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War In Ukraine: Russia Launches Full-Scale Invasion. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired February 24, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:04]

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: But what happened here, when the Russians came in, they decided that they needed to blanket the airspace and block it off to all traffic. So what they did was issued something known as a NOTAM, or a notice to airmen.

And this is how that looks on radar. Nothing there. There's absolutely no air traffic here. Air traffic is flowing all around Ukraine but nothing in Ukraine. And that's how that worked for them and it preserved their ability to conduct operations.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And so, Colonel, very, very quickly, where do you see the situation now? What's going to happen next?

LEIGHTON: So what I would say is when you go back to the broader view out here, what's going to happen is the Russians are going to continue to move toward Kyiv. They're going to do it this way. They already have Chernobyl, according to reports. Kharkiv is obviously a target from what we've seen in our reports. Obviously, the Donbas area and we have this area here on the southern coast.

So what you get here is a movement that could potentially cut the country off in all these different directions. Once this happens, they could potentially move west or they could do this by going this way from Belarus. There are some forces that could potentially do that. That is something that is, you know, part of an ancillary plan perhaps. But the main thing, the main focus, is right here, right here and right here.

CAMEROTA: Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you very much for giving us all of that analysis.

Joining us now is Congressman Eric Swalwell of California.

Congressman, thanks so much for your time. I'm sure you listened to President Biden's speech. He talked about the sanctions that are being beefed up as we speak on Vladimir Putin, but he also said sanctions are going to take time and that over the course of the next month, he'll feel the full impact of them.

When you hear our military analysts talking about what might happen tonight, it feels as though that might take too long.

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Well, we have to make sure Vladimir Putin fails and so, of course, we have to block money, block travelers, block that pipeline they had built going into Europe. And needs to know we have a menu of options we can continue to pull from as we do this, but most importantly, I think we have to do all we can to support the Ukrainian people. I have been briefed on the battlefield assessment here and we should share as much information as we can with the Ukrainians so they have actionable information and military resources to act on against the Russians to defend their country.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Congressman, you say pull from a menu of options but we heard from former DNI Clapper less than an hour ago, it says the time for -- and I'm paraphrasing here, proportionality, incrementalism is over. We heard from the former Defense Secretary William Cohen, dump all the full gauntlet of potential sanctions on Putin. Why not do that?

SWALWELL: Everything we do has to be aligned with our allies. And the fact we were able to get the Germans to stop this pipeline, that's huge. That's U.S. leadership on the international stage. And so we want to move with our allies and NATO but countries like Japan who can take quite swift and severe actions against Russia. But, yes, on the table should be sanctions Putin personally, completely taking them out of the European and international banking system known as SWIFT.

Frankly, I think closing their embassy in the United States, kicking every Russian student out of the United States, those should all be on the table and Vladimir Putin needs to know every day that he is in Ukraine, there are more severe options that could come.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, President Biden isn't talking about those things. He's not doing SWIFT.

Our Kaitlan Collins asked him specifically will you be sanctions Putin specifically? He sort of dodged that question.

So, today, do you think President Biden has gone far enough?

SWALWELL: I think this is the largest invasion in Europe since World War II and these are the harshest sanctions any country has experienced since World War II as far as financial, travel, energy resources. There will be more to come.

But I also think we have to build a sentiment, Alisyn, in the United States, so that people understand why Putin is a bad guy. He murders journalists who oppose him. He jails the opposition. That's inside his country.

Outside his country, he disrupts democracies like he did to us in the United States and now moving into Ukraine in the way that he has. So, we need to unite in America because, frankly, we have Republicans who are rooting for Russia, and that makes it very hard for President Biden to get the whole country to go along when Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo and Tucker Carlson are rooting for Russians and that's being replayed on Russia TV to rally Russians for this cause.

[15:05:02] So, we need unity to be the antidote here in the United States.

BLACKWELL: Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you.

SWALWELL: My pleasure.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLACKWELL: A brand-new hour on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Victor Blackwell.

