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Kyiv Under Curfew As Ukrainians Try To Fight Back Against Russians; Apartment Building In Kyiv Struck By Missile Or Rocket; Russia Sends More Fighting Vehicles Into Ukraine; Blinken Authorizes $350 Million More In Military Assistance To Ukraine; Former Ukrainian Translator On Fleeing Kyiv Amid Invasion. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 26, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can truly say this is definitely my purpose and being able to share what I love with kids has just been the greatest joy of my life. I am creating exactly what I wanted which is a safe healthy space for dancers to just be themselves and to love what they do.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington, and we are following breaking news at this hour.

Ukrainian forces slowing down Russia's invasion in a number of cities including the capital of Kyiv. New video out of northern Ukraine shows Ukrainians courageously using their bodies to try and stop Russian tanks from rolling forward. One man pushing the tank with his bare hands, look at that, before kneeling down in front of that tank. Regular citizens, civilians, are taking up arms ready to fight back.

These pictures show Ukrainians in the basement of a bomb shelter in Kyiv making Molotov cocktails. That is a sign of the battle to come. In the meantime President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected a U.S. offer to evacuate, telling the world, quote, "I need ammunition, not a ride." And the hours ahead will be tough.

CNN cameras were rolling as Russian tanks were moving toward the front lines. This crew has also spotted a disturbing Russian weapon, a rocket launcher capable of launching multiple thermobaric weapons or vacuum bombs as they're sometimes called which many human rights organizations have condemned. It is a very, very violent weapon that the Russians are employing right now.

Furious fighting is now happening in the area of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine and sporadic clashes can be seen in Kyiv.

Kyiv is now extending a strict curfew through Monday and so we'll see what happens in the hours ahead. Let's begin with CNN senior national security correspondent, Alex Marquardt, in Kyiv. Alex, we've been hearing these air sirens, gunfire in the last several

hours. You're in the thick of it. It's clearly a tense night tonight, not just in Kyiv but what we're seeing across the country right now everyday Ukrainians are standing up to Russian tanks. I mean it's inspiring to see.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, it is a tense night. And you can see it right behind me. This city is normally quite lit up. There is a big church right next to us that is normally lit up beautifully but clearly residents of Kyiv trying to keep the lights off for security reasons. We have seen that in other parts of the country as well. There is a bit of a lull for now. It has been quiet.

But, Jim, there is that remarkable incident, in Bakhmach, which is a town about 110 miles northeast of Kyiv where you're really seeing what Russian troops are going to run up against when it comes to not just Ukrainian military but Ukrainian civilians. You can see Russian tanks that are already in the town with residents of that town standing in the way. One person jumping up on top of the tank. You can hear in the video that they are throwing bicycles under the tracks of the tanks.

It is just remarkable, Jim. We have heard a lot of praise for the Ukrainian military and the way that they have managed to fight back against the Russian troops who have come into this country but what you're really going to see, what you're already seeing and what you're going to see as Russia increases the pressure are everyday Ukrainians who are taking the fight to these Russian troops.

There has been a general mobilization. All men 18 to 60 years old are being asked to join the military and anybody who wants a weapon is able to get one. President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Ukrainians to come home to Ukraine, to help in the fight, calling on non- Ukrainians to come to Ukraine and fight against Russia.

Now, Jim this is really a byproduct of the Russian invasion in 2014 when President Putin annexed Crimea and has supported those two breakaway enclaves in the east for the past eight years. There has been a real surge in patriotism, a real sense of Ukraine going to the West and claiming to be more European because they were so horrified by the gall of President Putin to try to say that Ukraine is not a country, that Ukraine is part of Russia.

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And so you really are seeing everyday Ukrainians ready to take this fight to the Russians, to the extent that as you mentioned they are -- if they don't have weapons, they're being asked to put together Molotov cocktails and to throw those at advancing Russian troops.

