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Russia Takes Antonov Airport in Ukraine; Ukrainians Seek Shelter in Subways; Russian Forces Continue Moving into Ukraine; Biden to Address Nation Regarding Russia's Attack; Gen. Wesley Clark is Interviewed about Russia's Attack on Ukraine. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired February 24, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:27]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Our coverage of Russia's attack on Ukraine continues at this hour.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto in Lviv, Ukraine.

We woke up to news of war in Europe. Here in Ukraine, Russia invading.

We want to take you right to the outskirts of the capital Kyiv, where our Matthew Chance finds himself now, right in the middle of the fighting.

Matthew, tell us what you're witnessing there.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, we've come out of the center of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. And we are here at the Antonov Airport, which is about 25 kilometers, 15 miles or so, out of the center.

These troops you can see over here -- stand up, Lewis (ph). These troops you can see over here, they are Russian airborne forces. They have taken this airport. They have allowed us to come in and be with them as they defend the perimeter of this air base here where helicopter borne troops, these troops, were landed in the early hours of this morning to take and to form an air bridge to allow for more troops to come in.

You can see, these are Russian forces. You can tell they're Russian. I've spoken to them already. You can tell they're Russian. They've got that orange and black band to identify them as Russian forces. I've spoken to the commander on the ground there within the past few minutes and he said they are now in control of this airport. And within the past few seconds, just before you came to us, they were engaged in a fire fight presumably with the Ukrainian military, which says it is staging a counteroffensive to try and take back this airport.

We can tell you now, I'm standing outside the perimeter of this Antonov Air Base and it has not been taken back by the Ukrainian military. It is the Russian military. You can see them now moving back to a different position. It is the Ukrainian military who say they are now in control.

This is about -- I would say about 20 miles from the center of the Ukrainian capital. And so it just shows us now, for the first time, just how close Russian forces have got towards the center of the Ukrainian capital. It's not just -- I was speaking to officials earlier, Ukrainian officials, and they're saying that the plan isn't just to surround the Ukrainian capital. They fear now that the plan is it take the capital, to decapitate the leadership of Ukraine, and to replace that leadership with a pro-Russian government. That's what Ukrainian officials are telling us now they think it is the Russian plan.

And I can tell you, it is a very tense situation. We're expecting to see Ukrainian military -- we didn't even know, frankly, we didn't even know that, you know, the Russian forces were going to be here. We assume this was the Ukrainian forces. So we went up to speak to them saying, hey, we've come from Kyiv, you know, but it only emerged during the conversation that they're all Russians and there are no Ukrainian military forces in sight, although I can hear them because they've been shooting ferociously in the past few minutes. And so we're sort of in the defensive position behind this wall here. You know, we've got our car here with the crew here as well.

And, you know, as the Russian airborne troops defend this position that they've taken on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Matthew, that in itself shows the quick progress of Russian forces, for them to already control a military airfield that close to the capital.

CHANCE: OK. Stand by. OK, stand by, we're hearing some aircraft in the air, Jim. You can see over here, there's a plume of black smoke, gray smoke, brown smoke, that's coming up from inside the compound of the -- of the air base. I think there are jets in the sky. Jets in the sky above us.

OK, Jim, we're going to have to leave it here. I think the situation is deteriorating. Going to hand it back to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Matthew, keep your team safe. That's the most important thing. We saw -- if you're just joining us there, our Matthew Chance, just

about 20 miles outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, he went to look at a Ukrainian -- what was a Ukrainian military air field there and found Russian forces there, paratroopers, already in control of that air field. And for a time, in the midst of a fire fight. We want them to stay safe. We're going to get them to safety and then we'll check back in with them on the progress on that.

We are, as we noted, waking up to war in Ukraine. It started last night with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, artillery barrages hitting multiple cities. Those attacks continue. They're already deadly. We're told of casualties on both sides. We're going to bring you those updates as they come.

