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Nuclear Plant Standoff; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Condemns NATO For Not Establishing No-Fly Zone; Video Captures Sky News Journalists Coming Under Fire; Makeshift Medical Train Carried Critically Ill Children To Safety; U.S. Reports Over 1.2 Million Flee Ukraine Fighting. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired March 05, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Saturday, March 5th. I'm John Berman with Brianna Keilar. This is a special edition of "NEW DAY."
And this morning, new developments in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are changing very rapidly.
A senior U.S. official warns that Russia is planning to try "bombard cities into submission."
And there is word that Russia is planning to deploy up to 11,000 more mercenaries. This morning, Russian troops are poised within 20 miles of Ukraine's second biggest nuclear power plant. This is after seizing control of the largest one, Zaporizhzhya, just the other day. We have some new video from inside that plant.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Stop shooting immediately! You threaten the security of the whole world?
BERMAN (voice-over): "You threaten security of the whole world."
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BERMAN: That is from inside the control room of the Zaporizhzhya plant just after Russian forces began firing at the facility. Workers pleading with the Russians to stop. And we're told that staff there operating at gunpoint.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging NATO to establish a no-fly zone, something that secretary of state Antony Blinken and NATO's chief are not willing to do, saying it will trigger a full- fledged war in Europe. Zelensky also knocking down rumors and reports that he fled the country. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Every two days, information comes out that I have fled somewhere. But from Ukraine, from Kyiv, from my office, as you can see, I'm here at my place. Nobody has fled anywhere. Here, we are working.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And covering this invasion also coming with a cost. A Sky News crew from Britain was evacuated after journalists were shot by a suspected Russian death squad near Kyiv.
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KEILAR (voice-over): Miraculously, those five journalists were able to escape. But Sky News' chief correspondent and the camera operator were shot and they are luckily expected to fully recover.
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KEILAR: Despite Russia's onslaught, the resolve of the Ukrainian people appears to be unwavering. Look at this in Lugansk between Ukrainian protesters and Russian troops.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (from captions): Put on your stuff and leave. Ukraine is above all.
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KEILAR: According to the U.N., more than 1.2 million refugees have now left Ukraine. And just a short time ago, the Russian ministry of defense announced that it was implementing a cease-fire to open humanitarian corridors for citizens in Mariupol and Volnovakha to leave.
BERMAN: Just hours from now, President Zelensky will speak with a bipartisan group of senators via Zoom.
We'll go to Scott McLean live in Lviv.
Scott, word that the Russians are going to only intensify their bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Let me start first quickly with the news about that power plant. Ukraine's nuclear regulator is saying staff are monitoring conditions and the radiation levels are within the normal range.
Yesterday, Ukraine's U.N. ambassador claimed that safety inspectors were not allowed onsite and some employees had been killed. The Ukrainian government said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the fight over the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
The Russians say their aim to was to secure the safety of it.
There is a sliver of good news in the country, John, that is that Russia and Ukraine have finally agreed and are implementing a humanitarian corridor in two places. And the Ukrainians said that 200,000 people would like to leave Mariupol.
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MCLEAN: And that corridor will be open for four hours more. A local official in Donetsk is requesting all drivers load up their cars with as many people as they can get in them. And they're warning people not to leave upon the agreed-upon corridor, the agreed-upon route.
Other cities are, John, are getting pummeled, as you mentioned, and surely they would like to have a corridor of their own. But it really depends on these sides working together.
One of the Ukrainian negotiators told me yesterday that the talks that opened the door for these corridors were constructive. But the Ukrainian press didn't seem satisfied with that answer.
They pressed him, asked how he could possibly be shaking hands with killers. Here was his response.
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MYKHAILO PODOLAK, ADVISER TO THE HEAD OF THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): You are criticizing me that I'm not calling them killers.
So if I go there and say, guys, you're killers and you say thank you, and then what do I have?
I'll have dead people.
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MCLEAN: A lot of lives depending on those two sides, those negotiators being able to actually work together as much as they can, John.
And one other point that came out that press briefing, really quickly, as of Monday, Ukrainian intel was saying that perhaps Belarusian troops were getting ready to join the invasion. But Ukrainian negotiators say that is no longer the case, at least for now, they do not believe that Belarus plans to partake.
