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President Biden Holds Cabinet Meeting; Russian Shelling of Ukrainian Cities Continues. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 03, 2022 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: And I'm Alisyn Camerota.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting death and destruction in several areas of the country. U.S. officials predict Russian troops will increasingly hit civilian targets. NATO warns that Putin's new strategy is to deploy direct attacks on key cities.

Just north of Kyiv, officials say Russian troops launched a missile strike on a multistory residential building where nine people were killed. Dashcam footage captured the moment of the blast. And we're getting a sense of the damage from this massive explosion overnight outside of Kyiv.

New drone footage shows concrete buildings reduced to ashes. One major city has fallen to Russian troops, the southern city of Kherson near the Black Sea. A resident told CNN that people there are suffering from a severe lack of food and medicine.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to the east now. The town of Mariupol is under siege. The mayor says that his town has no water, it has no power.

New satellite images show the destruction from the first five days of war north of Kyiv, bridges collapsed, homes on fire and impact craters -- look at this -- peppered across some of the rural areas. Now, today, Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that he will continue military operations in Ukraine.

And Ukrainian President Zelensky is pleading for more international health.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): This is genocide and Nazis.

And I am ashamed that we are in the 21st century, now in 2022, and we are seeing acts where are told -- forget the end of the world, the end of the world. Forget Maya predictions of the end of the world. This is the end of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Anderson Cooper is live for us in Lviv.

So, Anderson, we know that you're witnessing some of the humanitarian crisis across Ukraine. And I know that you saw some of the youngest people being impacted. So tell us what you have seen.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes.

You know, Lviv, the war hasn't come in the same way that it has in Kyiv. But everybody here is on the move. They're moving to prepare for war. They're moving to stockpile supplies, to get supplies to where they're needed, make Molotov cocktails.

People are moving from other parts of Ukrainian, from Kyiv, from Odessa, from Kharkiv, through Lviv, to try to get to Poland, women and children, foreigners who have been working here. Today, we saw the smallest victims of this war, children with cancer.

More than 100 of them have come from Kyiv and other places farther east and reached the relative safety of Lviv. A cancer ward hospital -- a cancer hospital, we went to the cancer ward there, the children's cancer ward.

And I got to say, it's just heartbreaking to see these children who are in incredibly delicate physical circumstances. Their health is hanging by a thread. And they cannot get the treatment that they need. Just to get here, they were brought by ambulance from the hospital in Kyiv, where many of the cancer -- kids with cancer now huddling in basements in the hospital in Kyiv.

They came on buses. They came on trains with their mothers, just desperate to try to get someplace where they could get continued treatment. Every time there's an air raid siren here, they have to unplug them from the treatment, unplug their IFEs, and move them down to the basement until the all-clear is sounded.

We will have more on the situation at the cancer hospital, also at the train station, the images you're seeing now of people who are just camped out at the train station trying to figure out where to go next.

CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is in Kyiv for us right now. Want to check in with him.

Alex, earlier today, Vladimir Putin delivered a speech filled with that -- filled with information that was just disconnected from reality. It just wasn't true. He said the special military operation, as he calls it, is going according to plan.

Talk about more about the type of targets the Russians have taken in recent days and the damage that you have seen today.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, I think the thing that sticks out most from the Russian comments in general is just this repeated bald-faced lie that they are not going after civilian targets, this repeated insistence that the not trying to hit civilian infrastructure or civilian residence -- residential areas.

We have just seen them stepping it up across the board, across the country, and the death toll of civilians climbing every single day. I mean, the U.N. says that more than 200 civilians across Ukraine have been killed. But the Ukrainian emergency services says that it is more than 10 times that.

[14:05:17]

So that is just an outrageous claim. But just today, Anderson, here in the north, we have seen dramatic images coming out of two distinct areas, Chernihiv, which is just up on the border near Belarus. It's a small town closer to Belarus than it is to Kyiv.

And there was, according to two local officials, significant shelling there today that hit a residential area, killing at least nine people, two of whom were civilians. There was also a strike on an oil depot, a huge oil depot. We understand the capacity of that is around 660,000 gallons, a huge plume of black smoke going up from there after that strike.

And then closer to Kyiv, Anderson, there's an area called Borodyanka, which is northwest of here. And I should note that that's about 15 miles or so from that column of Russian vehicles that we have been watching closely coming down towards Kyiv. And the video from there is just absolutely shocking.

It is these blocks of residential buildings that have been reduced to debris in some places, that are blackened with ash and other places, a hole punched right through one of those buildings. We understand from Ukraine's foreign minister that -- over the course of two days that many people were killed.

So, the shelling in the attacks on civilians continues. Right in the center of Kyiv, yesterday, we saw a strike right near the central train station. That's where people have, of course, been going to evacuate to get out to safety, so those attacks increasing, certainly not just on the military targets, but on civilian areas as well, Anderson.