I mean, imagine the Pentagon asking Americans to put together Molotov cocktails and throw those at an advancing army. I mean, this just gives you a sense of the overwhelming force that Russians are coming at this country with, and the spirit with which Ukrainians are responding -- Jim. ACOSTA: Alex Marquardt, it just sounds like, you know, we have the

makings of some desperate hours ahead and it sounds as though the Ukrainians are going to hunker down and fight. They're going to fight an insurgent battle against these Russian invaders.

Alex Marquardt, thank you very much.

A high-rise apartment building in Kyiv was struck by a missile or rocket as people there slept overnight. The blast left a gaping hole on the side of the residential building, you can see it right there, forced everyone inside to evacuate. Incredibly no deaths have been reported so far.

CNN's Clarissa Ward, though, she was there and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): We're here in a residential neighborhood quite near to one of Kyiv's airports, Zhuliany Airport, and you can see behind me, I'm just going to step out of the way so that my cameraman Scottie McWhinnie can show you here the damage that has been done. Some kind of a projectile hit this apartment building at about 8:15 this morning, we're hearing.

You can still see smoke coming from it. There was a big fire. Still smoking. There are ambulance workers on the scene. And what they're doing now is trying to take some scaffolding up there to try to prevent the 22nd and 23rd floors from collapsing. But miraculously no one was actually killed in this strike. We're hearing from Ukrainian authorities that six people were wounded. Frankly, it's hard to imagine how anyone survived that.

But six people were wounded. They're being treated in various hospitals. And there's a little bit of a he said, she said going on about how this happened. Ukrainian authorities saying that this was the work of a Russian missile, and the Russians are saying that they believe -- excuse me, sorry, it's very windy here and there's a lot of debris flying around.

The Russians are saying that they believe that this was actually a Ukrainian missile defense system that somehow went awry and ended up hitting this apartment building. Now, whoever was responsible and however this happened, the reality is, this is the sort of thing that does happen when you have a war playing out in a major metropolis like Kyiv. This is a city of nearly 2.9 million people.

And we're in a pretty central area here. This isn't sort of, you know, on the far outskirts of town. You can just imagine how terrifying it was for the people who were sleeping or just waking up having their breakfast with their families on a Saturday morning already terrified about the situation, only to find their building hit in this attack.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ACOSTA: Thanks to Clarissa for that.

More Russian fighting vehicles moving into Ukraine today. Our cameras were there as these tanks and other armored vehicles cross the border.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is near the Belgorod region of Ukraine right across from the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv.

Fred, U.S. officials describe the fighting there as heavy. Are you picking up on any of that yourself?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. I mean, from our vantage point, Jim, it certainly seems, though, the Russians are moving more military equipment into that area of Kharkiv, which is really just down the road from where I am right now. If you look over there you see behind me there's the last checkpoint sort of for the Russians and then just down the road you get into Ukrainian territory and then Kharkiv is not far beyond that.

And we did see a lot of Russian military equipment moving that direction just a couple of hours ago. As you mentioned, as we were on air, a big column of T-72 main battle tanks moved in that direction. Of course very heavy armored vehicles. And we've seen similar scenes like that throughout the day really with heavy Howitzers also being brought in there. The Russians also firing just before we went to air actually. Also some artillery rockets close to where we are right now, firing those in the direction of Ukrainian territory, most probably to also towards that battlefield around Kharkiv.

As you said some pretty intense fighting apparently going on there. And, you know, it's very difficult to tell here from our vantage point what exactly is going on, how difficult time the Russians are having but certainly from what we're seeing, we have been seeing some ambulances raced out of that area as well.

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Whether or not that significantly means that the Russians are taking casualties, of course from here from our vantage point, we simply cannot say.

Now the Russians also bringing in some serious weaponry from what we could see. There was one weapon that you alluded to already earlier, Jim, which is a TOS 1 thermobaric flame thrower the Russians call it but it's essentially a multiple rocket launching system that launches those missiles with thermobaric warheads, and those when they impact essentially set the air on fire and suck all the oxygen out and cause people's lungs to collapse.

