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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Speaks at Munich Security Conference about Continuing Tensions between Ukraine and Russia; Vice President Kamala Harris States Russia will Face Harsh Sanctions for Invading Ukraine; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Discusses Proposed Timing of International Community's Sanctions Policy against Russia for Invading Ukraine; Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Oversee Military Drills and Missiles Test Launches; States Across U.S. Easing Mask Mandates as Coronavirus Hospitalizations Fall. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired February 19, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:27]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Saturday, February 19th. I'm Amara Walker in for Christi Paul.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez. You are live in the CNN Newsroom, and we are grateful to have you.

Vice President Kamala Harris says the crisis in Ukraine has reached a, quote, decisive moment. Harris making the comment ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. In a keynote speech at the Munich Security Conference, Harris reiterated that Russia will face swift, severe and united consequences if there is an invasion of Ukraine. She said the United States and its NATO allies stand united.

WALKER: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warns that Russia is, quote, uncoiling and now poised to strike. Austin says Russia is moving into the right positions to conduct an attack. His remarks echo President Biden's latest assessment. The president saying he's convinced that Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine, and that it could happen in the coming days.

SANCHEZ: We want to get straight to CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour. She is speaking with President Zelensky of Ukraine right now. Let's listen in.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Mr. President, you gave a very impassioned speech just now, we'll get to it in a moment, but first I want to ask you that I'm not sure how many people in this room expected you to make the decision to leave your country and come here today. What was so important for you to be here, and what do you know about Vladimir Putin's intentions that perhaps the United States or others don't know? Because they think that he's made the decision to enter your country.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Thank you very much, thank you for this question, and thank you for your invitation. It is very important when Ukraine is being discussed, for Ukraine, for this information to come from the mouth of our country. I'm the president, and our team, it's important for all our partners and friends to agree about anything behind our back. And I do believe in our -- and I do believe that this is the case. And I had very important meetings today with leaders of different countries, and still more to go. I would like you to hear, to see, to ask questions, and get the answers, to understand the level of resilience of our country.

We're not panicking. We're very consistent that we are not responding to any prove provocations. We have our own vaccine already developed for that, not as good as COVID vaccines, but this vaccine is already eight years old. We already know the thing we need to react to and things we shouldn't. Of course, when our soldiers are being killed, we know we need to respond. But we understand who is killing us. We understand what these military groups are, and we also understand when they are shooting from the localities surrounded by civilians to provoke us, for us to respond, and to start an escalation on the other side and respond to the fire.

It's also important for us to be o the same page in terms of information. The fact that the partners are sharing with us the information, we are very grateful for that, by the way, for the cooperation of our intelligences. But we are in this tension for many, many years now. We do not think that we need to panic. We think these risks are indeed very high because we have more troops, 150,000 troops on our borders. Yes, indeed, that's a big risk, but a very big risk if we respond, if we do respond to one provocation or the other.

On the other hand, I think the Russian Federation, and when we are talking about Russia this is the people, the whole people of Russia. So I think they will not be able to start to go to war against Ukraine. And although on the temporary occupied territories we have a lot provocations and we see them, we see this through the mass media there disseminating different, provocative information, we need to preserve our stability, we need to keep calm and be adults.

[10:05:13]

This -- in these terms, Ukraine army is more adult that others.

AMANPOUR: A bit of escalation on the so-called false flag issues, you have just talked about two Ukrainian soldiers being killed. The Russians say mines have exploded, Ukrainian mines on their side of the border. We have seen this rhetoric before. We understand the concept of false flags, but how tense is that? How do you think you can stop it? Have you considered the levels of the current provocations?

ZELENSKY (through translator): Any provocations are very dangerous. As I already said, I think the most complicated question that in the Crimea, in the temporary occupied territory of the Donbas, along the borders of Ukraine and Russia, there's 30,000, 35,000 on the temporary -- or temporary, and there is 35,000 more, and 150 along other boards. So provocations are indeed very dangerous if you have this number of troops. One shelling, one fire, cannon fire can lead to war. And we perfectly

understand. As I said, I do think so, and this is what our partners believe, I mean the partners who are around us who have joined borders of us, who know the history of the Soviet Union, and they do understand the kind of risks we are facing. Poland, the Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, they know what that could lead to.

