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Don Lemon Tonight

Russian Forces Now In Kyiv; President Zelensky Will Fight For His Country; U.S. Salute President Zelensky's Courage And Bravery; U.S. And NATO Reassure Support To Ukraine; Fierce Fighting Seen Everywhere In Ukraine; Winning Ukraine Is Not A Piece Of Cake For Putin. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired February 25, 2022 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST (on camera): I'm Wolf Blitzer. Thanks very much for joining us. Please join me tomorrow for a special two-hour Saturday edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." That begins live at 5 p.m. Eastern. Our breaking news coverage continues right now with DON LEMON TONIGHT.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Thank you, Wolf. We'll be watching tomorrow. This is DON LEMON TONIGHT.

Our breaking news, Ukraine's capital city is in the cross hairs tonight, and what's happening there right now is more dangerous, more dire than it has ever been. Explosions seen and heard tonight in parts of Kyiv itself.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LEMON: And there's also this, it is eyewitness video also in Kyiv.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LEMON: That is in Ukraine's capital city, many explosions in multiple parts of the city. Ukraine says heavy fighting is under way in an eastern suburb of Kyiv. The fighting getting closer and closer to the city center from multiple directions. We've got it all covered for you.

Let's get right to CNN's Alex Marquardt in Kyiv, Jill Dougherty is in Moscow, Kaitlan Collins at the White House, Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon.

Hello to one and all. Alex, I'm going to start with you. Explosions heard tonight in Kyiv and heavy fighting south of the capital. This comes as Ukraine's president says the fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. Russian forces are advancing. Give us the latest there, please, sir.

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Don, clear evidence that the Russians are encircling the city, there is fighting in every direction. And it's not just that it's coming from every direction, but as you noted, it is coming closer and closer to the city center.

In just the past few hours we have heard explosions to the west near a military base. We don't know the nature of that fighting, but those explosions just within three to four miles we understand of the city center, that is the closest that we have seen those explosions yet.

We've also been told by the Ukrainians that there's fierce fighting to the south and to the east of the city. And then over the past few days since this invasion started, we've also seen Russian forces making their way in from the north.

Our colleague Matthew Chance was out near the Antonov airfield which we understand has now been taken by Russian forces. So, as the U.S. and other NATO allies have feared, Russian forces moving in on this city, encircling it, the president of Ukraine warning earlier tonight that tonight would be decisive, that the coming hours would be decisive for this country.

So, it is -- it is disturbingly quiet here, Don, until it is not. We drove into the city around 11 p.m. tonight. There was not a soul in sight. There is a curfew in effect but of course you can understand a lot of people staying inside as a result of this fighting getting closer and closer.

And then every few moments it seems you hear a burst of explosions. We heard small arms fire not too long ago, and so this fighting getting closer and closer to the center, President Zelensky saying that his forces are fighting back valiantly. He says that there have been -- there have been hundreds of Russian casualties, but Ukraine has also sustained casualties.

Don, we drove all across this country today from the south eastern part all the way here to the capital. There has been a radical change on the ground among the people since this invasion has started. Long lines at gas stations, check points with sandbags piled high, roadblocks so that you have to swerve and slow down presumably to prevent, you know, Russian forces from having an easy time on these roads.

So there has been a significant change. Obviously not just since this invasion started but really in the past few hours. They've been running special trains, evacuation trains out of the capital of Kyiv.

So, in the words of President Zelensky, this is a decisive moment, and we are keeping close watch, John -- excuse me, Don, as these explosions light up the sky. And we continue to hear air-raid sirens and violence continuing as this new day continues to break, Don.

LEMON: Yes. And we are watching some of it unfolding, the video that was sent in earlier. So, we're keeping an eye on that. Standby, please, Alex.

[22:05:01]

To Oren Liebermann now. Oren is at the Pentagon. The Pentagon says the U.S. will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine. Kyiv is under siege now, so what is the plan, Oren?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Pentagon isn't about to put out in great detail what it's going to do to make sure that Ukraine has help. I don't think you'll find anyone in the U.S. government is willing to do that right now for security reasons.

