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Massive Explosions Light Up Night Sky Near Ukrainian Capital; Ukraine's Outgunned Forces Holding Capital Of Kyiv For Third Day; Select Russian Banks Expelled From Vital Financial System. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired February 26, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And he doesn't believe the Russian people will buy it either.

[19:00:05]

He believes many Russian will see that a fellow Slavic country that they share so many cultural and family ties with is being invaded in brutalized. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Good point, Brian Todd, reporting for us. Thank you very much.

And to our viewers, thanks for watching. I am Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll will be back Monday, 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

CNN NEWSROOM, with Pamela Brown starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, don't trust Putin. Don't believe Putin.

REPORTER: An apartment building damaged by what the foreign minister says was a Russian missile strike.

REPORTER: You can see the invasion that Russia is conducting of Ukrainian territory. More of this heavy equipment has been moving toward the frontline.

REPORTER: Many people are trying to cross the border on foot, which would mean waiting outdoors in the frigid cold. Most often, with small children.

REPORTER: It is this hours-long, agonizing journey of having to say good-bye to everything that you have known.

REPORTER: Strange to see civilians picking up armor from vehicles here. It shows you how many people here are involve now on a local level in this war effort.

REPORTER: Using their own personal body to stop a moving tank.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I will go and fight and I am ready to die for my land for future. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Europe should help us and the whole world should help us. We should not be left alone with this.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: It is 2:00 a.m. in the capital of Ukraine, and nearly 3 million people are bracing for attack. This is the view from Kyiv. In the right corner of your screen, a massive explosion on the outskirts of the city, one of at least two. The government is issuing dire warnings that Russian troops could launch a major-military assault on the capital city any moment.

And the White House and European Union announced a sharp, new punishment for Russia a short time ago, selected Russian banks, presumably tied Vladimir Putin and his enablers, will be expelled from a vital banking system called SWIFT. This all adds to the global isolation of Putin's Russia.

We are going to have more on that, shortly. But first, we have our correspondents and experts gathered across the region and the world to bring you all of the latest developments.

Let's begin with CNN's Matthew Chance in Kyiv. Matthew, what is going on there? We are seeing lights -- the skies light up right behind you.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pam. Very tense situation in the Ukrainian capital tonight with the mayor of this city, Kyiv, warning that it could be yet another difficult night for the city and for the residents who are sort of bunkered down inside.

Those lights, that you can see right behind me here are the flyers burning lighting up the sky south west of the city, that near the region or in the region of Vasylkiv, which is about 30 kilometers, 20 miles or so from where I am standing right now in the heart of the Ukrainian capital.

The reason it is significant is because there, there is a strategic airbase that we believe has been target of Russian special forces to try and secure it so they could, you know, bring in more supplies, more troops, more equipment, which would enable them to have a more effective, assault on the city.

It has been very hard to take control of it and it is not clear whether they did but we know there is fierce fighting around there right now. Within the past couple of hours, there have been two huge explosions that really rocked the city from that distance.

You can see the aftermath of them still playing out right now. We believe those fires may have been caused by the fuel tanks at the airstrip, at the airbase, that seem to have caught fire, but, obviously, we don't have eyes on it so that's just, you know, speculative.

But, nevertheless, that is just one aspect of what is happening right now. The rest of the time, we have got, you know, a really, really serious situation in the country and in the city with Russian forces now, you know, probing the city from various different directions. That's the southwest and, of course, there are forces in other strategic locations to the north and to the northwest, as well, and so, you know, a really tense moment for the Ukrainian capital.

BROWN: Incredibly, and just so ominous given the warnings coming for the capital city that Russia is expected to launch an imminent attack. Of course, the aim is to take over the city. And you have been spending time with the civilians in Kyiv. What are you learning?

CHANCE: Yes, the civilians, I have been talking to a lot and they are obviously very anxious but I have also been spending a lot of time throughout the course of the day with the defenders of the city.

[19:05:01]

The civilians who have taken up arms, and have dug themselves into positions to try and do whatever they can, potentially lay down their lives in the face of a concerted Russian attack. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice over): These are Ukraine's civilian defenders. Local residents, taking up arms and ready to fight. That's his blood on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His blood.

CHANCE: Already given a suburb of the capital Kyiv, there's been blood spilled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: - one of few people was here and covered by this.

CHANCE: Deadly contact between these volunteers and Russian forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never been in there. I've never served in the army.

