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Airstrikes Hit Civilian Sites In Dnipro, Military Airfield In Lutsk; At Least 2.5 Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine Since Invasion; Growing Concerns Over Three Americans Detained By Russia; Interview With Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX); CNN Goes Inside Hospital In Hard- Hit Ukrainian City Of Mykolaiv; Biden: U.S. Banning Russian Vodka, Caviar, Diamonds & Most Favored Nation Status At Risk. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired March 12, 2022 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:09]
JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.
And Russia is intensifying strikes all around Ukraine's capital city. British intelligence estimates are coming in saying that the bulk of Russia's ground forces are just about 15 miles outside of Kyiv. This video shows a village about 30 miles west of Kyiv completely devastated by airstrikes.
And watch this video from the port city of Mykolaiv as multiple strikes hit near a children's playground, forcing a man to duck for cover. Much of the damage in Ukraine is called by Russia's so-called dumb bombs, brutal and precise weapons, and officials worry that Russia could soon turn to something much more deadly. Chemical weapons. President Biden warning that Russia could pay a severe price for that.
More than 2.5 million refugees, in the meantime, have fled into neighboring countries. In the besieged city of Mariupol, mass graves have replaced proper funerals and new videos shows why Doctors Without Borders calls this an extremely dire humanitarian crisis, saying people there cannot survive much longer without food, water, medicine and heat.
And one of those people is Mariana. She escaped from this week's horrible attack on a maternity hospital. There she is right there. You remember that image all too well. Well, guess what? She gave birth to a baby girl named Veronika last night. There is the baby girl Veronika right there. Her family telling CNN they hope they can find what they need to keep Veronika healthy.
That will be a tall task where she is at right now. But CNN's Matthew Chance has the latest on Russia's bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a new front in Russia's Ukrainian war. Emergency workers battling flames caused by airstrikes on the central city of Dnipro. Ukrainian officials say an apartment building, a kindergarten and a two-story shoe factory were targeted and destroyed causing casualties. To the west in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk, just 70 miles from NATO- allied Poland, a strategic airfield also came under attack.
With the invasion now in its third week, Russia appears to be widening its assault. There are concerns of escalation, too. Russian state television has been broadcasting these images. The fighters from Syria said to be volunteering to join the fight on Russia's side. The Kremlin backs the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and the scenes appeared shortly after Putin told his security council that foreign fighters should be invited to join in.
PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): So if you see people who want voluntarily without payment to come and help people living in Donbas, well, we need to meet their efforts and help them to reach the combat zone.
CHANCE: These are thugs from Syria, said President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, of the country destroyed in the same way the occupiers are destroying us, he said.
Later at a Kremlin meeting with his Belarusian ally, President Putin struck a different, upbeat tone, saying he'd been informed of certain positive shifts in recent negotiations with Ukraine, though it remains unclear what those positive shifts could be.
But they don't seem to be diverting Russia from its invasion course. New satellite images suggest the massive Russian military column north of the capital Kyiv has dispersed with some elements repositioned into forests and countryside around the capital.
And these are the latest images from the besieged Ukrainian town of Volnovakha in the country's southeast. Russian troops moving through the streets, which are now reported to be under their full control.
Bit by bit, Ukraine it seems is being overrun.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And joining us now is CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton.
Colonel Leighton, thanks for being with us. You know, that closely watched Russian convoy we've been following it for days. It has apparently dispersed and headed for cover. Armored Russian military trains were spotted inside Ukraine I guess possibly for resupplying. And Russian strikes have hit targets much further to the west than before.
What is your sense of what's happening right now in terms of the latest activity on the ground here? Is this, you know, a new phase of the -- is this a new phase of the offensive, an adjustment based on this slow-going advance of the Russians? What are your thoughts? COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think, Jim, it is
a new phase, you know, because phase one didn't quite work out, although Vladimir Putin wanted it to. So, you know, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again as the saying goes. And I think in this particular case, what they're doing is, you know, they weren't greeted with open arms when they came into Ukraine.
[16:05:07]
And they all of a sudden realized that this war of liberation or whatever they wanted to call it is not exactly that and in order to make their efforts work, they're going to go for basically what amounts to a scorched earth policy. So the column that, you know, the 40-mile walk column that is now dispersed to or moved its assets around, that, you know, it could be a sign that they're moving some artillery into position.
They're certainly protecting the assets that were in that column. And they're moving those like we've said, you know, under other obstacles where they can't be seen as readily from the air. So that's part of it. And then when you move west, you look at, you know, some of the airstrikes against some of the airfields like (INAUDIBLE), you know, some of the others. Those seem to be designed not only to perhaps interdict the efforts of the NATO alliance to bring supplies into Ukraine, but they also seem to be used as a way to force the western Ukrainian population into some degree of submission.
