminal wrongdoing, then it will start its own investigation and possibly bring criminal charges -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Miguel Marquez, thank you for that report for us live from in front of the Polar Prince.

SANCHEZ: We also have an update to bring you. This just into CNN. A Kremlin spokesperson says that Vladimir Putin right now holding a meeting with heads of law enforcement agencies. Clearly still a lot to get to when it comes to that story. Stay with CNN for the very latest.

And thank you so much for joining us this afternoon on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.