BERMAN: Scott, thank you very much.
This morning, U.S. officials warning about the possibility of significant civilian casualties, according to officials, with the push toward Kyiv stalled, Russians now seem prepared to bomb Ukrainian cities into submission. CNN's Natasha Bertrand live from NATO headquarters.
What are you hearing? NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. A senior intelligence official telling me that they believe Russia's operation is reaching a dangerous new phase, including the complete seizure of Kyiv, the capital city, that Russia is now going to move from targeting military targets primarily, which we saw kind of the first week of that invasion, to increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure and civilians themselves.
That is because, as part of the Russian operations, they believe they have begun to bring in heavier artillery in order to, quote, "bomb these cities into submission."
U.S. officials expect Russia is deploying up to 1,000 new mercenaries to help the Russian forces, who have stalled and have biting morale and are exhausted. These mercenaries will be brought in to support these forces as they try to continue to take the cities in Ukraine.
This is a very kind of ominous kind of warning that we heard as well from the NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg yesterday, as well as secretary of state Antony Blinken.
Both of them said they believe that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, because that is what they've seen from Russia in the past, including in places like Syria, this indiscriminate bombing campaign aimed at terrorizing the civilian population.
Now it remains to be seen how this is actually going to unfold. But U.S. intelligence predicts this is going to get a lot more severe, that civilians are going to be targeted increasingly and that Russia is not pulling back at this moment.
They're not reducing their presence there by any means; in fact, they're doubling down and still closing in and trying to capture that capital city of Kyiv, John.
BERMAN: Natasha Bertrand in Brussels, thank you very much.
KEILAR: In the meantime, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky slammed the U.S. and NATO over their refusal to establish a no-fly zone over the country.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (voice-over): NATO has deliberately decided not to cover the skies over Ukraine. We believe that NATO countries have created a narrative that closing the skies over Ukraine would provoke Russia's direct aggression against NATO.
This is the self-hypnosis of those who are weak, insecure inside, despite the fact they possess weapons many times stronger than we have.
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Joining us to talk about this is retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, former assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs.
Sir, just explain why a no-fly zone, as Zelensky would like?
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY (RET.): I think the NATO countries are quite clear. They believe the confrontation between U.S. planes, NATO planes and Russian planes --
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KIMMITT: -- would cause this conflict to go out of control, to go well beyond Ukraine and possibly start a war in Europe. But candidly, a no-fly zone really won't make much of a difference anyway.
KEILAR: I wonder what you think.
Does this put off the inevitable of NATO involvement or no?
You think there's a way out of that?
KIMMITT: I don't think NATO will get involved in any case, unless there's a grounded incursion into a NATO country. The United States and NATO has been quite clear: we will defend every inch of NATO land but we will not put our troops inside of Ukraine. We'll continue to supply equipment, intelligence but no troops.
KEILAR: I asked John Kirby of the Pentagon yesterday about the potential for an airlift, if Kyiv is encircled as it is expected to be. You know, thinking back to the Berlin airlift where that was --
KIMMITT: Yes.
KEILAR: -- area was supplied extensively. He basically said no.
Is that just for the same reason?
KIMMITT: It absolutely is. All of the equipment and ammunition that's being handed over is being handed over in another country. And that way, the Ukrainian commanders can pick it up, bring it over the border themselves.
There's too much of a risk to this combat expanding exponentially if there's a confrontation. That's also why they set up the deconfliction phone call between the Pentagon and Russia.
KEILAR: And we're hearing that Russia is planning to bomb these cities into submission.
What does that look like?
KIMMITT: Classic siege warfare, which is right out of Russian doctrinal playbook. They will surround the city, they will shell it with missiles and rockets and artillery. They will starve the people inside of it.
Then when the city is, in their mind, ready for the attack, after all that shelling and starvation, then they will send their troops in. But this has been the Russian way of war for decades.
KEILAR: Do you think the West -- do you think public opinion just allows that to happen?
KIMMITT: I think we're going to see some pretty tough images when that starts to happen. We saw that in Grozny. But that didn't affect the West very much. We saw that in many ways in Mosul, with different combatants. I'm not sure -- the world will be horrified.
But will that spur them to action?
I doubt it.
KEILAR: You doubt it.
Russia right now looking at putting 1,000 more mercenaries in.
