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Biden Convinced Putin Plans To Invade Ukraine; Nearly Half Of Russian Forces In Attack Position; NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg: We Are Not Threatening Russia Or Anyone Else; Donbas Leaders Urge Residents To Evacuate To Russia; Moscow Pushes Back on Biden's Comments; Trumps Could Be Deposed By New York Attorney General; Mariupol Residents Weigh In On Conflict, Potential Invasion; Ex- Officer Kim Potter Gets Two Year Sentence In Fatal Shooting; U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Pledges Support at Munich Security Conference. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired February 19, 2022 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you, watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber live at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

One of the stories we're following, the National Archives has confirmed it's found classified documents in boxes of records former president Trump took with him to Mar-a-lago.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New satellite images show a buildup of Russian helicopters near the border, as President Biden says Vladimir Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine.

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HOLMES: Welcome, everyone.

U.S. President Joe Biden says he is convinced that the Russian president Vladimir Putin has made a final decision on Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As of this moment, I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that.

QUESTION: To be clear, you are convinced that -- you are convinced that President Putin is going to invade Ukraine.

Is that what you just said a few moments ago?

BIDEN: Yes, I did.

QUESTION: What reason do you have to believe he's considering that option at all?

BIDEN: We have significant intelligence capability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now Friday's comments mark the first time the White House has said definitively that they believe Mr. Putin has made his decision. Mr. Biden also adding that he is revealing Russia's tactics to try to shut down every reason Russia may give to justify an invasion.

It comes as U.S. intelligence officials estimate Russia has massed up 190,000 personnel around Ukraine. Russian troops now surround Ukraine on three sides. New satellite images also show how quickly Russian helicopter forces are massing near Eastern Ukraine's eastern border and to the south in Russian-held Crimea.

The U.S. also says Russia is already engaging in so-called false flag operations, pointing to the vehicle you see there, that was blown up in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. U.S. and Ukrainian officials have both warned Russia could use false flag operations to create a pretext for invasion.

And in just the last few hours, the pro-Russian leader of Donetsk ordered a general mobilization, calling on, quote, "men of the republic, who are able to hold weapons," to prepare to fight.

Now it comes one day after he urged women, children and the elderly to evacuate to Russia, claiming that a Ukrainian offensive is imminent; something Ukraine denies and there appears to be no evidence of.

Meanwhile, Putin is preparing for what could be Russia's most dramatic show of force yet, a series of military drills, where ballistic and cruise missiles will be launched.

Now the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will soon take center stage at the Munich Security Conference. She is expected to once again emphasize the costs Russia will fact if it does choose to invade Ukraine.

We will, of course, bring you those remarks as soon as they happen. A short time ago, though, the E.U. Commission president Ursula van der Leyen and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg addressed the conference in Munich and had some strong words for Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The world has been watching in disbelief, as we face the largest buildup of troops on European soil since the darkest days of the Cold War because the events of these days could reshape the entire international order.

This is what the Kremlin's policies mean in practice: to instill fear and call it security demands; to deny 44 million Ukrainians from deciding freely about their own future; to deny a free country's right to independence and self-determination. JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: We call on Russia to do

what it says and withdraw its forces from the borders of Ukraine. This will be an important first step toward a peaceful solution. It is not too late for Russia to change course.

[05:05:00]

STOLTENBERG: To step back from the blink, stop preparing for war and start working for a peaceful solution. NATO remains ready to engage in a substantive dialogue with Moscow, to take meaningful, reciprocal steps that can improve security for all countries in Europe and for Russia, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now CNN is covering this story from every angle. Our Alex Marquardt standing by in Southern Ukraine.

But first, let's go to CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson in Moscow.

As we heard, Nic, some strong words of unity from the Munich Security Conference, strong condemnation of Russia.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, absolutely, and we have heard over the last days Jens Stoltenberg talking about a new normal with Russia, Russia's tactics.

And I think it's worth listening to one point he made, where he defined what that new normal is, essentially saying that Russia is extorting by threat what it wants to achieve tactically, politically. This is how he framed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STOLTENBERG: Their demand that we should leave our enshrined commitment open door and their demand that we should remove all NATO troops and forces from almost half of the member states.