But and this is worded very carefully by Pentagon U.S. Secretary John Kirby. He said, the lethal -- the lethal and nonlethal aid that's gotten in the support to the Ukrainians that's not in the past tense, strongly suggesting that the effort is ongoing.

Of course, that raises the question of how exactly did you get it in? Before Russia invaded Ukraine it was flown in on U.S. cargo aircraft, U.S. military planes. That's not happening now as the U.S. tries to avoid any encounter or confrontation between Russian and U.S. forces.

What other options are there? Through the border perhaps. We know Poland has said that it sent a convoy of ammunition through the border and then it has reached its neighbor Ukraine. Could the U.S. do that? Certainly, it's possible, but the U.S. is being very careful with the info it's putting out about the sort of aid it's working to get into Ukraine.

LEMON: Kaitlan Collins at the White House. The U.S. is also imposing sanctions on Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. What impact will this have, Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's not anything that's going to be deeply changing their lives. It's not like either of them were planning on coming to the United States anytime soon, because we should note, a travel restriction comes to this.

It's not like Putin stores a great deal of his wealth in the United States. Obviously, he knew he say at risk of something like this happening not just now but in recent years, of course, and so that has been reported that he stores his wealth elsewhere and what not.

But what you're seeing with these sanctions tonight from the United State on Putin directly is very provocative. It is symbolic but it is also very provocative because you rarely see a world leader, certainly one of Putin's stature get sanctioned like this.

Normally that is something reserved for the leaders of North Korea or Syria, and now Putin finds himself on this list because of course what has happened in Ukraine in recent days. And this is a decision that we should note President Biden just made in the last 24 hours.

He told me last month that was something on the table, but yesterday when they rolled out those sanctions when Russia attacked Ukraine, this was not included on the list, and he said it was just simply still on the table but didn't explain why they didn't take that step yesterday, Don.

Then you saw today the European Union went after Putin, went after Sergei Lavrov who was his top diplomat and sanctioned them, put them on this list, freezing their assets. When it comes to United States sanctions it means there are travel restrictions in place for both of them and for several other members of his inner circle.

And so, what this shows you is just really, they're trying to send a message to him because it's not just the European Union, not just the United States, Canada as well. You're seeing these countries send this message to Putin as a response to what has happened here.

And of course, a question of whether it changes what he's doing in Ukraine seems very unlikely. But it is them trying to say this is the list that we believe you now belong on.

LEMON: Yes. And the question is what will get his attention, Kaitlan? To Jill Dougherty now in Moscow. Jill, the United State says that Russia plans to threaten to kill the families of Ukrainian soldiers if they do not surrender. Is anything beneath Vladimir Putin?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I don't know how to answer that actually because I don't think we've seen quite this behavior before with President Putin. I mean, just go back a month. There were many people who were saying, well, he's not serious, this is just a bluff, he'll never do it and now look where we are tonight.

It's kind of an odd feeling, too, because you know, I was watching here in the bureau we have three screens right on top of each other, and I was watching two Russian stations and CNN. CNN has all the live reporting, obviously.

Russian TV is really not playing anything live at this point from Kyiv. It's all coming from the Donbas region. And remember that's an area that was declared independent, those two people's republics that were declared independent this week. And why would that be?

Well, what they are doing in this kind of mirror image they are saying these are the people who are under threat, those Russian speakers who are in the Donbas region. You have a lot of videos. There was a reporter dressed in a flack-jacket who was running around with tanks that are Russian. And I should say they're local Russian-backed separatists with tanks saying we're being attacked by the Ukrainians. We have to protect the people.

So, they're making the case at least to the Russian public that the people who are really under threat are the people in those regions. And that gives them the justification for going after the Ukrainians who they argue and say are really the culprits here. So, again, mirror image.

[22:10:05]

LEMON: Kaitlan, you said you had a conversation with the president last week. You asked him a couple of questions, he answered. But as Russian troops get closer to Kyiv, talk to me more about the conversation President Biden is having with Zelensky?

COLLINS: I think they're really worried, because, yes, we are talking about the resistance that you are seeing these Ukrainian fighters put up against the Russians. But they do know they ultimately have their sights set on Kyiv, on the capital on taking it and overthrowing the government there.