[09:05:02]

I want to go now to our chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward, who is with Ukrainians, who like so many in this country are now sheltering from these attacks, in bomb shelters, in subway stations as well, for their safety.

Clarissa, tell us what you're seeing there and have seen there this morning.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is what the other side of war looks like, Jim. Hundreds of people sitting in what yesterday was an ordinary metro station, with people going back and forth to work, and today has become a shelter, a haven.

I just want to give you a sense of how many people are here. We see a lot of people with their children, a lot of people with their pets. Many of them just grabbed whatever they could and quickly came to this shelter because they simply have no idea what's happening. They've been hearing explosions all morning long. They've been told now that there are Russian tanks quickly approaching the city center.

One man said to me, Russia is our brother. We thought Russia was our brother. But what kind of brother treats someone like this? And I think that that is a sentiment expressed by many here.

I want to give you a sense of what it looks like. This is an actual subway car here. And if we can pan in, you can see dozens of people are squashed in. They're sitting on the seats there in the dark. There are children here. And almost everyone we talk to, Jim, says the same thing, they're asking us, what's happening? What's going to happen?

And the other question we're hearing again and again from people today is, where is the world? Why is the world not coming to our rescue? How is it possible that in 2022 you can launch an invasion on a European country and nobody seems to be able to put a stop to it.

I just want to keep walking for a bit, if that's OK with you, Scottie (ph), Scott McWinnie (ph), our cameraman, and Brent Swales (ph), we're here. I just want to give you a sense of just the density of people who are here. And none of these people, I want to say, Jim, have any idea what's coming next. Where can they go next? What are they supposed to do?

On average, most of them have been here for a couple of hours. The ones that we've talked to. They have basically been told by local authorities that they should take shelter. A lot of people described trying to take out money and not being able to get money out of the banks.

I asked a number of people if they had any cars, if they considered fleeing, and the answer that you hear again and again, Jim, is, where would we flee to? Where would we go to? There's a sense at the moment in Ukraine, and it's palpable, that nowhere is safe, that nowhere is protected.

And so you do have a deep state of panic among people that they don't know what their next step is. They don't have any clarity on what the situation is. We heard President Vladimir Putin say yesterday that he does not intend to occupy Ukrainian land. But, at the moment, here on the ground, that feels hard to believe with Russian tanks pushing further into Ukrainian territory and a city of 1.4 million people forced to hunker down in this metro station as they wait to see what their reality will now be, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, that right there, that scene, Clarissa, punctures Russia's claim, Putin's claim that this is somehow a peacekeeping operation. As you and I both witnessed, this country was at peace until sometime last night and now those people are sheltering for their lives in subway stations to save their lives from a Russian barrage.

Clarissa, I wonder, as you're there, before we go, if you could talk to someone there about what they're feeling and what their plans are.

WARD: (speaking in foreign language).

What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WARD: (speaking in foreign language).

Are you afraid?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WARD: (speaking in foreign language).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WARD: I'm asking her if they're afraid. They're very nervous.

(speaking in foreign language).

Why are you nervous?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

WARD: (speaking in foreign language).

I'm so sorry. It's a terrible, terrible situation.

And you can see, Jim, I want to be respectful here because this is desperately frightening for people.

SCIUTTO: Of course.

WARD: This is not a front line position.

SCIUTTO: No.

WARD: These people don't live under the threat of war every day.

[09:10:02]

They're not from those frontline areas by Donbas. They have never seen anything like this in their lifetime. And you can feel that fear, that anxiety, that desperation, almost everywhere you go and everyone you talk to.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Clarissa Ward, it's good to have you there. Please stay safe as well because, of course, as you're among those people, you're among those potentially under threat.