At least that's a potential. Depends on how far they'll go with those strikes but as of now, right now we're looking at them coming in and perhaps moving their forces a bit more westward than some people thought they would have. And then of course in the east, we have continued movement. In the south we have continued movement. So basically, the constrictor is moving and is attempting to tighten its grip on its prey and the prey of course being Ukraine.
ACOSTA: And today, we saw yet another civilian complex came bombarded. We keep showing this because it's just so astounding. You see that blast going off right by that playground and we don't know what kinds of munitions these are, but we do know that Russia has been relying on these so-called dumb bombs, which I suppose, you know, they're not terribly precise. They may miss their target, but they have the effect of I suppose spreading fear.
I mean, spreading devastation, no question about it. Indiscriminately, no question about it, but I suppose the other intended effect is that they spread a lot of fear and terror.
LEIGHTON: That's exactly right. And you know, when you go back to the whole philosophy of bombing and how to actually conduct an air campaign, that's part of it. Even before World War II, people theorized that what you'd have to do is terrorize a civilian population and that would bring the opposition into submission. And that's, you know, what was often tried during World War II with the bombings of London and Dresden and Tokyo and some other places.
And that you know, that's one way of fighting war, but it's a horrible way of fighting war and it's also extremely imprecise in the psychological component of it that was designed to move people either away from the areas that they inhabit or to make them so fearful that they surrender right away. And it's that kind of a philosophy that is guiding their movements. It is something that we've found actually does not work but that's something that they're trying and they will keep trying it I guess until they figure out it doesn't work for them as well.
ACOSTA: And Colonel Leighton, I really want to get into this. Russia has now baselessly accused Ukraine of preparing to use chemical weapons. Here's how Zelenskyy responded. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, UKRAINE (through translator): They accuse us, again, us, that we are allegedly developing biological weapons? Allegedly, we are preparing a chemical attack? This makes me really worried because we've been repeatedly convinced, if you want to know Russia's plans, look at what Russia accuses others of.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Yes, Colonel Leighton, we have had years of analyzing the art of projection a little bit closer to home. But, you know, when it comes to the Russians, they have been known to do this. And I wonder if it's a worrying sign to you that the Russians are baselessly accusing the Ukrainians of preparing to use some sort of chemical weaponry or weapons of mass destruction, and whether or not that means we may see something like that coming from the Russians in the days to come?
LEIGHTON: I think it's a very distinct possibility, Jim. And the reason I think that is, you know, we have seen the art of projection as you mentioned being employed by the Russians quite a bit. And we know the Russians have a chemical capability.
[16:10:02]
We know that they have not hesitated to use that in places like Syria, and either through their own forces or through proxy forces have affected thousands of people in various towns and cities in that country. So they may very well be planning something in Ukraine, which would either be viewed as a provocation that chemicals were used against -- allegedly used against a Russian unit, therefore they have to go in with chemicals themselves.
That could be one way of doing it or they could just simply do it and blame it on the Ukrainians and say they had an accident before they were employing those weapons against the Russians. So there are all kinds of ways they can do this. But it is an absolute and a distinct danger that this could happen. It's kind of World War I-ish scenario that is, you know, perhaps coming back into the 21st century, and it would be a terrible thing because not only is it devastating, but it's also outlawed under international conventions.
ACOSTA: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you very much for that grim assessment. We'll keep watching. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Jim.
ACOSTA: More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia began invading more than two weeks ago. Think about that. That is -- that's an astounding number. CNN's Miguel Marquez is in Bucharest, Romania, which has received tens of thousands of these Ukrainian refugees.
And Miguel, what are you hearing from these families that were forced to flee their homes? It's got to be heartbreaking to listen to.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, when you say 2.5 million, every single one is a story. We were at a home south of Bucharest. There's a Romanian couple that's caring right now, tonight, about 34, 35 refugees over the last two weeks. They've cared for about 60, a little over 60 refugees. They have a network now set up where they're trying to do the same.
The city is setting up refugee shelters so that people can stay here. Most move on. Most are coming here with very, very little as well. We spoke to some of the folks in this household and they all believe that the war will be over and they will go back to Ukraine, but they're not entirely sure what they'll go back to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLGA BATOCHKA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE FROM KHARKIV: We are free people. We have a beautiful government, beautiful country. Beautiful cities. Now that's all destroyed and we have no houses. We have no families. We will start over. Life is (INAUDIBLE). I want and believe that we will, we'll be at home in my Kharkiv, it will be great again.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: So what is stunning in talking to the people that we met over the last several days is that these were people who were teachers and doctors and psychologists and students, and they had normal jobs and normal lives and they literally were changed in an instant and they were transformed into refugees.
Now they're coming to places like Romania. The woman that you saw there, Olga, her daughter, Olga's sister, they're all going to Portugal to meet up with family there. We met people going to Qatar to meet up with family there. Everybody needs a few days here, a few days there. Some people, we met a family of five kids, mom, dad, they were going to stay there for the entirety.