CHANCE: Volunteers like Yuri who was an economic analyst, he tells me, before this Russian invasion made him a fighter.

You shot gun at school. You work in an office but now you are defending your country -- your city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. I didn't think I would join the -- this unit just two days ago. I thought that, you know, I don't know how to handle the guns. And yesterday, it came to me that, you know, Russians are in the city. I mean, it's close to the point that I have completely changed my mind, and I have decided that, you know, I should do something about it.

CHANCE: Just hours before, this northern-Kyiv suburb - was the scene of firefights as Russian forces probe the Ukrainian capital. Now, the entire city and its residents are bracing and preparing for more.

This called as a hexobombs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. CHANCE: Does your Molotov cocktails?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: Show me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my Javelin. This what I have to use to stop the tank.

CHANCE: These are your Molotov cocktails, your petrol bombs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHANCE: And you made these yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. The people from Kyiv build and bring me this.

CHANCE: The people from the local --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Kyiv, they brought me this.

CHANCE: And they may be needed soon, very soon.

As we left the building, more shots ring out as Russia's assault on the city seems at hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Well, Pam, you know, as a sign of just how tense and how concerned the authorities in Kyiv are right now, there's been a curfew announced from early on today. It won't be lifted until Monday morning and the reason for that they say is because they are expecting a Russian attack.

They are putting out defenses of the Ukrainian military, and of course those civilian defenders as well. And they are warning the population that is 'left in the city, there could be Russian sabotage, Russian forward parties so probing into Kyiv, which obviously will be a massive point of potential confrontation as the battle for this city looks poised to begin.

BROWN: It certainly does. Matthew, stay safe. On that note, thank you so much.

And I want to take you back now to the moment that huge explosion lit up night sky to the southwest of Kyiv. Our Alex Marquardt was on the scene as it happened just a short time ago.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: There are fears that the Russians could carry out a large-scale bombing campaign here in the Ukrainian capital and just about seven minutes ago in southwest Kyiv, we could see from our vantage point and hear a large explosion.

I am going to get out of the way so you can see what I am seeing right now. Again, this is the southwest part of the capital. We heard a large blast. And then, since then, for the past seven-eight minutes, there has been this pulsing glow in the distance.

You have to imagine that it is some kind of fire. It is a very eerie scene. This city is, right now, completely quiet. It has been quiet for quite some time and then every so often, you -- that silence is pierced by some sounds of fighting or war, whether it's gunfire or thuds in the distance.

This was an explosion that was relatively close by. We don't know what the target is but that is the general direction, general location of Kyiv's second airport. It is a location that we have been looking at earlier today because there was a missile or rocket that hit a residential building near that airport.

And that was the main incident today, I would say. It has been, otherwise, a relatively quiet day. But now, we are taking -- we are trying to get a sense of whether this bombing campaign by the Russians is going to happen tonight.

[19:10:09]

We are bracing for that. The city is bracing for that. There is a curfew that is not just overnight but it is a 48-hour-long curfew. The city has told its residents to stay inside when the air sirens go off, to go into the air shelters.

And now, I am hearing something else in the distance. That sounded like gunfire. Sounds like thunder. There were two waves of that. So, this could be the beginning of a significant aerial bombardment by Russia's forces on the Ukrainian capital.

BROWN: Terrifying.

Officials are also grappling with the aftermath of a Kyiv residential block struck by a missile or rocket overnight. CNN's Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward visited the scene near one of the capital's airports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A man stands on his balcony, looking out at a new reality just hours after a missile slammed into his apartment building. It was 8:00 A.M. when the projectile hit, destroying parts of the 22nd and 23rd floors. According to Ukrainian authorities, two people were killed.

Officials here say it was a Russian strike. Russia's ministry of defense claim it was a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that went awry. Whoever was responsible, this is what happens when war comes to a major city. Homes and lives are destroyed.

At the city's central train station, a frantic dash as people tried to escape to the west of the country. Step back, the train conductor says, step back. She tells the crowd to leave their bags, to make room for more people.

So, she's just said that women and children can get on the train. Now, you can see people pushing to get on. They have got their pets, they have got their babies and they are trying to get on this train to get out of here.

Ukraine's railway services say they are evacuating 5,000 people a day in Kyiv. And every single space is precious. Stand, this woman pleads. It's full, the conductor tells her.

Inside the carriage, it is standing-room only. A woman waves goodbye to her family. Who knows when she will be able to return. Her daughter, Tamara, has made the tough decision to stay behind.