What will they do?
KIMMITT: Well, I think they will try to spread a little bit of panic inside some of the smaller cities. I would suspect that some of those mercenaries have had experience in conflicts such as Chechnya.
They are even worse than the Russians when it comes to brutality and willingness to fight in a manner that is completely beyond conventional norms.
KEILAR: I wonder, General, I think we all look back in history, at moments in time where there was not an obligation to intervene, maybe it was a good idea or a bad idea. But sometimes, I think we look back with the benefit of hindsight and think perhaps there should have been an intervention.
And I wonder what you think the possibilities are for looking back at this moment.
KIMMITT: Well, I think we will look back at this moment, sick to our hearts. But we will not be looking back at this moment saying we made an emotional decision. We expanded this conflict beyond Ukraine. We now have caused a war in Europe.
And I think, sad as it is, I would rather be looking back at a war in Ukraine than a war in Europe, that could actually spread to a nuclear showdown -- or worse.
KEILAR: Do you think Putin will stop at Ukraine?
KIMMITT: I think he's got his eyes on Georgia and Moldova. But we'll have to wait and see.
KEILAR: Yes, not NATO countries. General Kimmitt, thank you for being with us.
KIMMITT: Thank you, Brianna.
KEILAR: President Biden and the president of Finland are calling out Russia for the invasion on Ukraine, saying it's an attack on global peace instability. And Russia might be held accountable for unjustified aggression. We'll have more details son that ahead.
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KEILAR: President Biden meeting with the head of Finland; typically, a neutral nation. But they are agreeing, he says, that Russia's invasion is not only an attack on Ukraine but also, quote, "an attack on the security of Europe and global peace and stability."
CNN's Kevin Liptak is live for us in Wilmington, Delaware, with more on this.
You know that sounds just a few little words there, Kevin. But I do think it's really important, talking about the nation, that Biden is dealing with here.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you look at Finland, it shares a massive border with Russia. And it has typically been neutral. But now this invasion of Ukraine is really causing them to reconsider that long established neutrality, things like potentially planning to join NATO.
Now that topic didn't arise in public yesterday. But of course, it's on the table, now that the invasion is underway. At the White House, officials are really trying to figure out the next steps in all of this, undergoing reviews of various options that they could use to contain Vladimir Putin.
And one thing I'm told is, now under serious consideration, a ban on Russian oil imports. And this is really significant. Because if you talk to White House officials even as recently as a week ago, any type of sanction on oil was considered off the table, given the effect that it could have on global oil prices, on gas prices here in the United States.
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LIPTAK: And those concerns are still very present. But now, President Biden is feeling pressure from Republicans and, very critically, Democrats, too, to do something further on this issue of oil.
Now the White House is conducting a review, taking a look at not only how it would affect gas prices here in the United States but also the effect on global oil prices. Of course, an increase in the price of oil would only stand to benefit Putin, because that is a big component of his economy.
Now we could potentially hear more about this in the next week or so. But the president really wants to ensure that all of the allies are on board. That's something that you saw the other day in the Oval Office, with the president of Finland.
You also see this rallying of allies; the president is dispatching the Vice President, Kamala Harris, next week to Poland and Romania, to try to ensure the NATO allies on the eastern flank that the U.S. remains committed to their security as well.
The other review underway right now in the White House is whether or not to designate what Putin is doing in Ukraine as war crimes. And you heard the president stop short of that earlier this week.
But now, White House officials are reviewing what's going on the ground, what the steps are that Putin is taking, to see if that would constitute war crimes. And that would be not only a legal distinction but a very important rhetorical component for the president's views in rallying nations behind him.
But White House officials believe the next few days are potentially the bloodiest. They're watching on tenterhooks this weekend. President Biden is in Wilmington in Delaware, at his home. And we expect him to receive continual updates on the situation throughout the weekend, Brianna.
KEILAR: Members of the president's own party and the U.S. embassy in Ukraine, saying these are war crimes that we're witnessing. So we'll have to see what that discussion reveals. Kevin, thank you.
Underway now, evacuations of civilians in two Ukrainian cities as Russia vows it will not stop firing. We're going to speak with the former chief of the CIA's Russian operations.
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BERMAN: All right. New this morning, a Ukrainian official says a temporary cease-fire will be in effect for the next few hours in two of Ukraine's southern cities, including the major port city of Mariupol right there.
