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Russia Intensifying Attacks on Cities Across Ukraine; U.S, Allies Aggressively Target Putin's Wealthy Inner Circle; Zelensky Says, I Have to Talk with Putin, Only Way to End War. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 03, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: There are European leaders who echoed that same thought. Are you getting enough help? Is Ukraine getting enough help?

SLAVA VAKARCHUK, LEAD SINGER OF UKRAINIAN ROCK BAND, OKEAN ELZY: First of all, I want to say thank you to all the nations who concerted in giving us a lot of help, including the United States, our allies, who is very supportive and it's very inspiring. I thank all Americans who do it, thank you very much and God bless America.

But I need to say that it's still not enough because this war is very serious. And if we want to end it soon and end with a victory of a free democratic world, we need to do more. I need to emphasize that it's not the war of Russia against Ukraine. It's war of Russia against the principle that your founding fathers created 200 and something years ago. It's more about principles that you created, because Ukraine is leading under these principles, democracy, freedom of speech, dignity, free trade, elections, everything like that that is presented in our country.

And they want to encircle it with their own kind of tyrannic agenda and they want to impose the pro-Russian world that brings only the lack of freedom, mass tyranny and all things like that. So, it's not about us. It's about the world. That's why we ask to do more.

There are two aspects that you can help Ukraine. First, to make the life for Russian military much harder. And that's why we need, first of all, anti-missile defense systems. We need them to shot their rockets, their missiles and airplanes. Without them, they will never be able to move further. We will absolutely win with no other way.

Second thing, I know it's controversial, I know many people discuss that it's going to be the beginning of World War III, but I think that (INAUDIBLE) is no-fly zone. And I think that probability of World War III of imposing this zone is much lesser than probability of World War III, if, in that worst case scenario, Russia wins and go further. So, the probability will be only hard.

And it all reminds me of 1938-1939 discussions, what should the world do to stop Hitler. There were many discussions and there was lack of presentation of strong leaders, strong actions, which ended up in World War II. So, we all remember that. So, please, don't hesitate. The more we do now, even harsh things, the better it is.

The second aspect that we need to talk about is the Russian side. I believe personally that the big key to stop the war is if we have millions of Russians flood the streets, the squares, in big cities, and demanding stopping of war. That's probably something that Putin will be not able to take into consideration. But in order to do that, we need to make their economic life so much -- decrease the level, the economic level standard of living, so much decreased, so then they stand and that something is going on or something could change. Those sanctions work, but this needs to be a (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: We do appreciate that and we'll see if that economic pressure works. Slava Vakarchuk talking to us there from Kyiv.

VAKARCHUK: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: So, the U.S. and its allies are now zeroing in on Russian billionaires who have profited for years from being inside Putin's inner circle. We're going to have a look next at the Justice Department's new plan to target them and their money, coming up.

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[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: The Justice Department is now launching a special unit to help enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, punishment for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

ERICA HILL, NEWSROOM: The Klepto Capture Task Force will target those billionaires' assets, things like jets and real estate. France and Germany already seized yachts belonging to two oligarchs.

Let's bring our Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. So, Evan, how exactly will this work and who is on the list of targets?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, right now, what the Justice Department and the Treasury Department here in the U.S. are doing is try and coordinate with the authorities in France, in Germany and other countries in Europe to try to get -- try to identify some of these assets, the things like the yachts, the private planes.

A big thing, obviously, is real estate. We know that certainly in London, in some parts of London, in New York, in Toronto, there are assets that are owned by Shell companies that are controlled by these oligarchs. And the idea is to bring some pain on those people who are tied to the Kremlin.

And so what they're doing now is you're going to have experts in money laundering, working alongside prosecutors here at the Justice Department to try to find the assets and then try to find a way to seize them, to essentially take control of them.

[10:40:08]

And we have a couple of pictures right there of some of the assets already being seized in Germany. For instance, they seized a $600 million yacht that is owned by a Kremlin-connected oligarch. And in France, they seized $120 million yacht already. And you can see some of the -- by the way, on some of these web sites, the track, the movements of these yachts. You can see already that this action is already taking effect. You can see some of them moving their yachts from the Mediterranean to places like the Maldives, where they hope they will not be able to be reached. Erica and Jim?

HILL: There is no extradition there to the United States, if I'm correct, in the Maldives. Evan Perez, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Here to discuss, Reuters Special Correspondent and the author of Putin's People, Catherine Belton. Catherine, good to have you.

We know that Putin and his cronies have been preparing for these sanctions for some time, perhaps surprised by the extent of the hunt now for their assets. But you could see yachts, you could see apartments in the Belgravia section of London, money can be hidden more easily. And I wonder, does the Treasury Department have the ability to track down funds like that as well?

CATHERINE BELTON, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: I think the Treasury Department, the lower enforcement authorities across the world have a much better grip on how the oligarchs hold their assets nowadays. We've all seen the leaks from things like FinCEN files, where it's quite clear that the treasury knows through which some of these oligarchs own their assets. The problem is that the sanctions have been announced ahead of time. So probably right now, they're all busy feverishly engineering deals, in which ownership changes could be triggered the minute sanctions are handed down. So, it's going to be a game of cat and mouse, unfortunately.

HILL: It's a game of cat and mouse, but also just put in perspective for us. How much could these oligarchs actually be leveraged to really impact any decisions that Putin is making?