And then they said that, if we don't meet those demands, they have repeatedly said they will do what they call military technical consequences.

So the danger is now the combination of this massive military buildup, with the very threatening rhetoric, putting forward demands that, no, we cannot meet and say, if we don't meet them, there will be military consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And what we've heard from Russian officials today, the ministry of foreign affairs spokeswoman, saying that what she is hearing, what Russia is hearing from NATO at the Munich Security Conference, is what she says essentially are NATO's same old tactics. That on the one hand, NATO is ramping up, ready to withdraw a little. It doesn't quite make sense. But there is a growing sense of

frustration, anger, emerging, it appears from the ministry of foreign affairs, you know, pushing back on what President Biden said last night about being convinced President Putin has taken a decision to invade Ukraine, saying that is not true.

We've heard from the ministry of foreign affairs, repeating what their ambassador has said in the U.S., pushing back on the U.S. assessment that Russia was responsible for the cyberattacks in Ukraine in the past couple of days.

There is, you know, a growing sense here that Russian officials are ramping up the way that they are pushing back against the rhetoric that they're hearing, coming from the West and a sense of frustration about it as well, Michael.

HOLMES: Indeed, great analysis, Nic Robertson.

Alex Marquardt, let's bring you in. Worrying signs from near the Donbas region, near where you are and the fears are what's happening and might happen could be used to precipitate a move by Russia.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael, obviously, Russia could invade Ukraine from a number of different sides, given the buildup that they've done in the north, in Belarus, and the east and in their own territory and in the south in Crimea and on the water.

But there is significant concern now about what is happening in Eastern Ukraine. Overnight, we saw new satellite imagery of more helicopters, tanks and troops on Russian territory but just on the other side of that Ukrainian border, about 16 kilometers away, from one of these two breakaway enclaves that have been out of the control of the Ukrainian government for the past eight years but backed by Russia.

Really in the past 24 hours, Michael, we have seen a lot of what the U.S. and others have been warning about in terms of a spike in disinformation, false flag operations. We have these two breakaway republics, as they call themselves, Donetsk and Luhansk, calling on their citizens to evacuate to Russia.

Russian media is claiming -- and we have no way of verifying this -- but they are reporting that some 10,000 citizens of the Donbas region, as it's known, have crossed into Russia. Seven Russian provinces, we are told, are ready to accept them.

But what is unsettling here is these leaders of these breakaway enclaves are claiming that there is a Ukrainian operation that has been planned, an offensive operation against those areas.

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MARQUARDT: Of course, there's absolutely no sense that that is true. These leaders have also called on their men, the male population, to take up arms and defend their territory. Again, defend themselves against what?

It is wholly unclear. But there has been a real spike in the level of violence here in Eastern Ukraine in the past few days. We have seen a significant increase in the number of cease-fire violations along that line of contact. So this is an area that we're watching very closely, Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Alex Marquardt, appreciate it.

And Nic Robertson as well.

Thanks to you both.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Ekaterina Kotrikadze is a host and news director at Russia's TV Rain, one of the country's last independent stations, joining me, live, from Moscow.

And thanks for joining us.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: We've seen over the last few hours the separatists in the Eastern Donbas region, evacuating women and children, to Russia. They are blaming Ukraine for escalations.

What is your read on the tactics there?

And what do you think Putin's plan is?

EKATERINA KOTRIKADZE, HOST AND NEWS DIRECTOR, TV RAIN: It is not easy to understand what this person actually plans and what is he doing and when he actually plans this invasion, if, ever, the invasion will be complicated.

In it, the problem is that Vladimir Putin is trying to get his big geopolitical/strategic goals achieved at the moment.

We can see that the escalation of the situation has started (INAUDIBLE) a week ago (INAUDIBLE) really, several months ago. And even in spring of 2021, there was an escalation, which was actually finished with the meeting of Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden in Geneva, in June of 2021.

And now it is happening again. So there should be different goals that he is trying to achieve. The first -- and this is actually apparent (INAUDIBLE) -- he is really trying to make sure that NATO will not be on the ground in Ukraine.