That's an order for its citizens and civilians to evacuate through humanitarian corridors. Here is national security analyst, Steve Hall, the former CIA chief of Russia operations.
We're talking about Mariupol.
It's surrounded, right?
It's really surrounded on all sides there. You need the humanitarian corridor to get out somehow.
What does that tell you? STEVE HALL, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, obviously, when you're trying to clear the civilians out through the corridors, that's a very good look for Russia because it appears that they're humanitarians.
But of course, we know from their activities that they're not. This is beginning to look more and more like the war in Chechnya, where you had complete demolition of cities, like Grozny.
I anticipate that's going to happen in Mariupol, as they try to establish this land bridge, as it's called, to occupy Crimea and perhaps all the way to Odessa, a very important port.
BERMAN: What happens after "a humanitarian evacuation," when the children, the infirm get out?
Does that make it a more inviting target for an air bombardment?
HALL: It makes it easier for one. The Russians are not immune to this idea of making it look like they're not complete barbarians, even though at times that's exactly what's happening.
So getting those folks out certainly opens a wider door for the Russians to use airpower to soften up those targets, which really means just bombarding the heck out of them, so they can go in later with ground troops.
BERMAN: Yes. So while it may look promising for some innocent -- I say innocent; Ukraine is being invaded by the Russians here -- for children who'd like to get out, it may make the city a more inviting target. It may intensify there before it gets any better.
Also word this morning, Steve, that the Russians are going to sending in thousands, that's the number we're given, mercenaries.
Who are those people and what does it portend?
HALL: Yes, this has happened over the past couple of years, things like the Wagner Group, operating in Africa. They've been involved in everything from assassination attempts to cyber types of activities. These are Russian mercenaries, brought in to do a lot of dirty work that, frankly, the normal army forces and ordinary Russian forces are not trained to do.
BERMAN: If you need to send in mercenaries, does that tell you that the normal troops aren't doing what they hoped originally?
HALL: It could or they could be used as force multipliers. If you're encircling a city to get people out so you can bomb it later on, the mercenaries would do more targeted attacks, try to find Zelensky, local leaders, key targets, sort of like the Special Operations Forces in the United States but on a mercenary sort of level.
BERMAN: One of the things that Volodymyr Zelensky has said, he's telling the world, Putin is not going to stop at Ukraine. If you think he's going to stop here, you're wrong. If he goes on, where does he go, Moldova or Transnistria, this area
over here, Georgia?
What do you think?
HALL: As you mentioned, Transnistria or Moldova, it's been a frozen conflict. Russian forces have been there for many years, basically holding a status quo, not leaving the country but continuing to try to exert control.
You've got that happening in a couple places in Georgia as well, in the northern portion of Georgia. So those would be soft targets already ready for an invasion. Whether Putin actually tests the Article 5 in NATO and goes after the Baltics, there's been times I think he's thought about that.
But the more obvious, softer targets are the locations you were talking about.
BERMAN: The Baltics up here, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The national director-general today, if he's going at nuclear power plants why wouldn't he invade the Baltics?
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HALL: Yes, the big deterrent of the NATO alliance, some would argue -- this is the argument essentially against using NATO forces inside of Ukraine at this point because some would argue that's actually what Putin wants.
He wants to trigger that bigger war. If his goal is to change the geopolitical situation in Europe, that would be the way to do it.
BERMAN: So one of the things you've been saying to me, as we watch the Russians get closer, in some cases occupying cities here, very close here, surrounding Kyiv, you said this could begin to look like Chechnya, like Grozny.
What does that look like completely?
HALL: Either political leadership in Moscow says this isn't going as quickly; it's possible Putin was briefed, yes, we could take these locations in a matter of days. That clearly did not happen. So Putin doesn't have time to sit back and let this develop. He might say we can to accelerate this so I want to bomb these targets just like we did in Grozny.
Because that was very effective there.
BERMAN: You remember that, he bombed it.
There's a difference here, which is more or less the world watched that; didn't get involved in any way. Now the world not sending troops but there are sanctions some repercussions on Russia here.
So do you think he could treat this like Chechnya indefinitely? HALL: You're right, Grozny and Chechnya, for most Westerners were -- I hear there's Islamist extremists there and we were like, OK, we don't know what is going but it can't be that bad.
