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U.S. VP Kamala Harris Met with Ukrainian Refugees; Humanitarian Corridors to Open Leading to Russia; 2.3+M People Fled from Ukraine; 1.3M Refugees Fled to Poland; Inflation Rates Soared Up in February; Ukraine Army Stands Firm Against Russian Invasion; Russia Attacks on Hospital Spark Global Outrage; Interview with Kerry Murray, President of ShelterBox USA; Interview with Alex Goncharenko, Ukrainian Parliament Member. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 10, 2022 - 15:30:00   ET

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

[15:30:00]

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: This morning vice president Kamala Harris sat down with a group of Ukrainian refugees in Poland asking to hear their experiences and their thoughts on what the U.S. may be able to do to support them. The United Nations says more than 2.3 million people have managed to get out of Ukraine since Russia's invasion began. At least 1.3 million of people are still internally displaced within the country and one -- more than 1.3 million refugees are now in Poland.

Yesterday, nearly 35,000 people were rescued via humanitarian corridors according to Ukraine's president. Russia now says it will open -- it will allow for civilian evacuations daily, but all of those roads will lead toward Russia. Of course, we've seen Russia attack some of these corridors previously and even blocked them in some instances.

My next guest is Kerri Murray. She's president of ShelterBox USA, a global disaster relief nonprofit. She's been on the ground addressing humanitarian needs in Krakow, Poland. So, Carrie, tell us what you're -- you've been witnessing as the refugees arrive.

KERRI MURRAY, PRESIDENT, SHELTERBOX USA: It's really unbelievable. I've been working down on the border on the Ukraine/Poland border, just a few miles over the border into Poland. I've been at the main train station where 20,000 new people come in every single day, and it's absolutely harrowing. What I've witnessed is, it's mostly women, its mostly children, it's elderly, it's disabled, and its pets. And there are very few men. They've been left behind. If you're between the ages of 18 to 60. And I have met so many people who had to leave everything behind. They show up with a coat, maybe a small bag.

I met a woman yesterday. She was with her 10-year-old son. She wasn't relieved, she was exhausted. She traveled five days by foot, by bus and by train. And she had to leave her 22-year-old son behind and she didn't know if he was going to make it out. She didn't know if her home would still be there. And she didn't know where she was going to sleep that night. I said to her, what's your biggest need? She said, a place to sleep. And she goes, and also a shower. And I don't even know which one I want first.

So, there is a clear, a present and a massive need, and it's only growing.

COOPER: Yes. "The Wall Street Journal" now estimates two Ukrainian people enter Poland every three seconds. What resources -- I mean, obviously we've seen a lot of groups operating at the border. When people leave the border area, then what happens?

MURRAY: So, they're really flooding into other areas. Obviously, they're going into the neighboring countries but Poland is receiving the most. It's 1.5 million people, as of today. And what I've seen is, they're getting on buses. There's a map at the desk and they get to pick where they're going. And they get on a bus and they're headed that way. Alternatively, there are people turning up from across the EU. People they've never met before that are offering to take them in as host families. Some are going to hotels. And then some are going to evacuation centers.

But we know in some of the neighboring countries, places like Moldova, they're already at capacity. They're nearing capacity for these evacuation centers. So, if the 2.2 million refugees becomes four which becomes seven and U.N. is even saying maybe even nine, this is going to be a massive humanitarian challenge.

ShelterBox is here. We provide emergency shelter and basic supplies. Everything from shelter kits, blankets, ground mats, solar lanterns, kitchen sets, even cash in some instances. But we're really working alongside the other humanitarian agencies and this is going to be a massive lift. We're all working together. Not one agency can take care of the need. It's immense. And right now, we've seen the global community coming around this refugee crisis and really caring for the people of Ukraine.

I'm most worried about when there's fatigue to that. We've seen it before in places like Syria. We've been responding for 10 years. So, we really have to do everything we can to help settle these families. And all I can see right now is it's such a fast-moving crisis. It's changing each and every day. And the needs are going to change. We're looking at a totally different type of program in Ukraine to help internally displaced families as we're looking to help refugees in the neighboring countries. Very different needs. But we're all pulling together and we need all the help we can get.

COOPER: Kerri Murry, I appreciate your time. Thank you. I appreciate your efforts.