And Clarissa Ward earlier compared this to David and Goliath situation, talking about how mismatch it is. And I think that's a recognition that is happening inside here at the White House. And President Biden did speak with President Zelensky today. It was a call that lasted about 40 minutes.

You saw afterwards before they had announced the sanctions on Putin, that Zelensky said they talked about strengthening sanctions, they talked about assistance, they talked about United States support for Ukraine.

But I think that the recognition inside the White House is obviously that Zelensky feels that he is in danger. He has talked about how he is Putin's number one enemy right now. Where he is he says he's staying in the capital.

And so, there have been conversations that happened privately about his safety, about his whereabouts. The White House obviously is not talking publicly about how making sure that they are checking on where he is. They do know where he is, though, they believe.

And so, you heard him say earlier, this comment from Jen Psaki at the briefing, I thought was really striking. She said that Zelensky is still the president of Ukraine. Of course, that means it is in question that that may not always be the case, or that they may actually try to overthrow him.

And so, I think there is a real recognition here of the risk and the gravity of the situation that is happening on the ground. And so, they have stayed in contact with him, of course they have stayed in contact with other Ukrainian officials.

But certainly, you've heard these warnings from Zelensky, that he is making in these videos, and they're getting very desperate about the level of concern that they have.

LEMON: Speaking off that, and the videos, Alex, Zelensky and his aides posted a video from Kyiv streets earlier. Watch this, and then, we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): We are all here, our military are here. Citizens and society are here. We are all here defending our independence, our state, and it will remain served. Glory to our defenders. Glory to our women and defenders. Glory to Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): You know, Alex, it's interesting, because he said that he was, you know, target number one for Russia and for Putin. But there he is on the streets with identifiable buildings, the sheer bravery we are seeing from the soldiers, from Ukraine's leadership, it's really incredible. MARQUARDT: Yes, he said he was target number one, and that his family

was target number two. And as you can see in that video there, he and his aids are dressed in all of military garb. They put that video out in response, fake reporting, that he had fled the capital.

Zelensky clearly trying to lead from the front here. He has been walking a very difficult line, trying to keep this population calm, trying to prevent panic but at the same time, agreeing with the U.S. assessment to some extent, that there was a really significant threat from the Russians, and calling for as much weaponry as they could possibly get.

So there has been a huge influx of money and weapons from the U.S. and from other NATO countries, but they are still distinctly lacking all kinds of things that they would need to face the Russians. Most notably, sophisticated anti-aircraft weaponry.

We've seen them get Stinger missiles gone, which are shoulder mounted missiles that you fire at helicopters and jets. But they don't have any real, sophisticated air defenses. So that David and Goliath comparison that Kaitlan and Clarissa have been making, is absolutely apt. You have one of the biggest militaries in the world, in Russia, coming at Ukraine now, encircling Ukraine with 175,000 troops, that was the last number that President Biden gave.

And Ukrainians have been keen to tell me, over the past few weeks, that this is not the Ukraine of 2014. And that's when Russia came in and annexed Crimea. They built up their military since then. They've gotten a lot more sophisticated, a lot more training. And some of that weaponry --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Alex, are we hearing, is that explosion that we are hearing in the background, or no? Or am I mistaken?

MARQUARDT: I have not heard anything in the past few moments, Don. But it is -- it is highly possible. I mean, this is something that happens really, you know, every couple of minutes. And, you know, we've, as we were saying, we have heard those explosions from all around the city. That is the north. And to the east is where there is more fighting, but to the north, is where we have seen some of the fiercest fighting, where the Russians have been trying to come down.

[22:15:00]

And to your point about the Ukrainian forces, we have seen them putting up a significant resistance. We have heard praise of them by military experts, and officials in NATO. They have managed, it appears, to at least slow the Russian advance, and inflict significant casualties on the Russians. But they are alone in this fight.

President Biden has made clear, quite some time ago, that no Americans were going to be coming here and fighting this. NATO said the same. They made clear that this is not a NATO country, so the Ukrainians are alone in this fight, Don. LEMON: Well, that leads me to a good question for Oren Liebermann.