COOPER: There's also new reporting that Russian shelling has increased near Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant.

MARQUARDT: I think what's disturbing about this new reporting is that it is farther inland than we have seen a lot of the Russian troops. It is just north of Crimea. It's really in the middle of the country, right on the main river that splits Ukraine east and west.

And the other thing that's worrying is that it's just a small town. The real strategic value of there, real value there is this nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe. And we understand that, two days ago, the Russians claimed that they control the area around there. Now we're hearing from people in the town saying that they are in control of much of the area, that they have created a perimeter.

They have checkpoints and tires that they're burning, that they have managed to keep for now the Russian forces at bay, but that they are completely encircled. And there are claims by the mayor that some schools and other residential areas have been shelled, that in some areas in that town that water and power had been cut off.

Obviously, what we're going to be watching closely for, Anderson, is who is in control of that nuclear power plant. And, for now, that is unclear.

COOPER: And Ukrainian government leaders have been pleading to close their airspace for a no-fly zone. So far, obviously, it remains open.

And it seems a little chance of that actually occurring.

MARQUARDT: Yes, we heard President Zelensky again today really pleading. It was a very emotional plea to Europe, to NATO to put a fly zone in -- no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Now, for now, the skies over Ukraine are contested. Russia obviously has better capabilities when it comes to helicopters and fighter jets and aerial bombardment, but Ukraine certainly does have an air force. It has air defenses, but it is nothing compared to what the Russians have.

And with so many of these attacks all across the country coming from the air, what President Zelensky is asking for is a no-fly zone. Now, we have seen incredible support for the Ukrainians, from Europe, from the United States. You have got all kinds of weapons pouring across the border, hundreds of millions of dollars worth pouring across the border.

But this appears to be where NATO draws the line. They don't want to get into a war themselves with Russia. That's why they haven't sent any forces on the ground. And if they were to impose a no-fly zone with their own air assets in Ukrainian airspace, they would run the risk of getting involved in a fight with Russia.

That is something they do not want to do. We just heard from the European Council president. He said, after hearing what Zelensky had said, that that would be one step too far -- Anderson.

COOPER: Alex Marquardt, be careful. Thank you.

We have got some breaking news now from the White House. President Biden says he's imposing new sanctions against Russian oligarchs, the president tweeting those sanctions will be one of the topics during his Cabinet, meeting which is scheduled to begin really at any moment. [14:10:09]

I want to take us to CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House, who's following all of this.

So, what do we know about these new sanctions?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, these are going, Anderson, after seven more of these Russian oligarchs and their family members.

We know that this has been a target of President Biden's and, of course, other governments worldwide, as they try to squeeze President Putin's inner circle, often aware of the fact that he does not hold all of his wealth himself, but potentially passes it off to those in his inner circle.

And so that has been a big focus ever since this invasion started. And so, today, the United States is adding seven more of these Russian oligarchs and their families to this sanctions list. They're also going after Dmitry Peskov. That is Putin's spokesperson who you so often see putting out blatant lies about what Russia is doing out into the ether.

They're also sanctioning him. They're also imposing visa restrictions from the State Department on 19 Russian oligarchs and 47 of their family members and close associates, of course, therefore, meaning they will not be able to travel to the United States.

And so this is just another step that they are taking. We had known that they were working on these sanctions behind the scenes and they were putting the finishing touches on them yesterday, and now they have gone into effect.

And, Anderson, we should note that one of the oligarchs that is mentioned people may recognize, because it's the same man who had his mega-yacht recently seized by German authorities in recent days. That is something. We'd shown those pictures of this giant super yacht that this Russian oligarch had had. It was seized by German authorities. Now he is also added to the U.S. sanctions list.

And all this is coming up as, you are right, President Biden is about to hold this Cabinet meeting. It is going to be a rare one, because they're not often incredibly focused on foreign policy.

And, obviously, this Russian invasion is looming over this one, given this is really something that has touched almost every aspect of U.S. government, from the Treasury Department that just rolled out these sanctions, to the State Department that is doing these visa restrictions, to, of course, the Pentagon, the Commerce Department, every aspect, really, of the president's Cabinet that he's going to meet with any moment now.

COOPER: And the president also held a call with leaders from Australia and India, Japan earlier today. Do we know if this came up during the call? COLLINS: Yes, this is one of the subjects of this call that he had

today. That's the so-called Quad alliance.

And one thing that makes it really interesting, obviously, we have seen how Japan has handled the response to the Russian invasion. But India, of course, Anderson, you note, at the United Nations meeting yesterday, they abstained from a vote that was condemning Putin's war on Ukraine and condemning his invasion, demanding that he pull his forces out of Ukraine.