So we need to be very careful. I can't tell you about what will happen now. If you compare to 2014, 2015, there were much more casualties, unfortunately. When someone in mass media says now this is the most horrific situation, that is not true. It is horrible, it's a tragedy for our nation, for our people. It is a tragedy, and in the future, you will see that this is the tragedy for Russians as well, who used to have good relationship with the Ukraine. How do we stay neighbors and live with each other from now on?

But we are at a different point in our lives. We are not talking about neighborhood. We are talking about the war, and that it shouldn't start. This is why the risk is high. What was shown yesterday on the temporary occupied territory there, shown some shelling allegedly flying from our side, and they have shown something flying all the way to Rostov region of Russia. This is just plain provocation. These are pure lies. There's no one dead or wounded. This is just cynicism of such a high level that they are blowing up something on their side and shooting. This is not the first time since 2014 that they are aiming their guns and shooting at the territory that they themselves control.

This is the kind of cynicism. That's it. And all we care about is peace. And I've mentioned this many times to the president of the Russian Federations and Angela Merkel and Macron in 2019, and we have sent a massive amount of signals, all on a monthly basis. We have been passing on to different world leaders and directly to Russian federations that we are ready to sit down and speak. Pick the platform that you like. Pick the partners that will be there around the table with us. We are ready for that, prepared for that. What is the point of us shooting and proposing diplomacy at the same time?

I went too long. I'm sorry. You can stop me whenever you want.

(LAUGHTER)

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you how you feel today compared to a few days ago? Because I think everybody has been quite amazed at the solidarity between the United States and your country, and Europe and the united front that's being presented, and also the extraordinary departure that the United States has used intelligence to telegraph exactly what it sees President Putin doing. You have said different things about that, that on the one hand, it could sow panic, and you're going to remained disciplined. And you just said again, we're not going to panic. How do you evaluate the U.S. aggressive use of intelligence to try to dissuade President Putin?

[10:10:12]

ZELENSKY (through translator): It's difficult for me to judge how the United States should be using their intelligence. I guess they're doing this in a professional manner. This is their choice. But I'm grateful for the work that both of our intelligence has been doing, but the intelligence I trust is my intelligence. I trust Ukrainian intelligence in our territory who understand what's going on along our borders, who have different intelligent sources, and understand different risk-based on intercepted data. We're talking about how this information should be used.

I repeated this many times. We are not really living in delusion. We understand what can happen tomorrow. But maybe the comparison I will make is not good, but just putting ourselves in coffins and waiting for foreign soldier to come in is not something we are prepared to do. We are not going to advance on anyone, but we stand ready to respond to everything. We cannot remain passive. We cannot say on a daily basis that war will happen tomorrow. What kind of state is it going to be? What kind of economy is it going to be? How can you live in a state when on a daily basis you are being told tomorrow the war will happen, tomorrow the advance will happen? It means crushing national currency, money is being taken out, business is flying out. Can you live in that kind of country? Can you have stability in that kind of country? No.

And those who want to disbalance our country from within are multiple. And everyone wants Ukraine to be weak, weak economy, weak army. And if there's a weak army, you can just go ahead and invade, and we won't be able to protect our people, not our children or the economy. This is why are response is very calm to one piece of information or the other. We have to assess it. We have to think not how to react to what I just got, but I have to digest this information. I have to understand what will happen after my words, after my reaction to this, what will happen to my people, what will happen after these people run to the banks to take money from their deposit accounts, after they start fearing and the panic will start.