We are watching right now a country that is sheltering from what is a practically nationwide Russian invasion. I'm told by a senior U.S. official that it remains the U.S. assessment that Russia's intention is to control at least the eastern two-thirds of this country, but perhaps control the entire country, and that already, in the span of less than 24 hours, Russian forces have air superiority. That is a remarkable advantage in this conflict. It makes Ukrainian forces, who I'm told are fighting back in many pockets of this country, but it makes them enormously vulnerable to attacks from the air, as are those civilians we saw there huddling today in a train station.

Our Fred Pleitgen, he's just across the border from Ukraine in Belgorod, just across the border, in fact, a few tens of miles from where Clarissa is.

And, Fred, you've been watching Russian forces literally drive along the highway from Russia towards Kharkiv.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In fact, they're right here. They're right here.

SCIUTTO: Tell us what you're seeing and in what numbers.

PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes. And you're seeing them right here. You're seeing them drive past us right here. These appear to be transport trucks. And you can see in all the trucks, Jim, I want to point out, a "z" painted on the side, which is apparently what the Russian forces have done in order to be able to distinguish their vehicles. You can see them make a right turn right there right now past that

checkpoint. That is the straight way into Ukraine. That is the straight way to Kharkiv. So these forces seem to be heading straight into Ukrainian territory. And that's really what we've been seeing, that's essentially what this invasion has been looking like from our vantage point.

We are at the last checkpoint before you go into Ukrainian territory. And we've seen that steady stream of Russian vehicles here move that way.

What we've also seen, Jim, and this is something that's got to be quite troubling to a lot of the folks on the other side of the border is -- is rocket artillery fire being fired towards Ukraine as well. We heard several barrages. We saw several barrages of artillery fire being fired not far from where we are toward Ukrainian territory as well.

We also saw, from this vantage point here, main battle tanks. The style of the T-72 Russian main battle tank go past exactly the same route that you just saw those other vehicles go past us and then also advance towards Ukrainian territory. So it seems to us, from being here, being so close to Ukrainian territory, but on the Russian side, is that the Russian forces are advancing into Ukraine. That the front line is moving further into Ukraine, because what we had before here was we had more of these vehicles sort of on the outside of this perimeter and now more and more of them are moving in. So, it certainly doesn't appear to us as though the Russians seem to be making some sort of headway into Ukraine, around the Kharkiv area.

Kharkiv is only a couple of miles in that direction. Some, you know, of our crews, we've actually -- as these artillery fire was going out, some of our crews heard that coming in on the other side as they -- as they are in Kharkiv.

So, there's been a lot of activity here at this checkpoint. The folks who are manning that checkpoint are very nervous. They tried to stop us from filming several times, especially as that heavy military equipment was going through. And certainly, Jim, this is something I think is really also important, is that the area that I'm in right now, it's around the Russian town of Belgorod, it is really one of those concentration points for the Russian army as they invade Ukraine.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Just as -- just as we've been talking to you there, Fred, we saw a tank. We also saw a mobile howitzer go in. It just gives an example of the range of weapons that have already been barraging the northeastern part of the country, but also the firepower now rolling in.

And it strikes me, Fred, as interesting because prior to the beginning of this onslaught last night, there had been a lot of talk about the importance of weather and time, that Russians had a short time window because they had to strike while the ground was still frozen out there so they didn't get caught in the mud.

But it's remarkable to see them driving down the highway, uncontested, it seems, towards Kharkiv. And we saw similar from the Belarusian border in the north. That's a sign just really of the swiftness with which this Russian onslaught is proceeding.

PLEITGEN: Yes, I think you're absolutely right. I think that it is proceeding in a really swift way. I mean we've been here for about two and a half hours now and we've already seen a lot of Russian military equipment move in there. And it really was all via the road.

[09:15:01]

And I think a really telltale sign of what you're just saying, which is absolutely correct, is that those Russian main battle tanks that we saw, the T-72 tanks, when they rolled past us, their tracks were completely full of mud. That means they must have been dug in, in one of the fields here. But they decided not to advance via the field further because, obviously, they knew that they could just go via this road and then go on to the other side of the border crossing towards Ukraine.