You know, he mentioned, you talked about, you know, the missile defense and so forth, Oren. There is been conflicting reports about who has control of Ukrainian airspace right now. Is that the Russians? Who is it?

LIEBERMANN: So, let's first talk about why this is so important. If you're going to conduct a massive ground operation, for example, an invasion of a foreign country, you want to control the skies, so you can see your targets, and so, you can hit your target. And that's what the Russians would have gone for as quickly as possible. Not only taking out Ukrainian air defenses, but also, first establishing what's known as air superiority, and then, uncontested air supremacy where you have no one challenging your control of the skies.

From what we understand, the Russians have not established air supremacy, and they have some degree of air superiority. But certainly, not what they would've wanted at this stage. And that's because the Ukrainians, as Alex pointed out, have been effective to some degree, to some extent of fighting back and using the anti- aircraft weaponry they have. The Stingers from the U.S., and I think other NATO countries have provided Stingers as well. And they have some anti-aircraft weapons.

Now, how much of this is left up to the Russians would have targeted it? How much has already been used? Those are two critical questions, right now I suspect only the Ukrainian military knows the answer to that question. But with what they have, they are able to contest, control over the skies. And from what we know, from what we've been told here, the Russians do not have air supremacy, and they have a degree, some degree, it's unclear how much or how little, of air superiority but the Ukrainians are fighting back. And that includes in the sky.

LEMON: All right, Oren, Jill, Kaitlan, and Alex, thank you very much. We appreciate it. We'll see you all soon. We've got much more of our breaking news tonight. Kyiv in the crosshairs. Russia closing in, with explosions in multiple parts of Ukraine's capital city.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:20:00]

LEMON (on camera): Kyiv under attack tonight with explosions in multiple locations. Let's get right to CNN military analyst retired Major General James 'Spider' Marks.

General, good evening to you. The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky is warning that tonight is critical in the fight to keep Ukraine. Kyiv is under siege. What do we know about the Russian attacks? How much danger is Kyiv actually in right now?

JAMES 'SPIDER' MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Kyiv certainly is in great danger. What's working to the Ukrainian advantage is most importantly, the fact that the invasion into the vicinity of Kyiv and the rest of the country is starting to bog down. What works to the Ukrainian advantages if they can get inside the necessity for the Russian forces to achieve speed?

What Putin was hoping to have been was, within 24, maybe 36 hours, maybe two days, was to have Kyiv under his control in some capacity. He's not there. It's getting close, but he's not there. If it takes additional time, they then become exposed.

Now, in the vicinity of Kyiv, you're never going to see anything that looks like that where it's just going to be completely surrounded by forces. What's going to happen, primarily, you're going to see the city have forces up here and then, you're going to have forces that are becoming down here, and they already are forces are coming into here, and also, trying to work their way into the city.

The best thing that can happen for the Ukrainians, if they can start, let me bring in a little more closely, if they can start to take out some of these crossing the areas that you have here, these bridges, these avenues of approach, the ability for the Russian forces to maneuver within this very tight terrain, with some degree of flexibility. They're going to lose that.

The second -- the second you walk into terrain like that, it gets incredibly compartmentalized. You can see it right here. But what the Ukrainians could be doing, is they could be taking these bridges out, because you're going to have forces over here, Russian forces over here and over there, and you want to isolate them, and keep them from joining up and achieving a greater objective.

LEMON: Let's talk about that, because you're pointing out, waterways there. The significance of that Dnieper River. What kind of obstacles can that put up for the Russian or Russian offensive?

MARKS: Yes. Let me, let me take you back here. What's really important is, you've got the Dnieper River coming through here into the city. That automatically is what we call a barrier that will really advantage the defender. Forces, Ukrainian forces in Kyiv and elsewhere so this is to the great advantage, but what has to happen, and I haven't seen it yet, it hasn't been reported yet, is efforts by the Ukrainian forces to create what's called, counter mobility operations.

That's dropping bridges, putting up very significant barriers, forcing the Russian forces into areas, where they can now target with a degree of accuracy, as those forces slow down. That's what's most important.