We have the information war, the hybrid war going on. This is why Ukrainians are not given up in a different sense of this word. We want to live day after day and protect our country. If you want to help us, we have lots of examples. Apart from this, a lot of very concrete things -- strengthen our arms, give us more armaments, strengthen our economy, invest in our country, bring your business in. If you are afraid, OK, give us cheap financing. Give us support, finance, grant support. Why, when we are given money, why are we always getting these conditions? You have to get to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and a dozen of other reforms. Is there any other country in the world who would have such a strong army on the eastern borders with all these reforms implemented at the same time? That is not easy, but we're not panicking. We just live our lives. We want to live it as a strong country. That's it.

AMANPOUR: Mr. President, you talked again about NATO --

ZELENSKY (through translator): I'm sorry. I just wanted to add -- I'm sorry for interrupting you. Sorry.

We had a discussion some time ago with one of the leaders of one of the leading countries, and we were talking about the sanction policy. We had a different vision on how sanctions should be applied when Russian aggression will happen. And we are being told that you have several days, and then the war will start. And I said, OK, then apply the sanctions today. Yes, they say, we apply sanctions when the war will happen. I'm saying, fine, but you are telling me that it's 100 percent that the war will start in a couple days. Then what are you waiting for? We don't need your sanctions after the bombardment will happen, and after our country will be fired at, or after we will have no borders, after we will have no economy or part of our countries will be occupied. Why would we need sanctions then? What is this about? So when you're asking, what can be done? Well, lots of different things can be done. We can even provide you the list. The most important is willingness.

[10:15:10]

AMANPOUR: So you're calling for sanctions to be leveled now. You also talked about NATO now. Obviously, this is the big sensitive issue in this whole issue, right. So you have just talked about, again, wanting to be part of NATO. And yet you said you don't expect any NATO soldiers on your territory now. You specifically said we want no foreign soldiers with foreign flags on our territory right now. What is your position on wanting to join NATO today?

ZELENSKY (through translator): To respond to the first part of your question about sanctions, the question is not about introducing them today. The whole world understands that tomorrow there's a high probability of escalation by Russian Federation, and if Russian Federation if they are pulling back their militarizing, there would be a bad step. If they are pulling back, then there is no question. That's a soft option.

I'm talking about the diplomats who cannot apply sanctions automatically. I'm talking about the logic. If they pull back their troops, there will be no sanctions. But today, even the question of just making it public preventively, just the list of sanctions, for them, for Russia to know what will happen if they start the war, even that question does not have the support.

OK, let's be on then. Then I have a question. Why, if you can't even disclose what will happen to whom if the war starts, then the question is that it will be -- I doubt that it will be triggered after it even happens.

In terms of NATO, we have a lot of debate regarding this, and there were lots of discussions about the world leaders and my friends, and meanwhile, I have lots of friends among the world leaders. I will not name them, because others will get offended. Ukraine is being supported, indeed, but Ukraine needs security guarantees. We are smart people. We are not narrow-minded. We understand there are lots of different risks because of NATO. There's no consensus around the allies. Everyone is saying there is some distance between Ukraine and the NATO that we need to walk.

All we're saying is tell us how much time does it take to complete this distance, measure it in years, and you see this is measured not just in hours, and you can see where the tragedies in lives. This is measured in the human lives of Ukrainians. So tell us, on this distance, is it fair to us to get the guarantees while we are still walking the paths, some diplomatic guarantees. Isn't it just simply fair? No one is pushing anyone against the wall with a question for us to be there in the NATO. That's not the way. We want it, we do, but unless -- but until we have that possibility, what we want is the guarantees, security guarantees.

AMANPOUR: And I know you have to go. I'm getting the old wrap. But can I ask you --

ZELENSKY: Just a second, I think cyberattack.

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENSKY: Can I have another one?

AMANPOUR: But maybe you.

ZELENSKY: You see Russia is not here, but they are here.

(LAUGHTER)

ZELENSKY: That's -- it doesn't work. I'm sorry. I have two.

AMANPOUR: How about if I try talk to you, and you will understand me.

ZELENSKY: I understand you from the very beginning, but you know, there are some very important things.

AMANPOUR: So what I want to ask you, Mr. President, is that the U.S. has its intelligence, you said you have yours. What is your interpretation of Putin's intention, not his capability, his intention? Do you think he will invade? He will decide to do that, or he has?