For many people, it will be hard to understand how brave you are to stay here and not to try to leave and get somewhere safe.

TAMARA BAKOVA, KYIV RESIDENT: It's not brave you should just understand. It is my city, it's my hometown. It is my homeland. It's my country. And I am not the one who should leave. The Russians are the one who should leave and they would leave. I wouldn't leave this city before they are.

WARD: Do you think many people are like you, and they're ready to do everything they can to get Russia out?

BAKOVA: I don't think, and I know.

WARD: This is the sort of extraordinary resistance Russia is facing here. 100 miles northeast of Kyiv, a man tries to block a Russian tank. He kneels in front of it, determined it stop it in its tracks. And for a brief moment, he does before the column pushes on towards the capital.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And we want to take a moment and look at this, again, these dramatic and very moving images. This is about 110 miles of northeast of Ukraine's capital. Ukrainian citizens are begging Russian soldiers to stop.

They have even thrown bicycles in their path. Then, as you see, a man jumped onto one of the tanks. You can see him holding onto the barrel of that tank. He slides off, tries to physical hold it back. He then drops to his knees, bringing the tank to a dead halt and creating a standoff that seemed suicidal.

Bystanders pulled him aside and the Russian tanks lurched forward on their way. CNN has confirmed the authenticity and location of this video.

We all have questions about the situation going on right now in Ukraine. Send me yours through Twitter and Instagram and I am going to try to post them to the experts joining me tonight and tomorrow.

Our breaking news coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues in just a moment. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:00]

BROWN: That is video from Kyiv, a woman brushing glass from the window sill singing the Ukrainian national anthem. At the end there, she says, quote, long live Ukraine.

Let's break down some of what we have been seeing going on visually, especially just in the last hour, we have seen these two explosions.

I want to bring in CNN Military Analyst and Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. So, tell us, Colonel, what have we seen in the past hour?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET. U.S AIR FORCE), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So, Pamela, here's what we have been looking at. Basically, this is, of course, a map of Kyiv. The explosions that we have seen have actually been down in this area, a little bit south of the city, in an airport that has a huge petroleum storage facility.

[19:20:02]

Most airports have that because they have to refuel jets and other airplanes. So, those were probably hit and those explosions can be quite massive when they actually occur. And that's the kind of thing that would light up a sky, especially at nighttime like you wouldn't believe and those can be quite spectacular.

BROWN: And do you see that as a precursor for potentially what is to come? The government is warning that there could be an imminent attack from the Russians over the next 24 hours and overnight there in Kyiv.

LEIGHTON: Absolutely. Well, first of all, that's always what they do. They will attack things like airports, train stations potentially, sometimes government buildings, like the Ukrainian parliament, is a possibility. These kinds of attacks are definitely part of a plan.

In essence, what happens, Pam, is we have a wave of attacks that come forward during particular phases of the air campaign and if this is an air campaign, like most air campaigns, it is going to start with attacks on spectacular facilities, such as airports, communication centers, factories, road junctions, bridges, you know, all of these areas could absolutely be targeted in one of these cam campaigns.

BROWN: So that is what you see happening potentially overnight with this imminent Russian attack that the government were worried about?

LEIGHTON: Absolutely, because when you go in, what you are doing is, in essence, you are preparing the way for the infantry to come in and take over the city. And when you do that, you know, you use your airpower to make those kinds of things happened, you want to attack all the major points.

So, you want to cut bridges. You want to make sure that any communications' links are cut so there can be no reinforcements to the city. Those are the kinds of things that you do, and you do it in such a way that you not only disorient your adversary but you also make sure that they can't react to you in the time that they would need to in order to defend against your attack.

BROWN: Yes, blocking around the city, it reminds me of what Russia did with Berlin during World War II.

LEIGHTON: Exactly.

BROWN: Our CNN correspondent something called a vacuum bomb launcher today near the border. What is that?

LEIGHTON: So, what we have here, this is quite a spectacular piece of equipment. Actually it is TOS-1. T-O-S 1 is a nomenclature for this. And what it does is it actually uses a weapon called a thermobaric bomb.

So, thermobaric bombs are used against fixed facilities. They're used against bunkers, against buildings, against trenches. It is not good in open air. It's not good when the weather is bad. But they are highly effective, highly dangerous because what they end up doing is they end up sucking the air out of the atmosphere and what they can do then is they can actually change everything that you would be able to do. You can't breathe properly and, in essence, you are asphyxiated.