He is afraid and he is sure, I believe, that he is convinced, that NATO is planning to put some weapons, strategic weapons, heavy weapons, on the ground in Ukraine.

And he thinks this is an existential (ph) threat for Russia. But you know, the problem is that Ukraine is not getting into NATO. No one is inviting Ukraine to NATO. So in my opinion, he is now in the middle of his -- you know, achieving his big, huge goal of rebuilding Russian empire, if I can say so.

HOLMES: I was going to ask you exactly about that.

How do you think Putin views himself, in terms of his role in the post Soviet Russia?

Does he see the -- those agreements, made back in the 1990s, like Ukraine's independence, as mistakes, that he needs to correct?

KOTRIKADZE: Yes, he has called, it several times, to be the biggest geopolitical mistake, catastrophe of the century. I mean that (INAUDIBLE) yes, of course, he thinks that it is necessary to rebuild the empire.

And he thinks that his mission, after 20 years in his chair, can you imagine, he has been here, in Russia, for 20 years already. And he thinks that its time to write his name in the books of history.

So the main goal is to rebuild this Russia, Mother Russia, in which Ukraine is one of the main, the biggest parts and one of the biggest territories because, actually, he doesn't think that Ukraine is a state at all.

He thinks the Ukraine is some kind of a ridiculous territory, which should be back to Russia's hands and under Russia's wings. So on this stage, we understand that there, really, is a huge threat of the war, a big one.

But the question is, what is he going to do?

Is he going to take over, you know, to conquer Kyiv, for example?

Is he going to make a huge mess in the middle of Europe?

Or will he stay in the borders of this eastern part of the country?

His main idea, as I understand it, Michael, is to make sure that the West takes him seriously after he has threatened -- I think he has threatened NATO and the United States, waiting for some guarantees from Washington and Brussels, saying that NATO will not open its doors to Ukraine, Georgia and other post-Soviet states.

And after he has got the strict no on all his guarantees, requests.

[05:15:00]

KOTRIKADZE: After that, he needs to show that he is really serious. So it depends on how --

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Right. I want to ask you this before we run out of time. Because you do, as we said, you work in one of the last bastions of independent media. So much of Russian media is state controlled. Therefore, so, too, the narrative.

Are ordinary Russians able to get a broader view outside their government's view?

KOTRIKADZE: No, it is really a huge problem, Michael, because the millions of people in Russia, 140 people (sic) living in the country. The main part of them, you know, in the regions, outside of the big cities, they do not watch anything except the television state propaganda.

And they got the information that there was a genocide going on in Donbas, that people are killed, Russian people are being killed. And here, this idea, this propaganda, it is disturbing, it is annoying.

And people are trying to leave and I believe they believed it previously, too, that there is a huge problem for the Russian people in this region. And it is different from what was happening in Crimea in 2014, when the patriotic wave was so huge, that Putin was the most popular person in the world for Russians.

But on this (INAUDIBLE), it is still very, very strong. The propaganda is still very, very strong. Of course (INAUDIBLE) my station doors, we have millions of viewers.

But mainly, they watch us online or on other platforms, not in cable networks, because we were banned back in 2014 and we don't have this kind of huge audience as state television stations have. And this is really, really -- yes, really serious, unfortunately.

HOLMES: Yes, that is a fascinating perspective and great analysis. Ekaterina Kotrikadze, thank you so much. I wish we had more time but we do not. I appreciate it.

KOTRIKADZE: Sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. We're going to have more later in the program. For now, though, let's go back to Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta.

Back to you, Kim, my friend.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Michael.

A revelation from the National Archives could spell more trouble for former president Donald Trump. The agency confirmed classified documents were among the items retrieved from former president Trump's Mar-a-lago estate last month. CNN's Paula Reid has the details.

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PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The National Archives says it's still combing through these 15 boxes of materials that it received from former president Trump's Mar-a-lago residence last month. Now among the items that the former president took with him when he

moved to Florida are items that are marked classified national security information. And the archives said it has shared this discovery with the Justice Department.

But it's not clear if they have made a referral. Now the archives says it hopes to be done with its inventory process next week. But, in this letter, the archives says it has had concerns about Trump destroying documents for years.