The White House said, obviously, Ukraine was a subject matter. They didn't really get into what it was exactly that President Biden raised with the Indian prime minister about that decision to abstain from that vote. But it does show how nearly every single item on President Biden's agenda today, on his schedule today has to do with this Russian invasion that's under way.

COOPER: Kaitlan Collins, appreciate it from the White House. We will get back to you when the Cabinet meets.

Let's go back right now to Victor and Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: All right, Anderson, thank you.

French President Emmanuel Macron is warning the world that Putin is not done with Ukraine. The question now is, what will his next move be?

CAMEROTA: And the United Nations says more than a million people have already fled Ukraine, the latest on the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:46]

BLACKWELL: Ukraine and Russia just ended their second round of talks.

A senior Ukrainian official tweeted: "Unfortunately, the results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved. There is a solution only for the organization of humanitarian corridors."

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Evelyn Farkas and retired army Brigadier General Peter Zwack. He's a global fellow at the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute and served in Moscow as the attache to the Russian Federation from 2012 to 2014. He's also the author of "Swimming the Volga: A U.S. Army Officer's Experiences in Pre-Putin Russia."

Great to have both of you here.

Let's take a look at the map and where we are right now.

General, so these are the latest troop movements, as far as we know them. As you can see, things have changed in the south. This is Kherson. This is where we're told has now fallen into Russian hands. And we're also being told that Mariupol is under siege.

So what are you seeing on the map?

BRIG. GEN. PETER ZWACK (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Yes, it's -- yes, I -- it's serious, very serious stuff.

I'd like (AUDIO GAP)

BLACKWELL: All right, we're having some difficulty hearing you, General. So we're going to try to work out your audio.

And let me come next to you, Evelyn.

This agreement on humanitarian zones that we heard from the Ukrainians, of course, we know that all of this area is under siege as well. Let me get this green marker here. That's under siege. They're coming in. This is a corridor, that convoy that's coming in as well, troops coming in here.

Do Russians typically respect these corridors? If they are targeting or hitting human civilian areas already, why should we expect that they would respect these corridors?

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes, Victor, that's a really good question. I wouldn't trust the Russians as far as I could throw them.

But if they're willing to negotiate and have their people face the Ukrainians and agree to this corridor, it's worth a shot, because, obviously, it could mean resupply for the civilians, also, frankly, the fighters, many of whom are civilians.

[14:20:03]

It could mean, of course, a chance possibly to get some civilians out, although I wouldn't try that right away, because, as you say, we need to test to see whether we could trust the Russians. The problem in all of this is, frankly, that Vladimir Putin doesn't have to answer to his people.

And his people won't know that he signed up to this kind of truce or cease-fire, humanitarian cease-fire, and so they won't be able to hold him to it. He doesn't really care, obviously, about human life. We know what he did in 1999 when he went into Grozny in Chechnya, part of the Russian Federation. He obliterated the city so badly that the United Nations said it was the most destroyed city on the face of the earth.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Yes, go ahead.

FARKAS: So, in short, we have to be skeptical.

CAMEROTA: Evelyn, I have another question for you. And that's about the no-fly zone. That's what President Zelensky is asking for. And you say that NATO

and the U.S. should not take that off the table. But if they support -- if the U.S., say, supports a no-fly zone, and the U.S. shoots down a Russian plane, isn't that the beginning of World War III?

FARKAS: Well, I mean, it is incredibly risky. So I'm not really outright advocating for it, Alisyn.

But I guess what I'm trying to do is split a hair a little bit, and say that we shouldn't take it off the table. I don't want Vladimir Putin thinking anything's off the table. And who knows what -- how the scenario will unfold. Who knows whether President Biden and other leaders of our country might feel like they need to grab air superiority, and that it might be worth the cost of lives to save people from a genocide.

I don't -- I want to leave that decision space out there. And that's why I put it out there in the public. And I'm not alone. And I feel somewhat, I guess, reinforced because General Breedlove, who was my colleague, who was the head of the U.S. European Command when the Russians first invaded Ukraine in 2014, he's also said basically the same thing. Don't take it off the table.

BLACKWELL: I think we fix General Zwack's audio issue.

So let me ask you about some of the damage we have seen. And let's take a look. This is a school in Kharkiv. You can see a hole in the wall there, windows blown out, a shop in Kharkiv as well damaged here, the windows blown out, metal around here on the street as well.

And then just look at this, just the buildings all the way down the street on both sides damaged. There's a senior U.S. defense official who says that the Russians are showing a willingness to hit civilian infrastructure on purpose. And Evelyn mentioned what happened in '99 in the second Chechen war as well.

What is the military strategy behind going after civilians and civilian targets, General?