ZELENSKY (through translator): I don't know what the president of the Russian Federation wants. That's why I proposed to meet.

That's it.

(LAUGHTER)

[10:20:08]

AMANPOUR: On that note, your people are telling me that I have to stop. Were

ZELENSKY: Syria --

AMANPOUR: Huh?

ZELENSKY: Sorry.

AMANPOUR: Your people are telling me that you need to go. Were you at all afraid of coming here?

ZELENSKY (through translator): No. Why? There are friends here.

AMANPOUR: No, no, leaving your house unguarded.

ZELENSKY (through translator): Well, my response will be very brief. I'm sure that our country is in good hands. This is not just my hands. These are the hands of our soldiers and our citizens. I think my visit here is important, and I would like to say that I had breakfast in the morning in Ukraine, and I will have my dinner in Ukraine as well. I never leave home for long.

(APPLAUSE)

ZELENSKY: Thank you so much.

WALKER: You've been listen to say CNN's Christiane Amanpour sitting down there with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference. There were several lighthearted moments there, as you saw, and Zelensky's past as a comedian there on full display. But some really serious discussions as Ukraine, and really the continent of Europe, is in quite a precarious position right now.

SANCHEZ: Yes, President Zelensky with a powerful speed followed by a very compelling interview. He said Ukraine has been serving as a shield for eight years now, holding back one of the largest armies of the world.

Let's discuss his speech and what looms over Ukraine now with retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser, and CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt. Alex, let's start with you. Despite President Biden's warning that Putin has made up his mind to invade, President Zelensky stressed that Ukrainians wouldn't panic in the face of Russian provocations on the border. You are there. Do you think most Ukrainians agree with that idea where you are?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I do, Boris. We've been here for quite some time and spoken with a number of people. And what we hear from people on the ground is remarkably in line with what President Zelensky said there in that very forceful exchange with our colleague Christiane Amanpour. He had the line that was really quite funny, that they have a vaccine, perhaps not as strong as a COVID vaccine, but they have been vaccinated by these eight years of fighting against Russia-backed forces. That is something that we hear over and over again from Ukrainians all across the country, that they are not panicking, that there's not any sort of chaos in the streets, because they are used to Russia being on their borders.

Now, in fairness, they are not used to seeing a Russian force of this size, but at the same time we have heard the importance of keeping the population calm from President Zelensky and his top officials. And that seems to have worked.

I have to say, a lot of what President Zelensky said today he has said before, but he said it very forcefully. And he did seem to be quite exasperated with some of the positions that the U.S. and other NATO allies have taken. They are on the same page on so many different things, but Ukraine has long accused of U.S. of alarmism. A couple weeks ago, the foreign minister referred to apocalyptic predictions. And so here you have Zelensky saying today that we are not going to panic. Very notably, he did not say that he necessarily agrees with President Biden's assessment from just yesterday, that President Putin has made a decision to go in.

And then he also seemed to question the American intelligence about Putin's intent and how it relates to sanctions. Zelensky saying there that if the U.S. and others are so certain that Putin is going to invade Ukraine, then why not impose these sanctions today? So, Boris and Amara, I don't necessarily want to -- there is certainly a level of concern here. There's a real level of worry, especially here in a town like Mariupol, which is so closed to this fighting that has been going on for eight years. But you don't see panic in the streets. You don't see people bunkering down. So that sense of calm that clearly President Zelensky prioritizes, that is what we have for now.

WALKER: Yes, and clearly the fact that he is presenting that calm confidently, as you're saying, is working, and it's important, because, as you heard him say in that interview, this is about us wanting to live, and, of course, you don't want the economy and markets to crash, among other things.

[10:25:02]

General, I want to ask you this, because this is a question that Christiane Amanpour asked at the top of the interview with Zelensky, and then she ended with it. And we heard his very poignant answer at the end when she said are you afraid of leaving your country at this time and leaving your own home unguarded. And he said, look, I had breakfast in Ukraine, I will have dinner in Ukraine. I never leave for a long time. Strategically, though, what did you make of him leaving his country during what many are saying at a time when Russia is about to invade? Was that a good idea?