LEMON: There's also an amphibious assault underway in Odessa. How does that factor into Putin's overall strategy?

[22:24:59]

MARKS: Well, most importantly, when you -- when you look at this, here is the area that's most important. Crimea is right here. And what happens is, Putin has naval forces down here. That gives him, and this would be a holding action more than anything else, that would give him the ability to protect here, and to hopefully prevent any type of NATO forces that might be trying to contest these naval forces.

It wouldn't be to NATO's advantage to insert naval forces, NATO naval forces into the Black Sea. That's a bath tub. That's not a place where you want to be, you are a very vulnerable target. But so are the Russians. So that's a calculation that works into it.

But this is not a prime objective. This is simply a holding action. The prime objective for Putin is this right here, it's Kyiv.

LEMON: Kyiv.

MARKS: And bear in mind, bear in mind, you've got 180, 190, let's say, 200,000 forces the tooth, what's called the tooth to tail, of that total 200,000, probably no more than 65 to 70,000 forces are available to try to control key objectives Ukraine. It's not going to happen.

If you had that entire 60,000 forces in Kyiv, working this type of outward in, you might have some degree of success. But just think about it in terms of what we can understand. The New York City Police Department is in the vicinity of 50,000. How much -- how many challenges do they have trying to maintain law and order and control in a city of three million here?

I mean, it's an approximation that makes sense. Urban fighting like this, Don, absolutely sucks up people. This is all about infringement on the ground. Everything is a support activity. Logistics, air, intelligence, medical support, truck drivers, et cetera. If you want to control something you've got to get onto your vehicle, and you got to start busting people in the head. And they don't have enough people to do that, the Russians don't.

LEMON: General, thank you, very informative. I appreciate it.

MARKS: You bet, Don.

LEMON: The fate of Ukraine being decided tonight, that's what their president is saying. Explosions across the capitol tonight. Stay with us.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): Explosion seen and heard across Kyiv tonight as Russian troops around Ukraine's capital.

I want to bring in now former defense secretary William Cohen. We are so lucky to have you on here to give your perspective. Thank you, secretary.

President Zelensky is saying the fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. Russian forces are close to the city. Thousands of people could be slaughtered in Ukraine. What should the U.S. do now?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, the U.S. is continuing to support Ukraine as best we can. But I think there are a number of suggestions coming out that we should have either air cover, no fly zones, corridors that are develop to get supplies to the Ukrainians.

That should've been considered long for this. We should've intimidated this day was coming. So, any notion that we are going to act at the last moment is very dangerous. The one thing we need to do is to calculate what our moves are and what the Russian moves are.

In this particular case, we have to be careful. You are dealing with a man who is threatening nuclear war against anyone who supports the Ukrainians. So, I think we have to be careful here. We are providing whatever support we can. The Ukrainians are showing us what the ancient Greek once said, I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.

They don't want to live on their knees under a Russian domination. So, they are showing us what courage is. And what we have to do is find out how can we continue to help them, assuming they survive during the night. Which I hope they will. And assuming that President Zelensky continues to live. Obviously, President Putin wants to kill him.

LEMON: I want to read this to you. The U.S. embassy tonight is warning U.S. citizens tweeting this, that the U.S. embassy -- the security situation throughout Ukraine remains highly volatile and conditions may deteriorate without warning. U.S. citizens should remain vigilant and know the location of the closest shelter or protected space. Pretty serious stuff. Does this sound like the fall of Kyiv is eminent?

COHEN: I don't know. I don't think anyone can say, well, it will happen tonight, tomorrow, the next day. Clearly, if this continues for any time -- as the general have said, General Marks has said, then it becomes more dangerous for the Russians. Then I would worry that Putin would simply start destroying buildings. Just firing into indiscriminately into civilian buildings and killing as many as he can.

That is the potential that we have to be concerned about as this thing drags on. And Ukrainians feel emboldened by their success. So, we have to face this now or face it later. Because if he is successful in taking Ukraine that pushes him up against NATO countries. And then, he's going to do the same thing.