A very dangerous weapon and certainly one that causes a lot of fear in a lot of people. It's unclear whether or not that weapon has been used yet in the battle around Kharkiv or at all right now on what's going on in Ukraine. But certainly, the Russians have it. It's around here and it can be deployed at any time. So from our vantage point, it certainly seems as though the Russians are continuing to press that offensive. You could see around here in this area, they certainly do seem to have the military hardware in place to be able to escalate even further -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much for that report. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has authorized another $350 million

in military assistance for Ukraine. CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz joins me now.

Arlette, what do we know?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the White House is really trying to expedite getting security assistance into Ukraine, and we've learned that the White House has authorized $350 million worth of security assistance to Ukraine at this moment. That brings the total security assistance offered to Ukraine over the course of the past year to $1 billion.

Now we are told that these supplies from the Department of Defense that will be sent over there could include javelin anti-armory missiles as well as anti-aircraft systems. But one big question is how and when these could arrive. Now a senior Defense Department official said earlier today that they have gotten shipments into Ukraine in recent days. But of course the U.S. is not flying those planes over Ukraine as the airspace there is currently contested.

So an official said that it would likely be that many of these would be going through ground routes, though they are reframing from detailing exactly how they would get into the country. But Ukrainian President Zelensky has been pleading with the U.S. and other allies to supply more defense assistance as they are facing this Russian attack over the course of the past three days.

ACOSTA: All right, Arlette Saenz, thank you so much.

Our breaking news continues. Explosions and gun fire in Ukraine's capital as the country fights back against Vladimir Putin's attempt to topple their democracy. I'll talk to former Defense Secretary William Cohen about what could come next in that fight, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ACOSTA: Breaking news, Ukraine is closing its borders to Russia and Belarus as fighting intensifies. We just got a brand-new video from Ukrainian President Zelensky in the meantime. Here was his message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The world has seen that Ukrainians are powerful. Ukrainians are courageous. They're on their native land and they're never going to give up to anyone. They will never betray it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I'm joined now by a former Defense Secretary under Bill Clinton, William Cohen.

Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, for being with us. Last night on CNN you said the longer that this battle for Kyiv takes, the more likely it is that Vladimir Putin will just start lashing out, start demolishing the Ukrainian capital. Are we starting to see that happen or do you think the -- when we see it escalate we'll know it?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRES. CLINTON: We're starting I think to see that happen when you see the thermobaric weapons being moved into Ukraine. That tells you something about the mindset of Vladimir Putin. And I think many people starting to question whether he's taken leave of his senses in what he's doing because this could have been resolved very quickly, without bloodshed, and there were paths that could have been taken for peace. He chose otherwise.

I want to go back in terms of the clip that you ran earlier. I certainly want to commend President Zelensky, Poroshenko, the Ukrainian people, the incredible courage they're demonstrating, and CNN and the coverage, all of the journalists, they're covering it so the world can see exactly what is taking place. But I'd like you to just go back and kind of read Putin's speech, because if you just reverse the words, and think that it's now Zelensky sending a message to the Russian people saying good Russian people, please rise up and overthrow the person who is trying to perpetuate the Nazification of Russia and drug-fueled people who are in Russia now?

Just look at that and say, well, who is acting like the Nazis right now? It would be President Putin. If you talk about drugs? Who just in the Olympics had a controversy about drugs? As a matter of fact I think we ought to consider whether Russia should be banned from all future Olympics by virtue of the fact that they are drug-fueled.

So I think that President Zelensky could have said rise up and overthrow this man who's trying to perpetuate this war and this matter can be solved very easily. And so what we're in now watching Putin is in Orwell's world. The ministry of truth which is the ministry of lies. And everything he has said has been a lie. I don't intend to invade, I don't intend to attack, I don't intend to do this. He's done all of that. So I think the more desperate he becomes, the more violent he becomes. And we have to be prepared for that.