This in the heart of Europe is a different situation. The other key thing which you just mentioned, which is absolutely true, Vladimir Putin has many more problems at home than when he did going after Chechnya.
There's the crippling sanctions and unrest. I think some of his senior security and military people might begin to question what's going on not, just here but in Russia.
BERMAN: Steve Hall, thank you so much.
Just ahead, some of the war's most fragile victims, critically ill children, their harrowing journey aboard a makeshift medical train.
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KEILAR: Well over 1 million refugees have now escaped the Russian onslaught in Ukraine. Among them are critically ill children making a harrowing journey to Poland on board a makeshift medical train. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon joins us live from Warsaw, Poland.
This is really an incredible journey, Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's both heartbreaking, terrifying and in some ways even uplifting, Brianna.
I mean, just to try to begin to understand what it is that these mothers went through. I mean, it is hard enough to try to keep your child safe, as you're trying to leave a war zone. But then on top of that, to have a child who's critically ill while you're trying to make that journey, it's just incredible, take a look.
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DAMON (voice-over): A train speeds through the darkness and crosses the Ukrainian border into Poland.
Most of these children are from hospices in and around Kharkiv. It had the best palliative care for children in Ukraine. Now one of the areas most intensely bombarded.
The carriage is filled with the sort of emotion that is too intense, too incomprehensible for words.
But it is also filled with so much love, love among strangers, seen in the tenderness of the touch of the medical team, the whispered words of, "You are safe now." Love of a mother, who will dig up superhuman strength, just to keep her child safe.
DAMON (on camera): Hi, Victoria. Hi. Oh, look at that smile.
DAMON (voice-over): Victoria, who has cerebral palsy, can't sit up. Her mother, Ira, doesn't know what to say. She has so much pain in her soul, her tears just won't stop.
They had to get closer to the border with Poland before this humanitarian train could pick them up. Ira carried Victoria for three days through the panic of others trying to flee, train so packed she could not even put her down until now.
Dr. Eugenia Szuszkiewicz worked to bring the families together inside Ukraine to get on this train organized by the Polish government and Warsaw Central Clinical Hospital.
DR. EUGENIA SZUSZKIEWICZ, PEDIATRICIAN & PALLIATIVE CARE SPECIALIST (through translator): I just have a storm of emotions. My biggest fear did not come true.
DAMON (voice-over): It's a trip that could have killed any one of these children, even without a war. That reality had the medical team so understandably anxious, we were not permitted to film anything until the children were safely, on board and stabilized.
DAMON (on camera): How old are you, Sophia?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
SOPHIA, PEDIATRIC PATIENT: Five.
DAMON (on camera): Five, thank you.
SOPHIA (through translator): Mom, what do I say?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What do you want to say?
SOPHIA (through translator): To say there is war there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Then say it.
SOPHIA (through translator): It's war there. And now we'll live in another.
DAMON (voice-over): While this train was heading toward safety, Ira heard that her town was bombed.
IRA, VICTORIA'S MOTHER (through translator): My husband, my mom, sister, everyone, my dad, nobody is picking up the phone. There are just the beeps and that's it.
DAMON (voice-over): Ira follows quietly, as Victoria is carried off the train. They are now away from their home that was filled with such love, a home and family that may no longer be. (END VIDEOTAPE)
And, Brianna, once the families and the children arrived here to Warsaw, they were carried off to different hospices. Some are in Warsaw itself. Others are around the country. And the medical team has not stopped. They're trying to get together a list to run another evacuation operation into Ukraine. And the plan is to keep on doing this. And using that train not just to evacuate critically ill children but not to injure civilians outside of the Ukrainian battlefield. And it really seems as if everyone on this side the border is also getting ready to potentially deal with the worst. A massive influx of women and children.
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KEILAR: As you said, Arwa, it's unimaginable, not in wartime, trying to keep their kids alive then they're doing this in the middle of a war, trying to evacuate, and there's still so many people left, facing the same predicament in Ukraine.
DAMON: That's right. So, just in the Kharkiv area itself, there are, according to the doctors we were with -- or there were around 200 children who were in hospice and receiving palliative care. So let's say a dozen of them got out. That is still a very significant number in one region alone.