I want you to back away, or else, don't forget, I have nuclear weapons. We have to face this issue at some point in time, if not tonight. But we have to deal with him in a way that, frankly, I think that other countries have as biggest stake as we do in this.

[22:34:55]

Where are the Chinese? The new best friends of the Russians. Why aren't they speaking to this saying, we are opposed to the invasion of any neutral country or any sovereign country. Why aren't they speaking out condemning it? Where is India? India is a major trading partner with the Soviet

Union, in fact, they bought their S-400s to air defense system. Why aren't they speaking out now? You have Israel saying that they may want to play here because they've been getting close to the Russians.

We need all hands-on deck here, not just the United States and NATO, but all of those countries who deal in trade with Russia saying, it's not just the sanctions that are going to hurt you, they're going to hurt you right away. But trade with all of the other countries could hurt you in a major way. And then you might have your own citizens rising up to overthrow you. That's what you have to be concerned about if this goes the wrong way, Mr. President Putin.

LEMON: You just mentioned pushing up against NATO countries, against NATO nations, Ukraine is not part of NATO. But the NATO response force was activated for the first time in history as a defensive measure in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Can you please speak to the significance of this? It's never happened before.

COHEN: Well, it's never had to happened before. This is the first time this response force is being called out. Again, it's more optical. More optics involved, so to speak, that we are reinforcing. We are prepared to reinforce all of the areas that are budding. Ukraine, don't come across and try to extend this beyond Ukraine because you'll be facing a much bigger force than you are doing right now.

So, I think it's symbolic and more have to come. Because I think if Putin is successful and taking over the Ukraine, if he can hold it, all of the other NATO countries are going to have to be on alert for what his next moves are going to be. Demanding that they remove NATO forces, they remove U.S. forces. They stop their training and practice together.

All of that will be on the line. Because what Putin has said, I don't just want Ukraine, I want you, meaning United States, out of Europe. So, we are going to have to face this -- with the threat of nuclear weapons. And again, I would -- I would hope that we would be able to penetrate Russian telecommunications as such, to bring the message to the Russian people.

This man wants to threaten the United States and NATO countries with nuclear war over an unjust attack upon fellow, either Russians or Ukrainians as Putin himself has indicated. These are our, I think we share the same genetic makeup, basically in terms of being Slavican people.

So, I think what we have is Putin is conducting a war that is unnecessary. It's going to be brutal. And the fact is, they're going to be war crimes committed. He has to be held accountable for it. This notion of de-Nazification, that just playing, it's just playing upon what he has become. He has become more of the Hitlerian force than certainly Ukrainians who are freedom fighters who are fighting for their freedom.

LEMON: Secretary Cohen, always a pleasure. We'll be talking soon, obviously with what's going on. Thank you so much.

Explosions across Ukraine's capital, morning breaking there right now and the situation is ever evolving. We've got right after this.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON (on camera): Ukraine's President Zelensky saying Ukrainians will stand their ground as explosions are heard overnight in multiple locations in the capital Kyiv.

Joining me now, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor. Ambassador, thank you. I appreciate you joining us. We're in incredibly tense part of this invasion right now.

Zelensky said that the fate of Ukraine is being decided right now. What will it mean if Russian forces move into Kyiv over the next few hours?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, Don, it will mean that the Russians have been able to mass enough forces around Kyiv to go in. And they will be rounding up people who will lead the country, in particular, President Zelensky. They will be looking for him.

President Zelensky has been courageous. President Zelensky has not backed down a bit. He's led his country. He stepped up. I mean, Don, here is a 43-year-old president who had two years in office. No previous political experience.

He is facing down a KGB operative who's been in office for 22 years. And the Ukrainian president is standing tall. He is standing tall. He is defying all that military might, equipment, and those soldiers all around Kyiv. All around where he is.

Now, he has -- he has disregarded some other advice in previous times. So, a weekend ago. Last weekend, he decided to go to Munich. To go to that security conference. Many people told him, don't go, don't go. Because you know, you might get caught out. The Russians might not let you back in.

Well, he went. He made a good speech. He demonstrated strength. And went back. And that's where he is now. He's in Kyiv. So, he is -- he is demonstrating courage and he is demonstrating leadership.