CAMEROTA: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

Our Erin Burnett is live for us in Lviv, Ukraine, as she has been.

Erin, tell us what's happening on the ground at this hour.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, on the ground you have fighting across the country. You have a country on alert.

Here in Lviv, you will see all the lights for the city, street lights, buildings will go out in about an hour's time as they prepare for night. There is a lot of fear.

I was talking to someone I have spoken to over the past couple weeks here. He said, look, he, the reservists, are gathered waiting for their orders, they are ready to fight for their country. At this point, though, they're not sure what that will mean, what they will be called to do, and that is like it is for so many here.

As President Biden just details what he calls devastating sanctions against Vladimir Putin for launching war in Europe and invading Ukraine, Russian troops assaulted the nation. It was by land, it was by air, it was by sea. Short range, medium range, long range, cruise missiles starting in the early morning hours of this morning.

And a senior defense official says this is just the initial phase, the initial phase of Putin's plan because the tanks are still streaming over the border into this country. Our own Fred Pleitgen is seeing it.

In response, President Biden said the U.S. is freezing four more Russian bank assets and going after what he calls the elites and their family members with close ties to Putin. We're still awaiting on who those names are, what those sorts of sanctions would entail.

President Biden stressed several dozen nations are united in acting against Putin with the sanctions with the Russian economy now limited, they can't get dollars. They cannot get yen. They cannot get euros. Obviously, the three most widely used currencies in the world.

Now, though, more than 100,000 Ukrainians already displaced according to a new figure just in from the United Nations. Ukrainians are using subway stations as bomb shelters. There's been a run on ATMs for cash. Every journalist in the country has been talking about that.

We have all seen it through the day clogging roads to flee from a war that NATO's leader calls brutal, reckless and unprovoked. So, I want to go straight to where some of those people are trying to

get out of the country. There aren't a lot of ways out on land. The main one is through the Polish border.

That's where Scott McLean is there. He's live along that border, where Ukrainians have been crossing over throughout the day.

Scott, you've been seeing them leave the country for safety. Tell me about who you are seeing and sort of what has brought them to this point on this day.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Erin, let me first tell you where we are because we're in a bit of a strange no man's land between the Ukrainian and the Polish side.

So what you're seeing here is people leaving the screening building where they come into the E.U., where they come into Poland, have their passports stamped, their visas approved, whatever it is. And this is where that approval happens.

There is also an exit visa process or an exit stamp they have to get from the Ukrainian side of things. You can see over here the sign showing that you're going into Ukraine, so there is a building we're told further away where people are having to wait in order to get an exit stamp so they can then get into Poland. And the reason you are not seeing more of a flood of people is because they are coming through, steadily, but they have to wait quite a long time.

We have heard reports from people waiting five, six, seven, up to nine hours even, and a lot of -- the waiting area is outdoors. Right no, it's about 30 degrees, right around freezing right now. It's not a real pleasant place to be. But this is how desperate people are to get out.

You can obviously cross by car. Let me just flip you around here. You can see this is actually the area to get into Ukraine. Hardly anybody going that way. But the reason so many people are choosing to cross on foot, Erin, there's such a backup of cars many thought it would be easier.

Other people simply don't have a car so they were taking a taxi or a train or getting a ride or however they could to the border and then crossing on foot and once they get on this side they are trying to figure out what exactly they need to do. It's quite easy for Ukrainians to get into this country. They can automatically get a 90- day visa or so. Most of the people we have spoken to thus far don't think they're going to be here for that long. They haven't thought that far ahead. There aren't people necessarily trying to claim asylum as they cross the border or anything like that, at least we haven't met anyone in that situation.

[15:10:01]

They figure they'll be here temporarily and they will be able to go home. And the story that we have heard over and over again, Erin, is

virtually the same, whether people came from Lviv, whether they came from Kyiv or from somewhere else within the country is that for the last few weeks they heard all of the noise. They heard all of the tension, but they just didn't think things would come to this ultimately, and then all of a sudden early this morning they woke up to the sound of explosions or they woke up to people calling them and letting them know the situation and then they decided to get out.