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Our CNN team on the ground in Ukraine witnessed countless horrors since the Russian invasion began. They've also seen some incredible moments of kindness and perseverance, and certainly resilience from Ukrainians as the war rages on around them. You can join me and Clarissa Ward as we discuss, in very personal ways, what it's like to bear witness in the latest episode of a podcast called "Tug of War." You can find it in your favorite podcast app or open the camera on your phone right now and scan the QR code in the bottom of your screen.

Victor and Alisyn, back to you in New York.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: I look very forward to listening to that. I was about to scan the screen. But I can just --

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: You can do it later.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Anderson, thank you. We'll check back with you.

BLACKWELL: So, the latest inflation numbers were released today showing price increases not seen since 1982. More on that and Russia's invasion of Ukraine is factoring in, according to the White House. That's next.

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A new inflation report from the federal government today shows the consumer price index up 7.9 percent over the last year. That's an increase that we have not seen in 40 years since January of 1982.

CAMEROTA: Prices for food and housing up dramatically. Not to mention record high energy costs which have only gone up since Russia invaded Ukraine. President Biden blames Putin saying, "Today's inflation report is a reminder that Americans' budgets are being stretched by price increases and families are starting to feel the impacts of Putin's price hike." A large contributor to inflation this month was an increase in gas and energy prices as markets reacted to Putin's aggressive actions.

CNN's Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar joins us now. Rana, great to have you here. OK. So, as you probably know, many politicians act as though it's President Biden who caused inflation and that he can fix this. Can he do something about it?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYS: Well, he can do things at the margins. You know, he can release some of those strategic petroleum reserves which he's already called for. You know, he can probably try and get bipartisan agreement from more drilling, that's something that's on the table.

But, no, I mean, you know, he did not cause the war which caused prices to surge. Now, inflation was already rising. For sure, we had supply chain issues. Some of that was actually because of good news, meaning, a really strong recovery, stronger than people would have expected following that latest wave of COVID. But gas and oil is going to be up because of this war. I mean, there is no question. And grain, too. Ukraine and Russia have the -- a quarter of the world's grain reserves.

BLACKWELL: So, when the president says and the White House doubled down, Jen Psaki, says that inflation, gas prices are in large part due to Putin's war, there is some credence to that?

FOROOHAR: 100 percent. Now, you saw a little bit of an uptick in oil prior to the invasion of Ukraine, but you saw prices absolutely surge after that. And they will go up further if there are more bans on energy. You know, the U.S. is banning Russian oil. European allies are trying desperately to plug that gap. But, you know, they get 40 percent of their energy from Russia. And as they try and pull more supply off the market, that's going to create more inflation. This is a short-term issue, you know, a year or two that we're not going to get out from under.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about drilling. The U.S. is sitting on 38 billion barrels of oil reserves untapped.

FOROOHAR: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Here on our land. Is there -- can we drill our way out of this?

FOROOHAR: Well, that's been very contentious, particularly within the democratic party. You know, environmentalists said, no way. You know, we've got to make the transition to clean. I actually think that there is some room, in fact, to combine those things. Energy security and climate change. If you think about the U.S. and Europe coming together on that and, you know, maybe ramping up refinery production for LNG to try and get some more gas over to Europe in exchange for Europe, maybe, working together with us on climate goals. Because ultimately you want national security.

That means, you know, getting out from under in the short term with this war. But it also means transitioning to those high growth technologies that are the future. I mean, that's where, not only the -- saving the planet is going to come from but jobs are going to come from. So, I kind of see it as a moment potentially for a grand bargain, you know, if we can get the pieces right.

BLACKWELL: Before the war, supply chain issues, high demand were driving the surge in inflation, have those variables subsided some in the last month?

FOROOHAR: In some and in some categories. But now we're seeing new categories coming forward. I mean, just the sanctions on Russia, taking Russia out of the SWIFT System, for example. That creates a potential domino effect where, all right, they're not making their payments, but what about all those counter parties on the other side in Europe and in Asia? We're going to begin to see some of that ping through the system. Already in Europe you've seen automotive plants having to shut down because they can't get Ukrainian parts. So, there's a lot of things here still to roll out.

BLACKWELL: A lot to roll out. Rana Foroohar, thanks so much for helping us understand it.

FOROOHAR: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Still, the Ukrainian military says, they defeated a column of Russian tanks near Kyiv. When we come back, I'll speak to a member of Ukraine's parliament about the resistance.