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET): I really think it was. Again, at this point the issue is bracing up the NATO allies, building confidence in the NATO allies. President Biden has been doing that for the last few weeks in terms of demonstrating by putting troops on the ground how serious we are. Zelensky going to Munich, which is really a collection of world foreign policy experts and leaders, is a sign not only that he's confident that he's got things in shape inside of Ukraine, but he in many ways is testing out the resolve of NATO to back him up if things were to happen.

SANCHEZ: Susan, I want to ask you about some of the things Zelensky said about those who he believes have been indifferent and have tried to appease Vladimir Putin in the past. He specifically cited his doubts about the sanctions that are being promised by the west. He suggested that, as Alex mentioned a moment ago, those sanctioning should be imposed now. And he wants the west to make the potential threatened sanctions public so as to ward off Putin. But why haven't the United States and the NATO allies come forward and said explicitly this is what will happen in Putin decided to invade Ukraine? SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I do think it is important

to point that out, Boris, but I do think that was the big message that President Zelensky wanted to bring to Munich. You noted that in his back and forth with Christiane Amanpour, he actually said, wait, I want to make one more pint. And he volunteered this important point to him, that the sanctions are not really a deterrent at all if they come after my country is invaded, if they come after I don't have any borders anymore, if they come after my economy is destroyed.

And I think it's an important point. It reflects the fact that while you have seen, in some ways, remarkable unity on the part of NATO and a resolve to stand up to Russia, you haven't been able -- the Biden administration has been rallying support, intensively, intensively negotiating with other European partners, but they haven't been able to come to consensus on doing anything beforehand.

And by the way, it is an incredibly destabilizing act of Russia's even to have brought this enormous force to the borders of Ukraine and to have already destabilized security in Europe. It's not going to go back to the status quo beforehand, the status quo ante, it seems to me, and in that sense, you can imagine in any previous global iteration, this would be worthy of enormous sanction.

And it's only this week that we've seen the U.N. Security Council begin to take up this matter of Russia's hostile and aggressive actions. Russia so far has refused to explain or justify itself. And Zelensky has an important point. It's not a deterrent if you don't do it until after the action is taken.

SANCHEZ: And a powerful moment during his speech, President Zelensky asking the rhetorical question, who is next after Ukraine? We have got to leave the conversation there. Alex Marquardt, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, and Susan Glasser, thank you all. Please stand by, the two of you. Still plenty more to come, including CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour joining us to break down her one-on-one interview with Ukrainian President Zelensky. That's up in just a few minutes. Stay with CNN.

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WALKER: We continue to stay on top of the latest developments in Europe, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. allies in Munich, Germany.

SANCHEZ: Yes, this morning the Ukrainian leader thanked allies for providing support for his country, and simultaneously asked for more. He also sat down with our chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour who joins us now live from Munich. And Christiane, a very powerful moment in his speech. He thanked allies for their contributions to Ukraine, but he said those are not donations. He said that those are contributions to a battle for European and international security for which Ukraine has been serving now for eight years. I'm curious to get your reaction. He appeared desperate to get the world's attention and to cast this as a bigger conflict than just a face-off between two former Soviet republics. CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Which actually,

to be fair, it is. It is much, much bigger than just Ukraine. It is about the world order. It's about the post Cold War security order that's been established and led by the United States and its allies, and it's held up until, as he said, eight years ago or so, 2014, when President Putin decided to invade and annex Crimea, and right now hold part of eastern Ukraine. And that's where some of these attempts at destabilizing the situation are taking part.

And yes, President Zelensky, I would say, not desperate, but very impassioned rallying cry to the world, to recognize Ukraine as much, much bigger than just a country involved in a local standoff. And he talked about global appeasement after Putin annexed Crimea and went into eastern Ukraine back in 2014. And he thanked his allies, the United States and others, certainly Europe, for coming to Ukraine's support now in everything, from defensive weapons, ammunition, training, humanitarian assistance.