ACOSTA: There is no question about it. I mean, Vladimir Putin has been lying, his top officials have been lying throughout this. You can't trust anything that any of them say anymore. And as you were saying about the courage of the Ukrainians it's absolutely inspiring. I mean, it has just been totally surprising to some extent, although you have to imagine that anybody would do what they're doing right now, fight for their country.

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This tank video that we were showing earlier today, Secretary Cohen, of this man throwing himself in front of this tank in Ukraine trying to stop this tank from coming into their village, I am just wondering what your thoughts are when you see images like that, when you couple that with what Zelensky has been saying.

He has been so underestimated throughout all of this, you know, sort of written off as a comedian who would not be able to stand up to Vladimir Putin, and he's been saying in recent hours I don't want a ride home, I want more ammunition. I mean, they have completely flipped the script on Vladimir Putin. He looks like the mad dictator and the Ukrainians are just taking it to him.

COHEN: If you look at the wall of fame it should have President Zelensky on it, the wall of shame should have President Putin on it. And I want to go back to the images that you have shown a couple of days ago, I saw this photograph of a beautiful young girl, dark hair, dark eyes, and immediately I thought of Anne Frank as she was trying to get to safety. And I thought of all the people crammed there in the subway and the people trying to get out of town.

It reminded me of the Nazis loading people on trains. These people were trying to get free. The Nazis were loading them on trains and all I could think of was Anne Frank and how she looked and would have looked during that time. And this woman really captured the essence of herself.

ACOSTA: Right.

COHEN: If you look at what the people are doing now, it gives true meaning to the word citizen soldier. These citizens are rising up and they're being armed with whatever they can get. Whether it's throwing themselves in front of tanks, throwing bicycles there, making Molotov cocktails, et cetera, they're saying you are trying to destroy my country and I am going to fight for it.

So it's been inspirational and -- the question is how does this all end? And what I've said last evening is, it's really important for the Chinese, the Indians, the Israelis who have become friends with Russia over the years with all of their commercial ties to not just say things but to do something. To really get to Putin, saying, you've got to stop this. This can be settled. You don't have to kill all of these innocent people. Your soldiers don't have to die.

And so not just say we don't favor the invasion of a sovereign country, do something about it in terms of cutting some of the ties with the Russians. Calling your friends and saying stop it. But just saying written statement or a statement at the U.N. is not enough. They have an ability to influence Putin. They need to do it now. And I say that across the board for all of those who consider themselves friends or have commercial relations with Putin.

I think it's time for them to cut some of those relations and send the signals this has got to stop. Otherwise it's going continue to escalate. And by the way, it's not just Ukraine and it's not just NATO. If Putin should ever make good in saying I'm going to use nuclear weapons, that sets off a whole chain of events which would be a worldwide calamity. So everybody has a stake in this. And for the friends of Putin, it's time for you to not only speak up but to do something.

ACOSTA: Well said, Secretary Cohen. Thank you so much as always for bringing that passion to what you do and what you say. It's always appreciated here. Thanks for your time. COHEN: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. And around the world, countries are showing their support for Ukraine. Lighting up monuments in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Some of the images across the world that have caught our eyes, the London eye, Number 10 Downing Street. The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, and the list just goes on and on. All featuring the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

This global show of support comes as Ukrainians are fleeing for their lives. Next, a former translator for a former Ukrainian president will join me. He and his family have fled Kyiv and are now hiding in a shelter in the woods. We'll talk to them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ACOSTA: As Russia continues its aggressive miliary invasion of Ukraine, it's important to remember that innocent civilians who are terrified are caught in the middle of this war. More than 120,000 people have left their homes and fled Ukraine since Russia's assault began on Thursday according to a U.N. official.

And joining us now is Alexander Bilkun. He and his extended family fled Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and are now hiding in a shelter about 60 miles away. He's also a former translator for Ukraine's former president Viktor Yushchenko.

Alexander, thank you very much for doing this for us during this incredibly difficult time. Tell us a little bit about how you got out there, what you were going through as you were making your way, I guess to going into hiding. Is that how you would describe it? And what's going through your mind right now?