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This is just in to CNN. A senior U.S. defense official says, Russian forces have moved forward in the area near the Hostomel Airport, that's about an hour Northwest of Kyiv. The forces reportedly moved only about three miles within the past day.

Alex Goncharenko is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and he joins us from Kyiv. Mr. Goncharenko, thank you very much for being here. You're in Kyiv. Our correspondent, Clarissa Ward, says that the fighting around Kyiv has intensified today. Can you just tell us what you're experiencing?

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ALEX GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Thank you for the invitation. And experiences next, I'm a member of Territorial Defense of Kyiv. So, I joined it like thousands of my compatriots. And today, we evacuated people from one of town settlements of Kyiv, Irpin. Where there is a humanitarian catastrophe because people for 10 days were without water, heating, electricity, food, and so on. So, yes, we've heard fighting. They are 10, 20, 30 kilometers from Kyiv but our army is holding the ground and Russian occupants could not penetrate the city. That's the situation for the moment.

CAMEROTA: You have been using colorful language to tell Vladimir Putin what he can go do to himself. And I'm just wondering why you say that you will never surrender. Why you are so confident and you don't seem to be not worried, but I guess, cowed by what Vladimir Putin will do next.

GONCHARENKO: That's our land. We will fight for our land. We don't have any other option. And yes, our sea -- just bodyguard that was at the first day of the war, Russian warships came to a tiny island in the Black Sea and demanded from them to surrender. And they said to them, go -- yourself. And that was their answer. And that is our answer to Putin. We are not going to surrender. That is our land. We are going to fight for our land and we're sure that we will win.

The only thing is, what will be the casualties. And that's why we so desperately need the support of free world. We are not asking for boots on the ground. We are not even asking for your pilots in our skies. We just ask to give us aircraft, air defense systems and we'll do everything ourselves. Because now, Russians are using missiles and aircraft just to attack, not only military targets but maternity houses, kindergartens, schools, just killing our pregnant women and newborns. That's so awful. And we want to stop this. And we hope that the free world will help us to do this.

CAMEROTA: We have seen the video of some of those atrocities. What do you think Vladimir Putin's end game is? What do you think he will stop at or do next?

GONCHARENKO: He started -- he tried blitzkrieg. He tried to take -- he was sure that he will take Kyiv in two, three, four days. But as you see, the second week finished and he just couldn't. And also, he has no any major military successes in Ukraine. No major cities captured by him. So, then he started phase two, he's a terror. That's the only thing they know. They're acting like real Nazi, like Hitler did in -- during the second World War. They're bombing civilians, they're killing civilians in hundreds and they tried to scare us, to scare Ukrainian society. But we are only becoming more and more furious with them. So, that will not -- that will not work also.

What will be his next step? I don't know. Probably he will try to achieve some of his military goals. He will try to scare the world with, I don't know, nuclear weapons. But I'm sure that it is just blackmailing. And what we need, we need to be strong and united just to stop this dictator.

CAMEROTA: We've heard from some of the people around President Zelenskyy, and President Zelenskyy himself, that there have been attempts on his life. Do you think that it is time for him to run the Ukraine government from outside of Ukraine because it would be safer?

GONCHARENKO: No, absolutely not. That's why president should be in Kyiv and he is in Kyiv and we, members of parliament, we are in Kyiv. We're ready to fight. We are showing to our nation and to our people that we are not going to be surrender and we are with them in these times of very hard challenges. But that's very important for millions of Ukrainians to know that we are together with them, standing shoulder to shoulder. And me, for example, I joined Territorial Defense. I don't have any military experience, but I joined Territorial Defense. I took weapons in my arms and I'm ready to use them against occupants just like thousands and thousands of my compatriots. I think that is very important. And we'll do like this.

CAMEROTA: Alex Goncharenko, we have been inspired, obviously, by so many Ukrainians' bravery and by your humanity of helping each other. We will check back with you. Take care of yourself. Thank you for being here.

GONCHARENKO: Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: He said, this is our land and we have no other option.

CAMEROTA: I mean, the bravery -- everybody echoes that sort of steadfastness. I don't know how they do it. He says, he didn't have any military experience before this but he's ready.

[15:55:00] BLACKWELL: All right. Well, listen, the global outrage and horror over Russia's assault in Mariupol continues. President Zelenskyy calls it, proof of genocide.

CAMEROTA: We have the latest on Ukraine. Ahead.

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OK. It looks like baseball is coming back.

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