[10:35:05]

He asked for more, let's say, money, to put it in a global way, to help, because what's happening is that this, quote-unquote, panic as you've seen, has rattled markets over the last months, and it's definitely hurt the economy of Ukraine. So he's asking for more help to calm that situation.

But I thought what was interesting as well, he said, look, everybody is sort of keeping these sanctions that they say they will invoke if there's an invasion, keeping them secret, or not secret, but in any event not making them public. He said why not make a list of sanctions public now, so that Putin will know what will happen, what he will face if in fact he does invade.

And then I asked him the question that everybody wants to know, and that is, well, one of them, what do you think is in Putin's mind? It's obviously a difficult piece of psychoanalysis to try to engage it. But the U.S. has its intelligence. He told me the Ukrainian military and intelligence have their information.

He said to me, very frank, I don't know. That is why I've invited and said to Putin, I will meet anywhere to discuss what you want and what we need to do to create peace, particularly again in eastern Ukraine. Not implying that there would be any major concessions on the important things.

About NATO, he was really interested, because he talked in his speech about NATO, and then when I pressed him in our conversation, he talked about just tell us the length of time, if it's not tomorrow, not next week, not next month, or next year, tell us exactly how long, exactly what we have to do.

Now, to be fair, NATO does have a prescribed application, conditions, if you like, and they know what they are. They have to really cut down the corruption and increase the rule of law, and that stuff still needs to happen. But he knows that that is not something that is going to happen overnight. And then when I asked him, again, what everybody in the room wanted to

know, and indeed around the world, not many people expected to see you here today, Mr. President. The president of the United States advised that perhaps it wasn't the wisest course of action for you to leave your country as it's being threatened on three sides by 150,000 Russian forces. Should you have come? What was so important about coming?

And he said, you know what, I should have come. And I would just like to tell you this. I had breakfast in Ukraine. I plan to have dinner in Ukraine tonight. So he's on his way back now. But this was an important moment for him to stand, to thank the world for their support, and to tell them more what Ukraine needed, and again, that it's way behind just Ukraine itself. Back to you.

WALKER: There were so many poignant moments, Christiane, and it really was a fascinating, wide-ranging interview with Zelensky. And to the point of sanctions, Christiane, because he was impassioned in much of the interview, but when it came to sanctions, he raised such a strong point. He said, if we are quite certain that an invasion of my country is going to happen within days, why not impose sanctions now, or at least publicly disclose them? As you described, has there been a reaction to that? Is that even being considered?

AMANPOUR: Look, it's a little bit too early for people to react to what he said, because he just said it within the last half-an-hour, but it is a mounting call, let's say, on this side of the Atlantic, to let Putin know exactly what he might be in for. And I will tell you that I spoke to an American who also is very interested in this situation, who said, you know what, the U.S., the Europeans should actually put out the names of people who might be sanctioned, Putin's cronies, his friends, others, just to show the extent of what the U.S. and Europe might do. And obviously not to trigger them until and unless there is an invasion, but to let them know exactly what it is.

But on the other hand, here we heard early this morning that the hosts of this conference, which is an annual and very important conference, often happening in the middle of some crisis in the world, and this is the one we're at right now, but the host said this is perhaps the first time in almost decades that we have seen such strength between the United States and its transatlantic allies. And this is something that's really stuck very, very clearly in the minds of everybody at this conference. And that's something that certainly President Putin will be looking at, too, because his inclination, his instinct, his experience, and what we know of his intensions, are to destabilize the western alliance, and to drive as many wedges between them as possible. And yet this time it's really almost been no chinks in armor, no daylight in what they're saying about Ukraine and for him to keep his hands off.

[10:40:02]

WALKER: Yes, and I think a lot of people don't know that Zelensky, his background, being a political novice, he played a president on TV, and won that election by a landslide, and now he's leading his country through one of the greatest security crises we have seen in decades. Christiane Amanpour, we really appreciate that, thank you so much.