LEMON: So, Putin is directly speaking to the Ukrainian armed forces in televised -- in a televised address asking them to rise up against their own government. Listen, then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Do not let bandits and neo-Nazis use your children, wives, and old people as human shields. Take power into your own hands.

[22:44:58]

It looks like it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Those were the shot that he is using. But we're seeing how many Ukrainians are willing to fight and die for their country? Is this a miscalculation on Putin's part?

TAYLOR: Total miscalculation. So, Don, this is another demonstration of how President Putin, and probably the people around him don't understand Ukraine. They don't understand exactly what you just said, the willingness, the determination to fight and to defend their own land. And not just their land, they want to defend their own culture. Their own language, their own history, their own heroes. They want to defend their sovereignty with all that entails.

And President Putin, he's thinking of generations ago. He is thinking of, certainly eight years or nine years ago back when there was a pro- Russian president of Ukraine who was willing to do what President Putin told him. That's a totally different Ukraine, Don.

So today, based on, because of Putin's invasion in 2014 and because of the evasion right now, killing Ukrainians, Ukrainians hate him. Ukrainians hate him. They will hate whoever he puts in. If he is somehow able to put in a leader, a puppet, he will not last. The Ukrainians will go to the streets again. We've seen what happens.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Should he be charged with the war crimes? Should Putin be charge with the war crime?

TAYLOR: Absolutely.

LEMON: And one quickly -- all right, one quick thing. Because before you go. I've heard people talk about Putin's mental state here. Do you have an assessment of that? Do you have any comment about that?

TAYLOR: I don't. I don't. I've not -- I have never met him, Don. And fine with me. I have talked to people who have interviewed -- who have gotten information from some very senior western leaders who have seen him recently. And they come back and they describe a different man than they have saw a year ago.

So, they're, you know, we hear that there is a problem. You know, one other thing we know, Don, you're probably tight on time. There are military leaders, major generals, retired major general, Russians, who have told, advised, pleaded with President Putin, don't do this. Because you will destabilize your own regime.

He -- this general talked about an uprising -- Ivashov, General Ivashov, major general, three stars. He talked about a possible uprising among Russians. So, you got to question if President Putin is mentally stable.

LEMON: Ambassador, thank you, as always. We appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Yes.

LEMON: Our correspondents are spread out across Ukraine and the surrounding regions. We're going to keep you updated on the situation on the ground there. And we're going to talk about the history. Standby, we want to -- let's listen then just for a second.

So, we were going to go to break here but we are hearing explosions in the sky around Kyiv, Ukraine. Crews there preparing to do a live shot. You see Alex Marquardt, our correspondent there on the ground. So, we are going to stay here.

I'll let you listen and I'll jump in. We are told what you are hearing is gunfire. We are going to get our correspondent, Alex Marquardt up in a minute and I'll let him explain what's going on. But I'm getting -- you can hear it?

UNKNOWN: Hey, hey, hey --

LEMON: The mayor in the town as we get Alex up, I'll just keep talking here. He's out of Kyiv, he is saying that there is heavy fighting in the streets. Our Alex Marquardt is there getting ready preparing to do a live shot for you to explain to us exactly what is going on.

We're preparing to go to break and all of a sudden, you heard --

UNKNOWN: Hard to say the direction that --

LEMON: -- from our correspondents and our crews there that there is some sort of activity going on, not necessarily explosions but gunfire. We are told in the streets surrounding Kyiv, the capital city.

Also, in the town south of Kyiv there is heavy fighting in the streets, who said that there were losses on the Ukrainian side, many wounded unfortunately there are -- they are in the two hundredths --

[22:50:04]

UNKNOWN: I'm right here.

LEMON: -- citizens completely occupied with fighting. Alex Marquardt, if you can hear me, just jump in. We are ready to take you whenever you are ready to talk to us. So, if you are just doing -- Alex, are you there?

MARQUARDT: Don, I can hear you. I'm here.

LEMON: What do you got for us? What's happening?

MARQUARDT: Well, as you very accurately described just in the past few moments, not one but several bursts of gunfire. Now, the reason that you were able to hear it down the line that we were able to hear it having just stepped inside, was that it really was quite loud. That was not small arms fire that appeared to be some kind of anti- aircraft fire.