BROWN: That is beyond terrifying. So, basically, you would not be able to breathe. You would just be suffocated if they were to utilize that?

LEIGHTON: That is correct.

BROWN: Germany is now pledge pledging weapons to Ukraine. What are they sending?

LEIGHTON: So they are sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 stinger missiles. They are actually sending anti-tank weapons called Panzerfaust in German nomenclature through a third country, the Netherlands. The Netherlands is -- got them from Germany originally but Germany has to approve their further transfer to Ukraine.

The stinger missiles, also same type of situation, what they are doing is they're using those stinger missiles to shoot down aircraft.

BROWN: We have been receiving excellent viewer questions. One of the big questions we have been getting is why aren't we, as in the U.S., sending in troops to help with Ukraine? Why aren't world leaders putting boots on the ground to help in Ukraine?

LEIGHTON: So, this was one of the things that becomes really, really important from a political standpoint because it's really popular pressure that will determine what political leaders do.

Why aren't we doing this? Because right now, the NATO treaty only governs NATO countries and article 5 of the NATO treaty, if a NATO country were to be attacked would mean that we would go in and help that NATO country. However, Ukraine is not part of NATO. And that is really the reason that Russia gave for attacking Ukraine. They don't want Ukraine to be part of NATO and they want to make sure that it stays that way because they think that NATO is a threat to them. We, of course, see it completely differently.

And if Russia were to pursue this kind of activity, like they are doing in Ukraine, against a NATO country, then it would be a completely different scenario and you would see U.S. and other NATO country boots on the ground in that particular country. But right now, not in Ukraine. That could change though.

BROWN: That could change. And bottom line is Russia is a nuclear power. And so a big question U.S. citizens have that viewers of the show have had is what is the concern for the U.S. right now?

LEIGHTON: So, the concern for the U.S. is, you know, first of all, these kinds of things can spread. These kinds of events, if they occur in one place, especially one that is bordering allied countries like this is, it could spill over into those allied countries, which would then activate the NATO treaty.

[19:25:03]

If that does happen, then you would, again, see the types of activities that would be associated with combat preparation, not just the deployments that we he have had now of about 13,000 or 14,000 U.S. troops, extra troops to Europe but you would see a far more activity going toward Europe, the European nations would be ramping up their defensive capabilities. And that would be a completely different ball game from what we are seeing right now.

But this could be the start of something like that. We really shouldn't want that to go this way. But sometimes events have a way of spinning out of control. And we have to be very aware and very prepared for that.

BROWN: To be prepared. But the bottom line is we just don't know at this point. But thank you so much for helping us understand the situation there on the ground in Ukraine, Cedric Leighton.

And we continue to watch the situation on the ground there as new explosions are reported near the capital. We are going to talk more about it, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:52]

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BROWN: Take a look at this incredible moment, a Ukrainian mother reunited with her children after they fled their homes in Ukraine in fear. The children were leaving the country with their father when a Border guard force the father to stay behind and fight. The desperate dad turned to a woman he had never met and asked her to

bring the children to safety. Armed with only a phone number and their backpacks, the three made it to the Hungarian border.

It was there that they finally found the children's mother.

The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv is bracing for assault tonight. So far, at least two huge explosions have lit up the night sky as the Ukrainian people put their lives on the line to save their country.

Joining me now with more is Ambassador William Taylor, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.

Ambassador, we're seeing this footage of civilians taking up arms, stockpiling Molotov cocktails, standing in front of tanks -- Russian tanks. Does this level of patriotism surprise you? What do you think?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: It is incredible how strongly the Ukrainians feel about their country. It is surprising to see that kind of intensity, but we shouldn't be surprised.

These people have been under pressure for eight years of combat, but for generations, they've been under the thumb of the Russians and they have been out from under the thumb of the Russians for 30 years and they don't want to go back in.

They feel very strongly about their nation. They feel very strongly about their land. They'll stop -- they'll stop the tanks, they will do whatever it takes. I'm very impressed with the Ukrainian people.

BROWN: One of the women interviewed by Clarissa Ward said, "Why should I leave? The Russians should leave." But at the same time, you can't blame these families desperate to get out of Ukraine with their children. I mean, it is just heart wrenching, these images.

What is your biggest concern for Kyiv right now as the government there warns of an imminent attack by Russia.

TAYLOR: Again, we have to be concerned that the size of the Russian forces could overwhelm the Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian forces will fight hard. They will fight fiercely. They've got these Molotov cocktails that you saw. They've got weapons that have been handed out to people, so a friend of mine took his family to the western part of the country where his father-in-law lives, put them there.