In their letter to the House Oversight Committee Friday, the archives says that it reached out to the Trump White House in 2018 and spoke with the deputy counsel about this habit, that they had read about in the media, that the former president had of tearing up documents.

The deputy counsel said it would be addressed. But the archives said, based on what they received, it was clearly not. And the former president continued to destroy documents that he had an obligation to preserve under the Presidential Records Act.

The archives said that members of Trump's team had been tasked with trying to find other records that may not have been turned over. These are pieces of history that are currently not in the archives, where they should be under law.

Now more bad legal news for the former president. A judge on Friday ruling that plaintiffs in three civil suits can move forward and try to seek information from the former president about his role in the attack on the Capitol.

Now the suits accused former president Trump of conspiring with people like Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr., even extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys to undermine confidence in the 2020 election, which, of course, culminated in the violence at the Capitol.

This is an effort to hold him accountable. And Trump's lawyers have previously tried to argue that he's immune from suits like this. They argued that when he spoke at the rally to proceed to the Capitol that he was acting in his official capacity and should be protected.

But the judge in this case rejected that argument. And that is no small thing, to say that a former president could potentially be liable here. Now the biggest consequence, the immediate consequence for the former president in these civil suits is that he may have to provide documents and even a deposition in these lawsuits.

[05:20:00]

REID: And that, of course, comes just a day after a judge ruled that he will have to sit for a deposition, along with two of his children, for the New York attorney general's civil investigation into his business practices. A difficult legal week for the former president -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, we're entering the final days of the Beijing Olympics. But there's still plenty of competition left at these Winter Games. We'll bring you the upcoming events we're keeping our eyes on next. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The Beijing Olympics may be winding down but there's still plenty of competition to be had as the games enter their find weekend. China's figure skaters are the gold medal favorites. And American skier McKayla Shiffrin has one more shot at a medal in her sixth and final event. But it's been postponed to Sunday due to windy conditions on the slopes.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, China says that at least 2 billion viewers have tuned into the Beijing Olympics, making it the most watched Winter Games ever. Some 150,000 spectators were invited from outside the closed loop, including marketing partners, diplomatic personnel and local students among others.

The Olympics Games closing ceremony will be held on Sunday.

Well, grief, anger and the fear of what comes next. We'll take you to the Eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, whose residents have been fighting pro-Russian separatists for years. Stay with us.

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HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live from Lviv in Eastern Ukraine amid increased fears that Russia could invade this country. We're standing by for the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to address the situation at the Munich Security Conference any moment now.

She's expected to emphasize the cost that Russia will face if it invades Ukraine. When she starts, we will bring that to you live.

We've also learned the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is attending the conference in Munich before returning to Kyiv later today. That was in doubt until just recently.

Now U.S. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, said Friday that he is convinced that the Russian president Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine. Mr. Biden adding that the attack will likely come in a matter of days and will target the capital, Kyiv.

Now Moscow later responded, categorically denying Russia is planning any such attack; that's according to Russian state media. The Russian foreign ministry also suggesting that the U.S. is ignoring escalating conflicts in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine.

That's where Russian-backed separatists have started evacuating residents, claiming a Ukrainian offensive is imminent. And within the last few hours, the pro Russian leader of Donetsk called for a general military mobilization.

A potential Russian invasion weighs heavily on the Ukrainian coastal city of Mariupol, near the front lines of the conflict with the Russian backed separatists. Fighting has ramped up in Eastern Ukraine for recent days but, of course, it's been going on for years, eight years. And the city has suffered major losses. CNN's Alex Marquardt reports now on the toll all this has all of this has taken on the people of Mariupol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The old Crimea cemetery stretches across the rolling hills outside Mariupol and Eastern Ukraine.

In Section 21, the Ukrainian flags whipping in the wind mark the graves of Ukrainian troops, mostly young men, who have died fighting Russia-backed forces in the past eight years, an often ignored conflict that has killed as many as 14,000 people, including more than 3,000 civilians.

Ruslan Pustovoit was a soldier. Now he fights with a right-wing nationalist group called Right Sector.