And adding to the tense situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin is overseeing military drills this weekend. Russia's defense ministry says the exercise will include practice launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

SANCHEZ: We want to bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen. He joins us now from Minsk and Belarus. And Fred, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is also overseeing these drills. It seems to be a message from Putin and his ally, Lukashenko, that this conflict in Ukraine could have massive implications for the world if the United States or others decide to intervene.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's absolutely right, Boris. It was absolutely the message they're trying to send, potentially -- don't mess with Russia as this current crisis with Ukraine unfolds. And I was at some drills today actually here in Belarus, joint drills between the Russian and the Belarusian army, and I can tell you, they unleashed some massive firepower at those drills as well from the air force, but also from ground forces, too.

And then you have those nuclear drills, which I think that was the clear message that both Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko by his side were really trying to send to the U.S. and to the world. And you guys are absolutely right. They really showed or showcased some of their most powerful and most sophisticated weapons in that. You not only had intercontinental ballistic missiles, where they launched one of those, actually, called the Yars, but then they also used their new hypersonic missiles. That's really the big weapon the Russians have been showcasing over the past two, three years that they have actually had these weapons.

They launched one called the "Kinzhal" which means "dagger" in English, that apparently hit its target, and they launched another one from a ship as well. And Vladimir Putin was inside the Kremlin in the situation room there, overseeing the drills with his top generals. So they were clearly trying to send that message that they have a massive, powerful arsenal at their disposal, not just when it comes to conventional but obviously also when it comes to nuclear warfare as well. They were certainly trying to put out that very, very clear message that they are the ones who are calling the shots at this point in time and that they will not be interfered with as right now they are obviously, the U.S. says, very much threatening Ukraine at this point.

SANCHEZ: Fred Pleitgen reporting from Belarus, thank you so much.

WALKER: And let's bring back retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, and CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser. Let's just do a quick reset, General, especially regarding what's happening on the ground, in your assessment. You have President Biden who is saying he believes Putin has made up his mind, an invasion could happen in the coming days. You have these helicopter forces from Russia that are getting closer to the Ukrainian border. That country is surrounded on three sides right now. What is your assessment of a timeline and this window of diplomacy that's closing?

KIMMITT: Well, actually I don't think the window of diplomacy is changing at all. I think it's still open. And what we are seeing is President Putin trying to play a little bit of chicken. He's going to see how much resolve the west has. There's an old expression, keep pushing the bayonet in until you hit bone. So just as the president thinks that Putin has made up his mind, he will quickly change his mind.

So I think what we have here is a game of chicken. And Putin is going to see and wants to see who is going to blink first. That's probably why he started doing this missile drill, along with what he's doing in Ukraine. So I would suggest keeping the lines of communication open, keeping diplomacy open, and don't back down.

SANCHEZ: Susan, we have been reporting for seemingly months now that Vladimir Putin would try to launch a series of false flag operations to try to generate public support within Russia to justify war with Ukraine. And we're seeing that escalating now, Russian media reporting all sorts of disinformation. I'm curious what you make of that. Is that something that is necessary at this point for him to justify war with Ukraine? Or is it simply a cover for him?

GLASSER: Well, look, this is part of the Russian playbook. It was part of the Soviet playbook before that.

[10:45:00]

And we have seen them use that in the run-up to an actual shooting war in the past. This was exactly what happened in 2014 when they first went into Ukraine, also what happened in 2008 when the Russians went into Georgia, proceeded by exactly this sort of misdirection and manufactured provocations.

And so it's not theoretical, but we have some real experience here. And that's the other thing. It's not theoretical that Vladimir Putin might actually invade because he's done it in the past. In fact, he's used military power to achieve his ends throughout his very unlikely time as the leader of Russia over the last two decades. He came to power arguably because of a war inside Russia and Chechnya.