Then if you think about all of the other different, sensitive, medically sensitive situations that children find themselves in, whether it's because of illness or something else that has happened, they all also eventually need to be able to get out of these various different areas.
It might be a reason -- you know, one of the many reasons why these humanitarian corridors that hopefully will be opening up are so important. But it's also important to remember that these humanitarian corridors are in two locations only.
And what we're talking about and what we're seeing is that, across Ukraine, you need these humanitarian corridors because it's also not just about, as you saw in that reporting, evacuating potentially the injured from a war zone; it's about evacuating the critically ill.
And, yes, our piece focused on children. But you have to remember there's also adults in hospices, who also need palliative care. And they deserve to be allowed leave and live out the rest of their life in dignity.
KEILAR: Certainly do. Arwa, thank you for the report.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky blasting NATO's refusal to establish a no-fly zone over his country. Coming up, why he says the decision will only lead to more death and destruction.
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KEILAR: The U.S. says a no-fly zone over Ukraine will lead to a full- fledged war between the U.S. and Russia. But Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says no. And he is blasting the decision this week by NATO.
Joining us now is Michael Bociurkiw, a senior fellow with The Atlantic Council. He's a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Michael, thank you so much for joining from us Lviv.
What do you think about the disagreement over the no-fly zone?
It really doesn't seem like the West has any intention of doing this.
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: No, and I just watched President Zelensky on Ukrainian television and I've never seen him so angry. And in Ukraine it's called (speaking foreign language), basically closed skies. That's what they're looking for.
In talking to experts here from Ukraine, they're telling me, for heaven's sake, at least Western Ukraine, protect it. As I've said on air, you see behind me, the city of Lviv, is the center of Ukrainian patriotism historically.
This is where a lot of dissidents that were present during Soviet time were sent to the gulag. They're from here. This is where a lot of Ukrainian diaspora trace their roots so.
So as difficult as it is for me to say this, in the twisted mind of a person like Putin, they're probably looking at Lviv and, saying, wow, this is also something we have our eyes on.
So Brianna, most of the night, that's why I look so tired, I've worked with Ukrainian families and I've worked a lot of complex emergencies before. You're beginning to see that hollow look, that desperation, do I stay or do I go?
I just talked to John Shmorhun (ph) with the Ukrainian educational platform. They're now receiving cards here from families, who are sending their kids on their own for protection.
Every possible angle of the humanitarian disaster you can think of -- and again, I've worked so many -- you're seeing right now. Hence, that's why you're hearing the desperation from people like President Zelensky. Something needs to be done.
BERMAN: We know at this moment, Michael, there are humanitarian corridors being opened up in cities like Mariupol, to try to get some of the civilians out. But there's a fear that ultimately what that might lead to is a situation like Grozny, where the Russians just start shelling and bombing with impunity. What do you see happening?
BOCIURKIW: Well, I'm sorry, it's pretty much -- I've got two pieces of bad news for you.
One is the deputy mayor of Mariupol -- and I've been there before -- have said that the Russians are now shelling those routes that are supposed to be protected. When I heard of this agreement and there was a positive step, I know from my experience with the OSCE, that we've negotiated dozens of cease-fires with the Russian side and none have been respected.
The other piece of bad news here is the weather, you can see behind me, it's snowing but it's also making a big turn for subzero temperatures -- in Celsius. So when you think about, when you hear about all of those numbers, heading either internally or toward the border, the conditions are going to get even more desperate.
So I, as someone who has worked for the OSCE and UNICEF and others, appeal to the international community to get teams immediately to the border. I think they're going to cross at this point to help these people over because the numbers are unsustainable.
UNHCR said the other day we've never seen these types of numbers in such a short time seeking safe shelter. So the needs are going to be enormous.
KEILAR: Michael, you said the Russians are shelling the humanitarian corridors, where there's supposed to be no fire, so civilians can escape?
[05:50:00]
BOCIURKIW: Yes, I just got a breaking news alert from a respectable network. And that's what's being reported, quoting the deputy mayor that they're shelling.
Again, as deplorable as it is, it doesn't surprise me. These have been negotiated before in Donetsk and Lugansk. The Russians were there at the table; they signed a cease-fire agreement many, many times. And within hours or days, they're violated.