I came out here as soon as we started hearing it and looking out into the sky. You could see that the tracer rounds are going up. It's something that I've seen before, elsewhere. We have not heard explosions in quite some time. But it is clear that fighting is going on all around the city.

As we have been discussing Russian forces closing in on the city from every direction, north, south, east, and west. And on top of that, we have now the biggest explosion we have seen inside the capitol limit since this invasion started. That happening just about three miles away in the western part of the city.

So, throughout the evening, and this was a night that the Ukrainian president said would be decisive. We have heard these explosions coming from all directions. They have lit up the night sky, throwing up that glow into the clouds. We have heard air raid sirens in the capital, and now we are hearing this gunfire going off in just the past, I would say, 5 to 10 minutes, several bursts of heavy gunfire shooting up into the sky. We did see those trace around.

So, Don, this fighting is very much raging as the question looms of how close these Russian troops are, and how long the Ukrainian government can hold on to their capital.

LEMON: So, Alex, I'm getting, this is fairly close to you, 35 kilometers south of Kyiv, we're told by the mayor -- and correct me if I'm pronouncing it wrong, a town called Vasylkiv, says there's fierce fighting taking place in the middle of town there. I'm not sure if you've heard of these reports. But it's fairly close to where you are. Completely occupied with fighting, the mayor said.

She said there were losses on the Ukrainian side, many wounded unfortunately, they are in the 200s. I'm not sure if you have that information. But you can speak to me about what is happening in and around Kyiv as you are listening to what you say is gunfire right now.

MARQUARDT: Yes, and Don, I have heard that. We are told that it's about 20 miles south of Kyiv. I just came up from that direction just a couple of hours ago. We did not see or hear it, but of course that didn't mean that it's not happening. It does sound quite localize. And I should say, what's really interesting about that report, is that that's in the south.

We understand that Russian troops have come in from the north, from Belarus, as well as from the east. But this fighting that we are now seeing in the west and that report in the south that you are talking about, that should give Ukrainian forces major pause. And all of us here in the city real pause. Because it shows that they have -- are completing this encirclement.

Russian forces, obviously are amassing huge numbers of troops, of weapons, of fighter jets and helicopters. For now, it appears that the Ukrainians are putting up significant resistance. We've heard from outside experts in the U.S. We've heard from officials here on the ground, boasting of the fact that Ukrainians are for now keeping the Russians at bay. But they are coming at this country and at the city with an overwhelming force.

And that is why President Zelensky earlier today said that the city was in for a tough night. So, we have heard these explosions, we have heard this gunfire. It is going on 6 a.m., the sun is about to come up. And this fight -- this fighting is very much continuing, Don.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I can't tell if it's the wind from your mic sometimes or if it is actually, if we are hearing gunfire or explosions there. But how -- how sporadic or how often are you hearing this sort of activity, Alex?

MARQUARDT: Since I've been on with you, I haven't heard anything more, I think that might be the wind. But it is burst. It is fits and starts. And so, there was a lull for around 45 minutes to an hour. And then it comes back up again quickly.

[22:55:05]

So, there's really no predicting. And then it's really coming from all -- from all different directions. As we said at the top of the show, you know, the closest explosion we have heard yet just around three miles away near a military base, we should point out. The Russians appear for now to be targeting military installations. Military forces. There is real concern, however, that if Ukraine --

LEMON: Alex?

MARQUARDT: Yes, Don.

LEMON: Go on, finish your thought, I just want to -- I've got to get to the top of the hour. And we're going to have you back -- we'll have you have on the other side. I want to reset.

So why don't you standby, Alex? Alex Marquardt reporting there from Kyiv. There we have been -- we heard some gunfire, we are told. We are trying to get a handle on exactly what it was. Tracer rounds, we're told. We're about to go to break. We heard from Alex's location that the sound of gunfire, Alex got up.

We're going to -- he's going to join us on the other side of the break. We'll continue with our breaking news coverage of this invasion, of this war really happening in Ukraine. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)