ALEXANDER BILKUN, HIDING IN A SHELTER IN UKRAINE: Jim, first, thanks for having me on the show. It's a great honor and privilege especially as long as you speak right after William Cohen.

[15:30:00]

And a little correction I really must make. We are not hiding and we are not terrified. These are the words that don't fit the context of what's going on.

We were fortunate to get access to a recreation facility in the woods. Don't be mistaken by the words "in the woods." We are in a very civilized compound and with all necessary amenities.

(CROSSTALK)

BILKUN: With that being said, as we speak, just about 30 minutes ago, when we were listening to a report from Clarissa Ward, who's doing a fantastic job as well as other reporters working on the ground, we got a streaming video about missiles. It is very hard to talk about it because the missiles hit a children's hospital, which is based one block from my home place.

Missiles hitting children's hospital. One kid is reported dead already. There's still the casualties are still being checked.

But the official's statement is, well, the Russian media and officials say that Ukrainians fired a missile into a children's hospital.

Again, my message to you guys is, when you report things going on here on the ground, sometimes you have to quote officials' statements and reactions from the Russian officials.

Please make note that these statements and reports can't come from a country that said it will never invade Ukraine.

And they still don't admit it is an invasion, it is a rescue operation, rescuing the Nazis from the regime.

So please always make the remark that these statements come from people who can't be trusted in anything they say, literally anything.

Now, talking about how we ended up here and what we have to go through before we ended up here.

Yes, we did spend several various scary hours in our apartment and the bomb shelter hearing all those sirens and the humming of jet fighters flying above our heads.

And until yesterday, things were more or less -- how should I say -- calm and quiet now. At least, it was not as loud and perhaps frightening as it is now.

Because the scenes we are watching here is really a nightmare and living hell for people who stayed there. The shootings on the ground continued.

But the more intense it becomes, the more confidence we are getting that this will end soon and we'll end very victoriously.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: I was going to ask you about that. Are you hearing stories, accounts? Are you talking to people?

And we're telling you about how your country fellowmen are standing up to the Russians.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: And what does that mean for you?

BILKUN: Yes, we are still in contact with people who remained in Kyiv, who are scattered across the rest of Ukraine.

While actually none of the people we know have fled abroad, but wherever these people are, none of them has any doubts or shaken confidence, should I say.

Part of the reason for this confidence is that we see and we are being a part of this eye-opening exercise, not only for the whole world -- because the whole world knows what's going on -- for the aggressor country.

Because even though the people in Russia are mostly intoxicated and poisoned with all of this propaganda, which is being fed to them.

And even seemingly sensible people, they accept all this B.S. and kind of take it for granted. And they sincerely believe that Russia is doing a great job rescuing Ukrainians from the Nazi regime.

But, as we speak, I am sure that this eye-opening process continues. And they still are completely all cut-off from the actual information and they know absolutely nothing about what's going on here.

[15:35:10]

Because the report says disseminate, they're just pathetic about, you know, one city surrendering after another.

And if you believe them, so the Russian army must be approaching Warsaw or Prague now because the rest of Ukraine have already surrendered.

ACOSTA: Yes.

Well, Alexander, I want to just to ask you about that.

I mean, I am wondering -- and, first of all, as you were saying earlier about not being terrified and hiding in the woods, I want to make crystal clear, I don't think you shown anything but courage and the Ukrainian people have shown anything but courage.

So our hats are off to you. Thank you for what you are doing.

What is your message to the Russians, to Vladimir Putin, who, as you said, are spinning all of these lies and telling their own people they are fighting the Nazis when it is a complete lie?

What is your message to the Russians? What's your message to Putin?

BILKUN: Ironically, Jim, I don't have a message for Putin to be honest.

Simply, because I am more accustomed to talk to human beings, which he's not.

Well, sometimes I will talk to cat or a dog but because I respect cats and dogs but not a creature, which the man that you refer to is.

My message to the Russian people is also very minimum because, first, this message will not reach them.