RUSLAN PUSTOVOIT, RIGHT SECTOR (through translator): Putin is a pathetic small man. Everyone is ready to tear Russians with their own hands.

[05:35:00]

MARQUARDT (voice-over): He says he knows around 200 people who have been killed. He shows us the grave of one of them, a fallen friend, now etched in stone, as well as his memory.

PUSTOVOIT (through translator): Too many comrades have died, too many civilians, too many children.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): in the bitterly cold, driving rain, Roman Peretyatko, a priest, prays at the towering grave of his friend, one of the first from here to die in the fighting.

But Peretyatko, quiet and understated, has two sides, dividing his duties as an army chaplain in his olive green frock, which he says is his calling, and tending to a civilian congregation in this small Mariupol chapel. ROMAN PERETYATKO, PRIEST, ARCHANGEL MICHAEL CHURCH, MARIUPOL (through translator): We're losing our best people. The church gives people comfort. If they ask, what's going to happen next, we say it's God's will. We prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): People who can't go to church ask him to pray for them. He says their names at the altar. Among the handful who came this morning is this man, who had one thing on his mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Myr.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Myr, peace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We pray for peace above all. Thank God, it's peaceful right now. We're taking it one day at a time. We'll see what happens next.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): The people of Ukraine have shown extraordinary calm in the face of this Russian threat. But it is clearly taking a toll.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They tell us to remain calm. We would love to live peacefully, to go to work, to raise children and grandchildren. We're worried.

How could we not be?

MARQUARDT: That worrying only growing after seeing what happened right here in Eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, those incidents that the U.S. and Ukraine say were fake, were staged, the kind of false flag operations that Russia could use to justify an invasion of Ukraine.

This city, this area, of great interest to Vladimir Putin, which he could use to connect Russia to Crimea, which he seized the last time he invaded Ukraine -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Mariupol, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And just to show how tense things are along the so-called line of contact which separates the Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country and the Ukraine soldiers along that line in Donbas, we just received confirmation that one Ukrainian service man was killed by a shrapnel wound to the head after several rounds of artillery shells were fired at Ukrainian positions.

This was early on Saturday. And it just goes to show how delicate things are, how anything can start off a bad outcome. Now earlier, I spoke to CNN military analyst Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. He explained, when he was in Iraq in 2004, he was asked to link up with Ukrainian forces in the south.

And he says they were very disorganized but have improved markedly since then.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We linked up with

Ukrainian forces and, truthfully, they were the most disorganized, dysfunctional, undisciplined and corrupt forces I had ever seen.

I drew an initial bias against Ukrainian forces. They were terribly led by their generals their colonels and it was just a force we could not depend on. They are actually coordinating with some of the enemy in Iraq, because they were being paid to be there.

Over the years, though, when I continued to serve in Europe, we saw the leadership within Ukraine, attempting to build a more professional force. And starting in about the 2008 timeframe, they really got serious.

There was a colonel general by the name of Robyov, who was the chief of the land forces. And he put a great deal of effort into turning his military into a professional force.

But he told me, one time, when we were having a session, that the biggest concern he had was the corruption of the senior leaders that had all been trained in the old Soviet Union.

He said, once we disavow those individuals and they left, we would have a much stronger army.

HOLMES: When it comes to intent, Putin knows well, as do you, I'd guess, that invading is one thing; holding territory amid a hostile population is quite another.

In that sense, what do you think Putin is calculating, weighing up, as he thinks about invasion?

HERTLING: He is not calculating very well, from a force perspective standpoint. There have been various studies talking about troop-to- task relationships. That's one of the things that the military does.

What are the things that soldiers are expected to do on the ground?

It is one thing to invade; it's another thing to hold territory and to be amongst the people and to build a new society.

If Mr. Putin is thinking he will achieve regime change through the use of force, he doesn't have enough forces, in my view, to do that.

Just as a calculation, you are talking -- the numbers that are staggering, 190,000 forces all around the border.

[05:40:00]

HERTLING: But Ukraine is an extremely large country, with about 41 million people in its population.