Many people packing a bag, packing a suitcase, taking their children and getting out. The people you feel for the most, especially as a parent myself, the people with children, it's difficult enough to manage a young toddler or young kid under normal circumstances than trying to wait with them for several hours on a border in the cold trying to keep them happy and then trying to figure out where they're going from here. It's just heartbreaking to see.

BURNETT: I'm sure. For sure it is. And just as they hope this is such a short period of time and it is so uncertain how long it will be.

Now for the perspective from Russia, Vladimir Putin has made many opportunities to make his thoughts known today.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins me from Moscow tonight.

Nic, what is interesting is there have been some protests against Putin's war. People who have chosen to protest at pain of immediate arrest and long-term repercussions. Tell me what you saw?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This is an incredibly difficult country to protest in. Back in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, people came out and protested, the government arrested them. Many of those leaders of the protests are in jail. Many people too afraid to come out.

But what we saw tonight were the police out in force in this area here. One or two police trucks left, the protests pretty much over. The police told the people this wasn't an authorized protest and we saw them arresting them one, two, three, four, five at a time, slamming them up against the side of the police vehicle spreading their legs, searching their bags, taking out, in some cases, signs that said no to war.

These people had come to protest against the war, protest against what they see as Vladimir Putin's war not their war. They don't want it. They don't want it in the name of their country, in their names either.

According to an independent rights group, they say so far today, more than 1,600 people have been arrested across Russia, more than 900 of them here in Moscow. What the authorities have been saying here is to protest is illegal. You could get charged, you could become a criminal and if you end up with a criminal charge against that you could affect you for the rest of your life. So the police and authorities not just using heavy strong arm tactics

in the street but threatening people the rest of their lives could be literally in jeopardy, opportunities for jobs, that sort of thing, could be in jeopardy if they continue with the protest. I have been talking to protesters this evening down some of the side streets out of the line of sight by police and down those side streets, by the way, we're seeing new no to the war graffiti sprayed on the walls here.

These people are telling me they're afraid to the war, they don't know why the country has gone to war. They're patriotic towards Russia they tell me. But some of them say they want to leave.

They don't know how the situation will change. They don't know what's going to persuade their president to stop the war. So, there is among some parts huge disappointment that President Putin is intent not only on prosecuting that war, but in prosecuting anyone who stands up to tell him not in their name.

BURNETT: Well, I'll tell you, the sanctions, whatever they may end up being in their full form will make it incredibly difficult for anybody to leave that country.

Nic Robertson, thank you very much.

And this morning, our own Clarissa Ward spent time in a subway station in Kharkiv. It's in the east of Ukraine. It had been turned into a bomb shelter -- church basements, subway stations and look how crowded it is. Every day citizens fleeing there for safety, among the explosions that they were hearing from the Russian onslaught.

Clarissa spoke to one woman, who, like so many here, said she never believed this would happen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We never believed that our, like, neighbor can just come and just and tell us what to do.

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We are an independent country, Ukraine, and we are totally not the same as Russians and we don't want to be a part of Russia or any other country.

I'm getting very emotional, and I cannot believe it's happening really. I just hope that some people in Russia may see this and just stand against Putin and the war.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What would you want people in Russia to know and hear from you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russian media is blocking all information, and I would like them to know that they're not taking just their military bases, they actually are taking our neighborhoods and they're making us feeling insecure and very unsafe. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: That was our Clarissa Ward reporting there, and, Alisyn and Victor, just so many people scared, emotional and just incredible patriotism that we are seeing on this day and this night as the onslaught continues.

CAMEROTA: That really captured the emotion, that interview that Clarissa did, because this is somebody who thought -- I mean, whose life was relatively normal and now the insecurity and the fear and the panic and you heard it there, obviously.

So, clearly, Erin, thank you. We'll check back with you.

President Biden threatening direct sanctions against Putin, but not answering. Why those are not happening today? So, we're live at the White House, next.