Number two, the message which I may want to send will reach them a lot later when the sobering up comes to their minds and they start seeing that the world is not the world they are used to.

And their civilization is passing by. They are near North Korea. And so the only friend on the globe will be Mr. Kim. The rest of the world will just ignore and forget them.

Maybe not ignore because, as long as his finger is on the nuclear button, well, we will have to reckon with them.

But civilization will go one way they will go the other way. And that is exactly when my message will reach them. And then they will understand what the whole world meant.

Because up until now, they still believe the whole world is their enemies and Ukraine is being manipulated by their enemies.

So my message perhaps is to sober up and come to as soon as possible.

ACOSTA: All right. Alexander Bilkun, thank you for your time. Please be safe. Thanks to you. Thanks to your family.

And we appreciate you spending some time and talking about what you've been going through. Showing a lot of courage, a lot of guts. That's what we've been seeing --

(CROSSTALK)

BILKUN: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BILKUN: That's very important. Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir. We appreciate your time.

Alexander and his family are just one of thousands that are leaving cities as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.

This video captures a family in Kyiv clutching their child as they take shelter underground.

[15:38:32]

Above, the street of Kyiv are virtually empty. The normal bustling city of three million people -- think about that, three million people -- now eerily silent, eerily still as the Russian invasion into their country continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:25]

ACOSTA: Former president of Ukraine sending this message to world from the frontlines of an invasion, do not trust Vladimir Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Look, I want to ask all the CNN viewers, all the people all over the world, with one simple request. Please don't trust Putin. Don't believe Putin.

And, two, don't be afraid of Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I am joined now by Steve Hall. He's the former CIA chief of Russia operations and a CNN's national security analyst.

Steve, great to see you. Thanks so much for being with us.

There's good reason to heed this warning from the former president who was just speaking there.

Russia's media watchdog is threating Russian news outlets, banning them from using the words "attack, invasion or declaration of war." And Russia has not reported one combat casualty so far apparently.

What do you make of this strategy that the Russians have of just lie after lie after lie?

I mean, I would have to think -- and we were talking with one of our earlier guests, we were talking about this.

When the Russian soldiers go into Ukraine and find they are not fighting the Nazis, I mean, aren't they going to realize they were being lied to?

STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, this is really something that Vladimir Putin, Jim, and the rest of Russia, back to the Soviet Union, are really good at.

This is the propaganda piece of their active measures.

It is incredibly effective inside of Russia because, although Moscow and St. Petersburg are more modern than the rest of Russia and have better access to the Internet -- the Russian government still monitors it very carefully.

[15:45:05]

And obviously, the rural parts of Russia rely on almost entirely on network television there, which is absolutely controlled by the Kremlin.

It is no surprise when you hear of polling inside of Russia, that there's support for this because, yes, the painting that Putin is doing is that everything is going marvelous and swimmingly well in Ukraine.

When soldiers get out of their armored vehicles, it's going to be -- we are seeing videos of it already -- it's going to be an interesting feeling for them talking to Russians, talking to folks that they have been told for many years these folks are brothers. All of a sudden, when that propaganda doesn't marry up with reality,

that's when trouble can start.

ACOSTA: No question.

And a NATO official telling CNN that Russia is spinning they so advanced in their invasion of Ukraine having stopped to allow time for negotiations.

Do you buy that? I mean, it is just incredible.

HALL: The problem with the great propaganda machine is it generates for critical-thinking people and who have access to open press like we do in the West, it makes you disbelieve everything.

That's certainly -- I think there's a healthy dose of skepticism that has to go with this idea that, yes, we are pausing for negotiations. That makes no sense.

And outside of Russia media, as far as I can tell, there's really no indication of that whatsoever.

But there's no doubt that Putin has to continue to try to feed his own domestic audience with a message that's going to not, in any way shape or form, will need to a rising up or discontent among the Russian people.

And if that happens, he'll simply repress. He's really good at that. But the propaganda part is incredibly important to him.