So, you're absolutely right, that we are seeing a very swift advance. We're seeing advance with multiple types of vehicles. You mentioned those howitzers. Those were some of the first vehicles that we saw here. It was a column of several of them and another one came afterwards. That is some serious firepower to bring on to the other side of the border. And then, obviously, keep pressing with the Ukrainian forces with that firepower from Ukrainian territory itself, while at the same time using these longer range artillery rockets that we've seen -- that we've seen fired here. It certainly seems like a concerted effort and certainly seems as you -- as you very correctly point out, one that is moving very, very quickly, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, it started last night with an air barrage, missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, artillery, and now we're seeing those ground forces.

Our Fred Pleitgen there just across the border in Russia, Belgorod, which is across the border from when we saw Clarissa as people are huddling in subway stations to save their lives from a Russian barrage.

Bear witness to that, because, remember, the Russian president has claimed he's moving in to keep the peace there. There was peace until this barrage started.

We're going to continue following this story as only CNN can across this country and across the region. We'll be back after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:12]

SCIUTTO: This morning, President Biden convening a meeting of his National Security Council in the Situation Room in the White House. He is expected to address the nation from The White House at noon eastern today.

CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond there.

Jeremy, what do we know about the meeting this morning and what may be announcement today in terms of responses from the U.S. to this widespread invasion of Ukraine?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, officials here have been telling me that President Biden has been getting constant updates overnight and this morning on the situation in Ukraine. And this morning, as you just said, he convened a meeting of his National Security Council in the Situation Room, just moments before he was expected to enter this virtual G-7 meeting that should be underway right now, if indeed they are on schedule.

President Biden, last night, condemning this invasion by Russia as a, quote, unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. And, today, you can expect that President Biden will unveil the full range of severe sanctions that the U.S. has been preparing in the event of a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

That is expected to include, if indeed what they have previewed is to come to light today, it could include sanctions against Russia's largest banks, cutting them off from western financing -- from the western -- from the global financial system, effectively. More sanctions against some of these Russian elites and their families. As well as export controls, which would cut Russia off from key technologies that are made in the United States and in Europe.

And what you can really expect today is to see that these sanctions will be done in coordination with the U.S.' closest allies. That has been, of course, the goal throughout this process as the U.S. has been trying to prepare the world for the prospect and now the reality of this Russian invasion, to keep the west united in imposing these sanctions and in telegraphing to Russia what would happen if indeed it carried out this invasion.

And we will hear from President Biden sometime early this afternoon where he will, of course, continue to condemn these actions by Russia. And you can also expect him to hear him lay out the sanctions and prepare the American public, as he has tried to do in recent weeks, for the possibility of some repercussions here at home as it relates to gas prices, as it relates to food prices, and more.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, the sanctions initially were meant to deter. They clearly have not deterred. I suppose they are now in the category purely of punitive sanctions. And we'll see what they are.

Jeremy Diamond, thanks very much.

So, let's speak now to someone who knows the Russian threat well, former NATO supreme allied commander, retired General Wesley Clark.

General Clark, it's great to have you here. You commanded NATO in what was a different time. Russia was never not a threat, but they were certainly less hostile relations between NATO and Russia. Russia has now opened a war on a peaceful Ukraine and threatened, it seems, or at least described threats to -- potentially to other countries in Europe. Is peace as we know it over in Europe?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Jim, first, let me say that when I was NATO commander, we did run a (INAUDIBLE) operation in Kosovo to stop Serb ethnic cleansing that was backed by Russia. And the Russians ran a special op to try to disrupt NATO. So there was, even then, no question what was going on. Putin made it clear from the time he became prime minister in late 1999 that he wanted to restore the Soviet Union. He's tried many ways to do it. He's been frustrated. He can't go against democracy and freedom, so he's going to use military force. And he's now shown he's willing to do it.

Look, this is an international war crime. And the world should come down on Putin, not just with financial sanctions, but with legal actions.