ZWACK: Yes, good question, Victor.

The -- right now, I think the Russians are -- again, time isn't on their side, as all the world, global condemnation, the sanctions, even trouble within their own population, troops getting shaky, Russian troops getting shaky inside of Ukraine being staggered by the will and depth of Ukrainian resistance.

They need to finish these urban fights, whether in Kharkiv and Kyiv. They don't have huge troop densities. And I think they're trying to intimidate. They're trying to terrorize. They're trying to find a way to get the Ukrainians to surrender. But the Ukrainians have moxie, because for them to actually go in hard with shock troops and armor and all of that will be very, very bloody, both -- and Kharkiv is, unbelievably, only few hours away from the Russian border.

And it's still holding out after a week. That says something. So I think that they can skewer their forces in there. They're trying to terrorize them. And, as Evelyn said, there's a Grozny aspect. But the whole world is watching, including the Russian population, which I think is their Achilles' heel, especially if that moves into Russian leadership, where they just think this is going a bad way.

CAMEROTA: I think we have to get to the White House right now. I believe we have the president here. He's holding his Cabinet meeting.

Let's listen to him.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... very severe.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: At least it's in the middle. It will drop it in the middle.

(LAUGHTER)

BIDEN: I shouldn't be -- the severe economic sanctions on Putin and all those folks around him, choking off access to technology, as well as cutting off access to the global financial system,it's had a profound impact already.

[14:25:10]

And the goal was to maximize the impact on Putin and Russia, and to minimize the harm on us and our allies and friends around the world.

Our interest is to maintain the strongest unified economic campaign that -- on Putin in all history, and I think we're well on the way to doing that.

In the State of the Union address, I announced that the Department of Justice is going after the crimes of Russian oligarchs -- and the attorney general spoke to that earlier -- and who line their pockets with Russian people's money, and while Ukraine and the people are hiding in subways from missiles that are being fired indiscriminately in Russian cities.

Today, I'm announcing that we're adding dozens of names to the list, including one of Russia's wealthiest billionaires. And I am banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families, and their close associates.

And we're going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance. I had a meeting this morning with the Quartet down in Southeast Asia, including India and Japan. And we're going to continue to support the people with direct assistance.

And on Tuesday night, at the Capitol, we saw America united in support of Ukraine and our work to hold Putin accountable.

And now, to today's meeting, we're going to discuss how we're going to keep the economy growing by bringing costs down for the American people, as well as we know that people are feeling the pinch. And we're going to do everything we can to make everyday things more accessible and more affordable for the American people.

And we're also going to discuss the unity agenda I announced. And there was broad bipartisan agreement, trying to end the opioid epidemic, ending cancer as we know it, providing support for veterans, and mental health, especially for our children.

The response, as you all know, because I read your polls, have been overwhelming on all four of those issues, and because they're of great concern to the American people.

And, today, I have progress to announce on two of them. Just this morning, the House passed a bill to provide health care to veterans suffering from toxic exposure like burn pits. And 34 Republicans joined the Democrats to make bipartisan project -- bipartisan progress on this project, keeping our sacred obligation that we have to veterans who we send to war, and they come home, and we care for them.

And when it comes to the mental health of our children, today, I'm instructing the Department of Education, Health and Human Services to develop initial guidance to schools that will help them provide mental health support for students in our schools.

And this is going to include enabling schools to use Medicaid funds to deliver those important services, and -- because, to me, the State of the Union was more than a speech, to me. It was an action plan, an action plan to lower costs, to address our critical needs, and that's for the American people, because they're confused out there, understandably.

The world is changing so rapidly. And we have a lot to cover in this meeting today, but I'm going to invite my friends in the press to depart in a minute.

But the bottom line is, I meant what I said when I said I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic, if we are -- if we use the kind of ability to unite the country -- I think it exists, and I think we saw it at the State of the Union -- I don't think there's anything we can't do. I really don't.

We are at one of those inflection points in world history, where we have an opportunity. If we act swiftly and we act with courage, we can change the dynamic that the world is moving in. If we don't, we're going to be in real trouble.

And I am -- but I think it presents an opportunity, as well as a problem.

Like I said, my mother used to always say, out of everything bad, something good, if you look hard enough for it, and we're looking hard, and I think we found some answers.

So, anyway, thank you all for being here, and we're going to get on with the meeting. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: President Biden there announcing new sanctions.

He's adding to a growing list of sanctions against Russia, President Putin, those around him.

Let's bring in now Kaitlan Collins from the White House. Alex Marquardt is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Also with us, retired Army Brigadier General Peter Zwack.

Kaitlan, let's start with you, the president announcing new sanctions, also discussing how to, I guess, blunt the impact of these sanctions on the U.S.