And then he turned around and went right back to get his weapon. It was ready. By the time he got back, Pam, his house was a no man's land between Russians and Ukrainians.

He was walking around without all the equipment and he had to go. He is ready to fight. He is ready to fight.

BROWN: You know what? He may have not had the equipment, but he had the will.

TAYLOR: He had the will. BROWN: And I think the will is such a key part of what we're seeing

play out with these Ukrainians. If the Russians, and it seems as though given the scale of the fight, you know, the Ukrainians against the Russians, if they do take hold of Kyiv, as we expect, how long do you think they could keep a hold of it? If that does happen?

TAYLOR: That's the right question, because they couldn't hold it. The Russians cannot hold it and the reason they can't hold it is the Ukrainian people will be back in the streets. They will resist, they will reject a Russian rule.

If the Russians try to put a puppet leader in there somehow, they will reject them. The Ukrainian people, we've seen them go to the streets in 2004. They went back to the streets in 2014.

They will be back again and the Russians will not be able to hold Kyiv.

BROWN: I think that is such a key point as we watch all of this unfold there in Ukraine.

I want to ask you about looking ahead and what's been going on with punishment against Russia. There are these harsh economic sanctions against Russia and Putin personally.

Are you concerned that Russia will retaliate against the U.S. with an attack of its own like a cyberattack? I think a lot of people are wondering, in the U.S., what does this mean for us? How should we prepare? How concerned should we be?

[19:35:00]

TAYLOR: I don't think that the Russians will dare to do a large cyberattack on the United States because they know that we've got the capability to do it back to them, probably bigger.

So there is a deterrent effect on cyber. There is a deterrent effect on information. There is a deterrent effect on a lot of these challenges that will keep the Russians in their place.

BROWN: I'm going to go back really quick to the President of Ukraine, Zelensky. And he has just stayed there. The U.S. had offered to rescue him, bring him out of the country, he will not. He is like a captain who refuses to abandon his ship using social media to get the word out to his people. What do you make of him?

TAYLOR: And Pam, the same fellow that I mentioned who put his family then came back to Kyiv and is now unable to get to his house, he said he is so proud to serve under that Commander.

BROWN: Wow.

TAYLOR: He is so proud. He said all his comrades, same thing that they are looking to this man as their leader. And this is a young politician. He is 44.

BROWN: A former comedian.

TAYLOR: A former comedian, but he has stepped up and he is a hero and is a leader for the Ukrainian people. People around the world now know who Volodymyr Zelensky is and they are very proud.

You're right about him, not leaving the country, not leaving the city.

BROWN: He is not leaving. He is not jumping ship.

TAYLOR: He is not.

BROWN He is showing --

TAYLOR: And he is getting the loyalty and the respect of the Ukrainian people.

BROWN: At a time when his life is seriously in danger. I mean, I think you can't sort of say that enough how much his life is endangered.

TAYLOR: He said he is the first target.

BROWN: He is the first target.

We've been getting viewer questions. I want to ask you this question from one viewer who said: Why wasn't Ukraine better prepared for this onslaught given the U.S. was warning them for some months this would happen? What do you say?

TAYLOR: So there were two messages that had to get out to people. One was the urgency. They are urgent. This is a big problem. You've got a lot of -- you've got 120,000 to 130,000 troops on your border, you need to get prepared. That was coming from the United States.

The other message though, was also necessary, and it came from President Zelensky, which was, we have to stay calm. We have to stay calm. If we are going to defend ourselves, we can't panic, we have to be resolved.

So he emphasized the resolution, emphasized not panic, emphasized the prepare, but prepare in a focused way. That was the message that he was trying to get, and you see on the streets now, there is a determination that is probably based on that calm that President Zelensky showed in the buildup.

BROWN: Ambassador William Taylor. Thank you.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Pam.

BROWN: And we are following the breaking news as the White House and its allies expel several Russian banks from the vital globing banking network.

I'm going to talk about that with former Treasury spokeswoman Hagar Chemali up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:42:10]

BROWN: Tonight, the White House takes another extraordinary step to choke off Vladimir Putin's ability to wage war in Ukraine. The U.S. along with a number of Western nations will move to expel selected Russian banks from SWIFT. That is the highest security network that links financial institutions around the world and is vital for conducting global business. It is just the latest round of economic sanctions since the invasion began.