So they're not to be trusted. Now I watched the Ukrainian negotiators at the table with the Russians. And they said, we try to believe in them. They even show up a day early. They seem desperate to get good news out of these negotiations.
But they're asking for the humanitarian corridors as well and then they don't respect them. This is different than the Russian-backed groups in Donetsk, where they argue, we don't really have control over them.
But no one can tell you that the Russians don't have control over their own armed forces. One more quick point, if you zoom out, this is a country now, almost a rogue state, I think, that doesn't play by the rules of the international community, doesn't respect international humanitarian law.
We are in a very, very bad situation at the moment as a global community if this is happening.
BERMAN: Firing at a nuclear power plant, buster bombs, bombing cities and residential apartment complexes where you know there are civilians, yes, that is beyond the bounds of international law.
Michael, we spoke to the mayor of Kherson and we're going to play some of that interview in a little bit.
But what's your sense of what life is like under Russian occupation for this city and the others that may fall to the Russians?
BOCIURKIW: You know, it's almost inconceivable to even think of it but we hope, of course, that the cities that they're patrolling or whatever you want to call it are temporary, that Ukrainian forces will regain control over them.
But you are going to see -- sorry, don't forget; Ukrainians have been at war with Russia for about eight years now in one form or another, hybrid war. So the nationalism or patriotism you see has been built up over years. It is unbelievable.
So you will see a very, very heavy resistance. I've been walking around Lviv today, I've seen people carrying out bottles to make the Molotov cocktails because there's fear they will come here as well.
Again, the Russians are doing indiscriminate shelling into populated areas. They're using, as you mentioned, cluster bombs. And also the thing, there are other installations, we've been worried for the past year about the Donetsk water treatment plant, where there's a lot of chlorine stored.
God forbid that a shell goes there. It will create a huge disaster as well. So a lot of difficult things in the mix at the moment.
BOCIURKIW: Michael, we appreciate the work you that do, we appreciate you being with us. Thank you very much.
BOCIURKIW: My pleasure, thank you.
BERMAN: So journalists in the battlefield covering the war in Ukraine, coming under fire from the Russians. We'll show you the dramatic video of British TV news crew captured coming face-to-face with enemy troops.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:55:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KEILAR: Several British TV journalists covering the war in Ukraine are now back in the U.K. after they were ambushed near Ukraine's capital, possibly by Russian forces. This Sky News crew managed to capture dramatic video of this harrowing moment.
Sky News chief correspondent Stewart Ramsey and his photographer were hit in this attack. They did manage to escape. And Ramsey describes this ordeal, which is incredibly frightening, as you can see.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
STUART RAMSAY, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, SKY NEWS (voice-over): We think it's a Ukrainian checkpoint and a mistake.
DOMINIQUE VAN HEERDEN, SKY NEWS FIELD PRODUCER: Journalists.
RAMSAY (voice-over): So we identify ourselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
VAN HEERDEN: British journalists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
VAN HEERDEN: Journalists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Journalists.
VAN HEERDEN: Journalista.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)?
Is everyone OK?
You OK, Dom?
VAN HEERDEN: Journalists.
RAMSAY (voice-over): Somehow, we have to get out of this. But the rounds keep coming. It's a professional ambush. The bullets just don't miss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run.
VAN HEERDEN: Where can we go?
Shall I call (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Journalists.
VAN HEERDEN: Where you going?
RAMSAY (voice-over): I'm hit but escape the car. And with producer, Dominique van Heerden, we make our way down the embankment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're (INAUDIBLE).
RAMSAY (voice-over): Camera operator, Richie Mockler, has taken two rounds to his body armor but is still stuck in the car. He runs for it in a hail of bullets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Unbelievable. And Ramsey said, after they were rescued, he was told by the Ukrainians that his crew was being ambushed by a Russian reconnaissance squad. CNN cannot corroborate Sky News' account of who was shooting at them. NEW DAY continues right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
KEILAR: Good morning to viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. It's Saturday, March 5th. And I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman. Welcome to a special edition of NEW DAY.
We're following some fast moving developments in Russia's war on Ukraine, including a grim warning.
A Western intelligence officials says Russia could, quote, "bombard cities into submission," leading an escalation of civilian casualties. The U.S. also says Russia is poised to send more than a thousand mercenaries into Ukraine in the coming days and weeks.