In order to control the major cities, like Kyiv, like Kharkiv, like Lviv, some of the other ones, you would need a much larger force, trained in more than just combat activity. And what I mean is civil affairs, producing government officials, extending the economy. Unless Mr. Putin wants to, completely, destroy Ukraine -- and that may

be his intent -- he is going to need a different kind of force. And they are going to have to stay for a very long time to get Ukraine under their influence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, speaking to me earlier there.

Meanwhile, thanks for your company. From here, in Lviv in Ukraine, I'm Michael Holmes. CNN will have more on the rising tensions with Russia and Ukraine at the top of the hour. Kim Brunhuber will have more news from around the world after a short break. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: A former Minnesota police officer was sentenced to two years in prison Friday in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright. Kim Potter was convicted of first and second degree manslaughter in connection with Wright's death during a traffic stop last year.

According to a statement from their lawyer, Wright's family was, quote, "completely stunned" by the sentence. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S MOTHER: Daunte Demetrius Wright, I will continue to fight in your name until driving while Black is no longer a death sentence.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tears and raw emotion filled in Minneapolis courtroom today as former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter was sentenced to two years in prison.

KIM POTTER, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S KILLER: And I'm sorry --

BROADDUS (voice-over): In December Potter was convicted of first degree and second degree manslaughter for fatally shooting 20-year-old Daunte right when Potter said she mistakenly pulled her gun instead of her Taser.

[05:45:00]

ARBUEY WRIGHT, DAUNTE WRIGHT'S FATHER: Because of Kim's recklessness Daunte's life was cut short by Kim Potter who claims she thought she had a Taser. She pointed a gun into my son's chest and pulled the trigger.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to bring you live to the Munich Security Conference, where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is giving the keynote address. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- kind introduction and your years of dedicated leadership.

And thank you also to Chancellor Scholz for your kind words.

So it is an honor to join all of these distinguished leaders from around the world this morning.

I am certain we all recognize this year's gathering is unlike those of the recent past. Not since the end of the Cold War has this forum convened under such dire circumstances.

Today, as we are all well aware, the foundation of European security is under direct threat in Ukraine.

Let us remember: From the wreckage of two world wars, a consensus emerged in Europe and the United States. A consensus in favor of order, not chaos; security, not conflict.

So by forging relationships and bonds, forging organizations and institutions, laws and treaties, we, together, established a set of rules, norms that have governed ever since.

And Europe has enjoyed unprecedented peace, security and prosperity through a commitment to a set of defining principles. The United States is equally committed to these principles: that people have a right to choose their own form of government; that nations have a right to choose their own alliances; that there are inalienable rights which governments must protect; that the rule of law should be cherished; that sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states must be respected; and that national borders should not be changed by force.

We are here in Munich, together, to reaffirm our commitment to these principles. These principles have brought us peace and security. The backbone of this, of course, is NATO -- the greatest military alliance the world has ever seen.

As a defensive alliance, we have deterred acts of aggression against NATO territory for the past 75 years. And today, let me be clear: America's commitment to Article 5 is ironclad. This commitment is sacrosanct to me, to President Biden and to our entire nation.

In fact, I am joined here in Munich by a bipartisan delegation from the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. They are Democrats and Republicans. They have a wide range of political views. But they stand together in recognition of the value and the importance of our NATO alliance.

Now, even in the most difficult times for our transatlantic community and even when our system has been tried and tested, we, the United States and Europe, have come together and demonstrated our strength and our unity, just as we do today -- as we stand in this decisive moment, with all eyes on Ukraine.

As we have said all along, there is a playbook of Russian aggression.

[05:50:00]

HARRIS: And this playbook is too familiar to us all.

Russia will plead ignorance and innocence, it will create false pretext for invasion and it will amass troops and firepower in plain sight.

We now receive reports of what appears to be provocations. And we see Russia spreading disinformation, lies and propaganda.

Nonetheless, in a deliberate and coordinated effort, we, together, are: one, exposing the truth and, two, speaking with a unified voice.

As President Joe Biden has made clear: The United States, our NATO allies and our partners have been and remain open to serious diplomacy. We have put concrete proposals on the table. We have encouraged and engaged Russia through NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations and bilateral dialogues. We have engaged in good faith.