BELTON: I mean, obviously, this is a big question, but I think, unfortunately, the oligarchs nowadays have very little influence over Putin himself. Putin himself seemed to closeted himself off with maybe one or two of the senior officials, ex-KGB from St. Petersburg, who very much hold the world views, that the U.S. is out to undermine his regime and takeover and upset the regime, which it probably is now but only after the invasion of Ukraine. And they took this view and they stuck to it. And we saw in this security council meeting last week, the fateful one, where they were discussed the recognition of the Ukrainian separatist republics, his security council to Nikolai Patrushev, basically tell Putin what to think. He told him that the Ukraine conflict has been organized by the U.S., that the Ukrainian population, which is being forced and frightened into this path. And for some reason, Putin has decided to believe his own Kool-aide. He's isolated. He watches the same thing on T.V. It's like he's self- perpetuating confirmation by now.

But by attacking the oligarchs, I've spoken to some of them, they're in shock. They never believed that Putin would go this far. They believe that he would satisfy himself with just taking the separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been separatists for the last six years anyway. They didn't believe that he would go so far as to launch an open, full-on invasion. And up until now, Putin has always been cold and calculating. He's always seen how far he can go and retain the degree of plausible deniability.

So, they're in shock and there will be a backlash because they've benefitted now for years and fed themselves and enriched themselves and become incredibly wealthy through Putin being the guarantor of stability. And that has now been completely overturned.

SCIUTTO: Catherine, let me ask you what that backlash could be, because you do have a hope expressed by some that those oligarchs turn on him and perhaps in a, potentially, you know, extreme scenario, take him down, right, somehow conspired to take him down. Is that outlandish? Is that farfetched?

BELTON: No. I think it's entirely in the realm of the possible. For the last 30 years, they've built these enormous business empires. They've integrated into the global economy. They've prided themselves on their sort of position in western society.

[10:45:02]

They've spent enormous amounts on western lawyers to protect their reputation. And all that has been torn down overnight, everything that they've done for the last 30 years. Of course, they're furious and they're shocked. And we don't know where it's going to come from and when and how, but at some moment, they will take him down.

HILL: Catherine Belton, great to have you with us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come here, cities under siege on Ukraine's southern coast. We'll speak with the Ukrainian couple who's decided to stay at home as the Russian invasion intensifies.

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[10:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: No, no. It's not about I want to talk with Putin. I think I have to talk with Putin. The world has to talk with Putin because there are no other ways to stop this war. That's why I have to.

REPORTER: So, what would you tell him?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: A short time ago, Putin spoke to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and told him he will continue with his invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces are bearing down across the south in particular, encircling and cutting off the key southern city of Mariupol. The objective there? To connect Crimea with what's known as a land bridge to areas already under Russian control in the eastern part of the country.

In the midst of the Russian attack in southern Ukraine is an organization serving disabled children, and that's where my next guests are now seeking refuge, living under siege. They are Mark and Sveta Koehler, the founders of Mission Ukraine Children's Hope. Thanks so much to be on with us today.

Can I ask what you're seeing down there today as Russia attacks?

SVETA KOEHLER, FOUNDER, MISSION UKRAINE CHILDREN'S HOPE: Today, when we visited our city, our district, we saw a lot of people who stayed in line to get money. It was limited but everybody could take some money, and a lot of lines to stay in the pharmacy and supermarkets. And our district almost the end of the city of Mykolaiv, and here, it's almost gone. But more in the center, a lot of damage, and Russians, they have broken a lot of --

MARK KOEHLER, FOUNDER, MISSION UKRAINE CHILDREN'S HOPE: High-rises.

S. KOEHLER: High-rises, buildings here. And people stay underground, women and children. It's terrible.

SCIUTTO: Mark, you take care of vulnerable children, disabled children there. Have most of them stayed and are they in danger right now?

M. KOEHLER: We don't directly take care of them. Our massage therapists are throughout the country working either in a facility that is government-run or doing home visits. So, we do have two massage therapists who have their own clinics. So, the children with disabilities are brought for treatment there in an orphanage or something like that already, and they receive it there.

SCIUTTO: So, are people, are children able to get out if they want to, if their families want them to? Because we've been profiling many people leaving this country, it's up to nearly a million so far but it's not an easy trip, and particularly from the part of the country you're in, where Russian forces are active. Can they leave if they want to?

M. KOEHLER: It's a good question. I'll Sveta talk about our niece in her journey from Kyiv.

S. KOEHLER: Yes. A lot of people try to move to other countries, only women and children. It's not so easy. Like our niece, she -- it took two days from Kyiv to Poland to board. But people, volunteers help people and other countries, like Moldova and Poland, accept refugees.

S. KOEHLER: So, in our area, I'm not aware of a lot of people who are leaving. I think that most of the people that we interact with are staying, maybe because of choice, maybe because they have no way to get out.

SCIUTTO: Yes, that's the issue. Mark and Sveta Koehler, we appreciate the work you're doing, and, boy, we hope you stay safe.

M. KOEHLER: Thank you.

S. KOEHLER: Thank you.

[10:55:00]

SCIUTTO: Erica, I feel like, every day, we talk to people like that, their lives in danger, amazed to be in this position a week into this war and now struggling with how they respond.

HILL: Yes. And it feels like it happened so quickly and yet, right, we've heard from so many people, the signs were there, we knew this could happen. But the way it's escalated and the everyday situations that people are now faced with, I think that has what has so many people floored and feeling helpless as they want to do something with this as well.

SCIUTTO: The ruthlessness of it all.

Well, listen, thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. We know it's difficult news to hear. We're going to do our best to cover it. I'm Jim Sciutto.

HILL: Jim, thanks to you for your excellent reporting from you and your team there. We know how hard you guys are working throughout the night as well. I'm Erica hill in New York.

Stay with us. At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts after this quick break.

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