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CAMEROTA: Last hour, President Biden announced tougher sanctions against Russia including against Russia's largest bank.

BLACKWELL: The president also said the U.S. would deploy a new round of ground and air forces to NATO's eastern flank but he reiterated U.S. troops would not engage in direct conflict in Ukraine.

CNN's White House correspondent M.J. Lee is with us now.

So, M.J., some Americans are understandably very concerned about what they're watching and the impacts in the U.S., and the president did try to reassure the country.

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, this was certainly a speech that was directed, of course, at the American people, directed at global leaders, but right off the top, this was a speech that was directed at Vladimir Putin. President Biden starting his remarks by calling President Putin the aggressor, saying that that he had chosen to go down the path of war. He said that he would end up being a pariah on the world stage and that for invading Ukraine that he was going to end up suffering consequences as well as the Russian people.

You know, the U.S. had been warning for weeks and weeks if Russia chose to go down the path of invading Ukraine that it was going to be met with severe consequences from the U.S. and its allies and what the president did today in his speech was try to begin to paint a picture of what exactly that looks like. He, of course, as you noted, announced these new sanctions. Some of them aimed at these additional Russian financial institutions, adding more elites and their family members to the list, announcing more export control measures aimed at causing more pain at the Russian economy.

But you're right that there was also a portion of the speech in President Biden's remarks directed at the American people, trying to sort of help them understand what to make of everything that is going on, particularly in terms of what it might mean for the American people and their wallet and then sort of the bigger picture of why they should care about this conflict.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know this is hard and that Americans are already hurting. I will do everything in my power to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump. This is critical to me, but this aggression cannot go unanswered. If it did, the consequences for America would be much worse. America stands up to bullies, we stand up for freedom. This is who we are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: What a lot of people, though, will find not very reassuring knowing this is shaping up to be a drawn-out conflict, this will not end overnight. President Biden trying to manage expectations in the speech saying, look, sanctions are going to take time. It is going to take time for things to play out. Certainly, this is consuming the president's second year in office, guys.

BLACKWELL: M.J. Lee for us at the White House, thank you.

Well, as Russian troops move in to Ukraine, the Pentagon is deploying 7,000 U.S. troops to Europe and moving U.S. military assets further east.

CAMEROTA: And that includes sending six F-35 fighter jets into the NATO nation of Estonia, Lithuania and Romania.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from the Pentagon with the very latest.

So, Oren, explain these latest moves.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this builds on a number of movements we've seen, deploying troops from the U.S. to Europe, as well as moving troops already within Europe up towards NATO's eastern flank with a two-pronged goal. First is to reassure NATO allies to bolster their own defense capabilities. President Joe Biden sticking by what he said, which is that the U.S. will help defend every inch of NATO territory, but also to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It's obvious the U.S. has been unable to deter Putin from attacking and invading Ukraine, as we've seen over the course of the last 18 or so. The goal is to make sure he doesn't look, plan or act one inch past Ukraine into NATO territory, and that's why these troops are headed there.

The latest announcement of 7,000 troops, which would be an armor brigade combat team, on top of some 5,000 troops that have already mostly to Poland, but also to Germany and Poland over the course of the last few weeks. So that's 12,000 total troops from the Pentagon going from U.S. to Europe, as well as again troops within Europe moving more towards the Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who are looking to the U.S. for help, as well as the states on the southeastern flank of NATO, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, those types of states, they'll also get some Apache attack helicopter support as well.

Again, this is the U.S. standing by NATO allies. It's worth pointing out, a senior defense official says this is just the beginning of what they expect to see from Russians and Putin in terms of this invasion, and they believe they see a possibility of an attempt by Russia to decapitate Ukrainian leadership some time in the imminent future.

BLACKWELL: Oren Liebermann, thank you.

CAMEROTA: So Ukrainian officials say dozens of people are already injured, more than 50 people dead as Russia invades Ukraine. Our breaking news coverage continues live in Ukraine, next.

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