Russia continues to claim it is ready for talks while, at the same time, it narrows the avenues for diplomacy. Their actions simply do not match their words.

And let me be clear. I can say with absolute certainty: If Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States, together with our allies and partners, will impose significant and unprecedented economic costs.

We have worked intensively with many of you in this room to ensure we are prepared to move forward with consequences.

We have prepared, together, economic measures that will be swift, severe and united. We will impose far-reaching financial sanctions and export controls. We will target Russia's financial institutions and key industries. And we will target those who are complicit and those who aid and abet this unprovoked invasion.

Make no mistake: The imposition of these sweeping and coordinated measures will inflict great damage on those who must be held accountable. And we will not stop with economic measures. We will further reinforce our NATO allies on the eastern flank.

In fact, together we have already taken steps to strengthen our deterrence and collective defense. We have deployed an additional 6,000 American service members to Romania, Poland and Germany. We have put another 8,500 service members in the United States on a heightened sense of readiness.

As President Biden has said, our forces will not be deployed to fight inside Ukraine, but they will defend every inch of NATO territory. Since Russia launched its proxy war against Ukraine nearly eight years ago, the people of Ukraine have suffered immensely: nearly 14,000 people killed, more than a million displaced and nearly 3 million in need of aid.

The United States has provided significant support to Ukraine: security assistance, humanitarian assistance and economic assistance. And we will continue to support the people of Ukraine.

[05:55:00]

HARRIS: I believe it is important for us -- all of us -- as leaders to never forget the cost of this type of aggression on human lives and livelihoods.

So the United States, our allies and our partners, together, we have achieved remarkable unity. It is evident in our shared acknowledgment of the threats, our united response and our determination to uphold international rules and norms.

In the face of Russian aggression, I have been reassured and heartened by the widespread agreement across the transatlantic community that these rules and norms will be defended.

And we should not lose sight of how rare it is in history to have a prolonged period of relative peace and stability. So let the past few months be a reminder to us all: Defending the rules and norms, upholding our principles -- this is the vital work of each generation.

In recent years, some have questioned whether the West is up to the task. Some have wondered whether this system can endure. Some have even done so on this very stage.

Indeed, the theme of this conference two years ago questioned the staying power of the West; whether or not the transatlantic community was losing its cohesion, its influence, its appeal.

So I will answer the skeptics and those seeking to test us: Today, the United States, our allies and our partners are closer together. Today, we are clear in our purpose. And today, we are even more confident in our vision.

Our strength must not be underestimated, because, after all, it lies in our unity. And as we have always shown, it takes a lot more strength to build something up than it takes to tear something down.

Thank you all.

(APPLAUSE)

BRUNHUBER: And we were listening to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, addressing the Munich Security Conference. The subject, of course, was the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We heard a warning that the security of Europe is under threat. She said, quote, "National borders should not be changed by force," which was roundly applauded by the audience there.

She warned about how Russia is massing forces. And she warned that, if Russia further invaded Ukraine, the response would be, quote, "swift, severe and united." I want to bring in diplomatic editor Nic Robertson.

Nic, what did you make of what Kamala Harris had to say there?

ROBERTSON: You know, one of the points she made at the end was very striking. I've come to the Munich Security Conference over a number of years.

Two years ago, just before COVID hit, was the last one in person. And she is absolutely right. That security conference, the question there was about the unity of essentially Western allies and partners. And the theme of her message was one of unity, again, you know, reaching out to the partners and allies in that room around her.

Very clear why President Biden sent her there. You know, Vice President of the United States carries such a strong message to allies and partners. And this is a moment where the United States wants to make sure it's strong, where NATO wants to make sure it's strong, where the European Union wants to make sure it's strong.

That was the force of her message. She also spoke about the disinformation that's going on in Russia at the moment. That certainly speaks to some of the things that have been playing out on television here, the call for people to evacuate and leave Donbas. One of those points, she called it disinformation.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much, Nic Robertson. I really appreciate your insights there.

That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Please do stay with us. "NEW DAY" is next with Amara Walker and Boris Sanchez. Thanks so much for watching. Please do stay with CNN.