ACOSTA: It is almost like he's trying to fight a 20th century information war in the 21st century where people have social media, they have ways of finding out what the truth and they don't have to listen to his B.S. It is remarkable.

And we have this really interesting dynamic playing out. On the one hand, you have Zelensky standing tall, inspiring his people with his incredible patriotism.

He didn't flee. He's saying, I don't want a lift out of Ukraine, I want more ammunition.

And you have Putin increasingly isolated.

HALL: You know, it really is amazing.

And it is almost like you'd love to somehow have a phone call with Putin and say, really, is this how you thought it was going to work, so you spent most of the past decade trying to split the West and you were doing a good job of it?

Not just here in the United States, but, you know, split the NATO allies. There's a lot of discontent. People were talking about how much NATO was spending, is it still relevant, all of that.

And all of a sudden, now you have this amazing unification. The same thing inside Ukraine.

If you asked three or four years ago, hey, Ukrainians, how do you feel about Russia, there may have been some discontent and some concerns but there was this sort of cultural similarity.

And now, what he's done is what I don't think any other Soviet leader or Russia leader could probably hope to do, which is alienate Ukraine, which is a significant country for Russia.

So it's all -- initially, it appears to have backfired in Putin's face.

I think we still have a long way to go on the fighting part of it. There's still a lot of Russian soldiers that are on Ukrainian territory. We'll have to see how it works out.

But just in terms of where he wanted to end up geopolitically, it's almost to me the exact opposite place as to seem what he really wanted.

ACOSTA: All right, Steve Hall, thanks for the expertise. We appreciate it.

[15:48:41]

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:24]

ACOSTA: Hollywood may address the crisis in Ukraine at tomorrow night's SAG Awards.

CNN's Stephanie Elam reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHEERING)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hollywood's return to the red carpet is finally here.

(on camera): Is it a new pressure to be the first main award show of the season?

KATHY CONNELL, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SAG AWARDS: It's exciting.

ELAM (voice-over): Kathy Connell and Jon Brockett have been producing the SAG Awards for more than two decades. This year, COVID has been the constant curveball.

CONNELL: In December, they were saying, are we still doing the live show, and we were going, yes, we are.

ELAM: Along with testing and vaccination requirements, the show is moving to an aircraft hangar in Santa Monica.

(on camera): The benefit of moving to a hangar is that they can open up the doors with more ventilation.

And with L.A. County dropping its indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people, it definitely takes the pressure off.

(voice-over): As the Oscars go big with three presenters, the SAG will have none.

CONNELL: We're the tightest show on the air. And we have all of these stars in the room. And wouldn't you like to see as many of them as you possible could?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I have to add this to my Tender profile.

(LAUGHTER)

ELAM: They say the speeches are the big draw.

JON BROCKETT, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, SAG AWARDS: It's where the award comes from. It is actors voting on actors.

ELAM: This year is full of firsts. "Squid Game" is the first foreign- language TV show nominated for best ensemble. And Troy Kotsur is the first deaf actor to be nominated for an individual award.

SCOTT FEINBERG, AWARDS COLUMNIST, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": The veteran of the deaf theater community in L.A. who has a charming part in the movie and is just a Cinderella story as himself.

ELAM: The SAG Awards also differ from the Oscars in nominees.

"House of Gucci" and Lady Gaga were embraced by SAG actors, largely shunned by the Oscars.

[15:55:03]

Jennifer Hudson has Aretha Franklin nominated for a SAG Award but shown no respect by Oscar.

And the "Power of the Dog" is Oscars top dog but that most nominated film not up for SAG's top prize.

The SAG Awards don't always predict the Oscars, but they have telegraphed some upsets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Parasite."

(CHEERING)

FEINBERG: "Parasite" coming out of kind of nowhere, they first won the best ensemble SAG Award.

(CHEERING)

ELAM (on camera): What makes the SAG Awards special?

CONNELL: It's the actor's party in the actor's house. It's fun.

ELAM (voice-over): In Hollywood, I'm Stephanie Elam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)