[09:25:03]

All of his assets seized, his family deported from the west, and he is an international criminal.

Now, we're going to have to do more than financial sanctions. I think that's clear. That is punitive, as you said.

What's happening right now is he first of the first 24 hours of air strikes to knock out Ukraine's air defenses and assure that the Russians have air supremacy. They've penetrated under the cover of darkness, seized some airfields. I see the pictures of the attack helicopters in the area. So, they're inside the defense perimeter that we would like to see Kyiv establish around its capital, and around the borders.

But the fight's not over. So, this fight is going to involve heavy fighting among ground forces against Russians penetrating from multiple directions. Usually, CNN is on the side of the attacking forces. So this is a little hard for us to get a grip on this.

But it is following the pattern that we expected. These forces will be coming in on the ground. There will be some heavy fighting. They will be supported by air. And, of course, their attempt is to force regime change in Kyiv.

They'll go after President Zelenskyy. He'll try to assassinate him. He'll try to push him out. Meanwhile, they will occupy as much of Ukraine as necessary to do this. Put their own people in, and then move down their hit list to eliminate those people who they believe would be a threat to the continued domination.

We can't believe anything that Putin says about not occupying Ukraine or whatever. That's just said to appease people.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

CLARK: What we do want to see, what we think we will see is strong resistance by the Ukrainian forces as they -- as strong resistance by Ukrainian forces as the Russians approach the urban areas. This will be decisive in this battle.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Yes, General Clark, the only thing we can believe is what we're seeing on the ground there. And what we're seeing is a multifront assault, an invasion, from the north, from the east, from the south.

I'm curious, in your opinion, as we have been calculating up until this date, this moment, is this the worst-case scenario, and how much longer do you envision this attack going on?

CLARK: Well, it will go on until they accomplish their objective, essentially. He's not going to stop with financial sanctions.

Now, what I'm hearing behind the scenes is that a coalition of the willing is being put together. Nations who want to help sustain Ukraine in this fight. They're going to have to bring in the heavy material that's required. This -- at least right now, this is not like Afghanistan. It's not an insurgency. You can't win it by sending small arms in and some stinger missiles and javelins. This is going to require artillery, projectiles, powder, fuel, spares, replenishment. This is a major warfare that's going to happen.

Now, Putin will use only as much as is necessary to do this. So, he's trying to avoid collateral damage in the early phases because that promotes -- these aren't barrages against -- to kill civilians. He's going after specific targets with precision strikes. But as this attack gets deeper into Kyiv, as resistance builds from the Ukrainian side, of course there will be more and more civilian casualties and disruption.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CLARK: This is a real challenge for Zelensky's government to organize its defenses in these urban areas.

SCIUTTO: General Clark, let me ask you, though, you're describing -- General Clark, you're describing significant -- a significant increase in western NATO military support to Ukraine, bringing in heavy materiel. But it appears that Russian forces, if they don't control them, they're close to controlling several of the airports where you might fly that in. We had our Matthew Chance at an airfield just outside of Kyiv, where the Russian forces were already there. They've attacked the main Kyiv airport with missile strikes overnight.

I wonder, how is that practical and is it sufficient at this point given U.S. intelligence assessments show that the Ukrainian military is outnumbered by the Russian military by many multiples here. How is that practical? CLARK: Well, that's always been a flaw in the discussion about the --

about thinking of Ukraine as Afghanistan. You don't have air superiority there. You can't fly supplies in. No C-17 is going to land in Kyiv right now.

But you do have land borders with friendly countries. And there's going to have to be a communication (INAUDIBLE) effort put together by a coalition of the willing that forces its way into keep Kyiv in the fight.

Can it happen? It can happen if the Ukrainian resistance stays strong enough, long enough to enable the government to survive and Ukrainian forces to survive.

[09:30:02]

Ukrainians have said they'll do their own fighting but they need support.

GOLODRYGA: General, we know that the U.S. government, President