In the first round Thursday, Russia's top financial institutions were cut off from the U.S. financial system. Thirteen major Russian companies lost the ability to raise money from U.S. markets.

Russia's so-called elites, members of Putin's inner circle had their U.S. assets frozen. Russia's military got blocked from certain imports and the financing to expand, and the sanctions also blocked Russia's non-military high tech imports.

The Western Alliance raised the stakes Friday with both the European Union and the U.S. announcing direct sanctions on Putin and Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov.

President Biden has been blunt about the goals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war, and now, he and his country will bear the consequences.

Putin's aggression against Ukraine will end up costing Russia dearly, economically, and strategically. We will make sure of that.

Putin will be a pariah on the international stage

But this is going to take time, and we have to show resolve, so he knows what is coming, and so the people of Russia know what he has brought on them. That's what this is all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Hagar Chemali is a former Treasury Department spokeswoman. She is here to explain what all of this means.

Hagar, expulsion from SWIFT was described as a nuclear option. Now, they're moving forward with this. Tell us a little bit more about SWIFT.

HAGAR CHEMALI, FORMER TREASURY DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: So SWIFT is -- the good way to think about SWIFT is kind of like the WhatsApp of financial messaging. That's not my term, that's a term from my colleague at the Atlantic Council. The SWIFT is a messaging system and it is there to send secure information about transactions, right?

So that a bank in the United States or a financial institution, if anybody abroad is sending a financial transaction here to the United States, the bank knows who is sending that money, the instructions related to that money and so on. So that's what SWIFT is. It is purely a messaging system. Money doesn't actually go through it.

But nearly all financial institutions use SWIFT in order to pursue those financial transactions. So the reason why cutting a country out of SWIFT which, by the way, is not what was announced today. What was announced was cutting off certain Russian financial institutions from SWIFT.

BROWN: Exactly.

CHEMALI: And there is a reason. Yes, there is a reason that was so targeted.

[19:45:02]

CHEMALI: The reason that's a big deal is because we have a lot of trade with Russia, Europe in particular has a lot of trade with Russia, in particular for them with oil and gas. For us, it is related to fuel minerals to iron and steel, and platinum. These are things that are very important, obviously, to our industry.

So they have obviously targeted the financial institutions where they can isolate them from the international financial system further, but it is clear they're trying to be surgical so as to limit the backlash on the U.S. and European economies.

BROWN: And what could the backlash be?

CHEMALI: Well, it depends. So, if in Europe, for example, they import 40 percent of their oil and gas from Russia, and if all the Russian financial institutions with which they do business were to be isolated from Swift, then they would not be able to purchase that oil and gas, meaning they'd have to find another source immediately.

Not only would they have to find another source, but they would have to set up the infrastructure to receive gas from other areas.

Now, we know that countries like Germany and Italy, who import this gas the most, they are behind this move, right? That was a very clear announcement made today that this was united with our European partners and other partners around the world.

But what that could do, if oil and gas were targeted, which I believe from what I've heard from my government friends, is that they're trying to figure out ways to carve out, trying to figure out creative sanctions where perhaps Russia could continue selling its oil and gas, but perhaps not benefit from the proceeds of those sales. Those are the types of oil sanctions we had imposed on Iran.

And the reason for that is to not cause global gas prices to skyrocket around the world, but that is something that could happen in the United States if we weren't able to import iron, steel, platinum, fuel minerals from Russia, that would impact our manufacturing and those businesses wouldn't be able to sell what they manufacture and jobs would be lost.

So these are all things that the Treasury Department analyzes with economists, with folks at the Commerce Department, State Department, and they really try to be very deliberate in how they craft these sanctions to hit the target as much as possible and inflict financial pain without causing a backlash, but there will be some, I'm certain of some increase in prices you'll see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:41]

BROWN: We have seen so much heavy handed violence since Russia launched its assault on Ukraine, but we have also seen Ukrainian courage as its smaller military along with civilians try to resist the overwhelming Russian invasion.

I'm going to let these pictures speak for themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It is necessary for my family to leave Ukraine. I will stay here but the main thing is for my family to leave Ukraine and not feel the threat of attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have missiles attack, very loud blast, and absolutely disastrous picture around Kyiv in the 21st Century, in the middle of Europe. Now, this is a disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Europe should help us and the whole world should help us. We should not be left alone with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Much more on the breaking news: Explosions lighting up the night sky in Kyiv. Plus, the White House and its allies make a critical move against Russian banks.

Stay with CNN.

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