And so I think it's very important that it's not just part of the Russian playbook for bluffing. It's part of the playbook for actually going to war. And I do think that this nuclear exercise and this dramatic photo op of Putin sitting there in their version of the situation room, is meant to communication something very clearly. I've noticed in recent weeks Putin has not appeared that much in public. When he has, he's spoken of Russia repeatedly as a nuclear power, as he did during the press conference President Macron came to visit him. This is something that Putin, when defensive, often resorts to this language of saying hey, look, we're a superpower. In effect, we can do what we want. He's not subtle when it comes to the messaging. He's a certain kind of brazenness it takes to put an army of nearly 200,000 on your neighbor's border and then claim grievance and provocation.

So, I don't see a lot of diplomacy happening right now. The phone lines may be open, but there's not a lot of content that has been coming over them from Putin throughout this crisis. It's really not been a diplomatic process at all in many ways.

SANCHEZ: Susan Glasser, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, thank you both, we appreciate your insight.

WALKER: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So is it pandemic fatigue, or a sign that we may be starting to close a chapter in American history? Either way, states are rolling back mask mandates, though some health officials say not so fast. Detail next.

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[10:51:44]

SANCHEZ: More states across the country are rolling back mask and vaccination mandates as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to fall nationwide.

WALKER: But the CDC continues to recommend indoor masking in areas of high levels of coronavirus transmission, and that is over 90 percent of the country. Here's CNN's Camilla Bernal.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Living with the virus, turning the page, endemic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm tired of it. I'm tired. I think I'm COVID tired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fatigue is real.

BERNAL: No matter what you call it, many wanting to move on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just feels exhausting and very tiring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's over. Let's move on.

BERNAL: This week more Democrat-run states moving to end masks mandates, New Mexico announcing an immediate end to its indoor mask mandate. Washington state, too, but starting March 21st.

GOV. JAY INSLEE, (D) WASHINGTON: We will no longer have a state mandate for wearing masks in indoor spaces. We think that's a very important step in the next part of our journey to normalcy.

BERNAL: North Carolina's governor encouraging local governments and schools to end mask mandates.

GOV. ROY COOPER, (D) NORTH CAROLINA: Now we take a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day-to- day life.

BERNAL: And California's Governor Gavin Newsom focusing on the next phase of living with the virus.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: We have all come to understand what was not understood at the beginning of this crisis, that there is no end date, that there is not a moment where we declare victory.

BERNAL: Newsom's plan includes the ability and resources to continue testing and vaccinating, and expansion of school-based vaccine sites. Local governments can impose their own mandates, but the state's mandate for indoor businesses expired this week. Opinions and emotions on this, still high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you feel more comfortable, you should wear the mask. And if you don't want to, don't wear it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people have gotten sick, a lot of people have died. We could have done a lot of things better, but at this point I feel like we should still be trying our best.

BERNAL: Dr. Anthony Fauci saying that getting rid of masks is risky. And there's another concern, the Omicron subvariant BA.2. One lab study showing it may spread faster and may cause more severe disease.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The good news is, though, we're not seeing much BA.2 in the United States at all.

BERNAL: Instead, COVID hospitalizations have dropped to near pre- Omicron levels, a welcome sign for the future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we're going to life with this thing, let's live with it as safely as we possibly can.

BERNAL: Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks for that, Camila.

We are 54 minutes past the hour and we're going to check in on a couple top stories for you.

L.A. police say they have found the body of a missing actress. Lindsey Pearlman, an actress known for her work in the television "Chicago Justice" alongside "Empire" as well, was found dead last night.

WALKER: Her friends and family reported her missing on Sunday after she failed to return home.

[10:55:01]

Investigators say she was last seen in Hollywood several miles from where her body was discovered. The cause of her death is pending determination by the coroner.

SANCHEZ: In Wisconsin, officials are warning drivers to be careful on the roads after icy conditions caused several multi-vehicle crashes yesterday. Highways around Marathon County, Wisconsin, remain closed right now as crews are still working to go clear vehicles from the streets. It's unclear how many people were injured, the extent of the injuries also unknown at this time.

WALKER: That's our time. It was a busy news day. There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN Newsroom.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Fredricka Whitfield is up next after a quick break. Thanks for joining us and have a great day.

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