They all believe they're going back. When you say, when, when do you think you'll go back? And they say, two weeks, three weeks. Maybe a month. Maybe four months. Nobody's really sure when that end will come and what that end will look like -- Jim.
ACOSTA: All right, Miguel Marquez, thank you very much, again, for that report. We appreciate it.
And coming up, new details about the WNBA star detained in Russia for nearly a month now as her family desperately fights to bring her home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:18:15]
ACOSTA: New satellite images into CNN show the extensive damage in Mariupol, Ukraine, as the port city continues to be hit by Russian military strikes. Before and after images show just how much of that city has been devastated by this war. These show that the children's and maternity hospital in that city have been hit by Russian strikes on Wednesday.
This is in an industrial area, a large fire there still ablaze when this image was taken just this morning. And this shows a strike near a gas station, and in the image, you can see it's still smoking right there. The city is completely surrounded by Russian and Russian-backed separatist troops.
And Russia's escalating assault on Ukraine is sparking growing concerns for a WNBA star and two other Americans being detained by the Putin regime.
CNN's Brian Todd has that part of our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New concerns tonight about the fates of three Americans being detained in Russia. Basketball star Brittney Griner, we are now learning, has been held for three weeks, since February 17th, according to her hometown Congressman Colin Allred. She's had no access to anyone from the U.S. government, he says. And it's not even clear where Griner is being held.
REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): She should be allowed to come home as soon as possible and not become swept up in any of this larger context that's happening.
TODD: Griner was arrested at a Moscow airport with what Russian authorities said was cannabis oil in her luggage. They accused Griner of smuggling narcotics, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Members of Congress and veteran diplomats are worried that the two- time Olympic gold medalist status as a star athlete might work against her, as could her sexual orientation. Griner is gay and married. Russia has very strict LGBTQ laws.
[16:20:01]
KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVES FROM UKRAINE: What I would expect the Russians to do is use the fact that her wife is making public statements and these are being reported in media and social media as propagandization of LGBTQ Plus rights, which then could be another crime that they could hold against her.
TODD: The parents of another detained American, former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, described themselves as panicked over his condition. Following a phone call with him on Thursday, Reed's parents say his physical condition has taken a turn for the worse that had already been dire.
JOEY REED, FATHER OF TREVOR REED, DETAINED IN RUSSIA: He's coughing constantly, he said he's coughing up blood throughout the day. He has fever off and on over 100 degrees, and he has pain in his chest. Just all the signs of tuberculosis.
TODD: In a new statement, Reed's parents say he was told he'd be sent to a prison hospital. But when they were on the phone with him on Thursday, he was summoned to a disciplinary commission and, quote, "We fear authorities might send him back to solitary confinement instead."
Reed and fellow former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan were convicted separately for crimes they both empathically denied and have been detained in Russia since well before the invasion of Ukraine. Whelan's sister gave a CNN a fresh clue of his condition.
ELIZABETH WHELAN, SISTER OF PAUL WHELAN, DETAINED IN RUSSIA: He is doing as well as can be expected in a forced labor camp in the middle of Russia.
TODD: Experts are now openly concerned about the futures of these three Americans, given that the tensions with Vladimir Putin over the conflict in Ukraine are only intensifying.
(On-camera): How difficult will be to get them out at this point? Is it even possible?
VOLKER: Yes. We're at such a different level of confrontation with Russia right now. They really are being used as pawns by Russia. And he's not going to harm these three but he's not going to get let them out of jail either.
TODD: Congressman Colin Allred says Brittney Griner has been in touch with her Russian lawyer and that lawyer has been in touch with her agent and her family back home and they know she is OK. CNN has reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for information about Griner's whereabouts and her condition. We haven't heard back.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And with me now is Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.
Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us. We know you've been working with the Biden administration on the case of Brittney Griner and you've also been in contact with Griner's family. How much information do we actually have about Brittney Griner and how she's been doing these last three weeks? And, you know, I just have to ask you, because, you know, as I've been watching this, it is just outrageous.
It is outrageous what the Russians are doing holding this WNBA star who, you know, is an athlete, who should have rights. It's just -- it's unbelievable that they -- I shouldn't say it's unbelievable, it is believable that they've done this but it's just outrageous.
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D-TX): Jim, let me thank you for having me and let me associate myself with your outrage, frankly. As everyone knows Brittney grew up here in Houston. Nimitz High School, I represent the family. The family member are still here. I've spoken within her family members. We claim Brittney Griner all the way. That's Houston, Texas. And we are praying for her family, her wife, and I take issue with any family members who want to make a prayerful comment should be allowed and the very fact that Brittney's wife wants to speak for her.
I support her in the way that it's done and the way she wants to do it. We live in a democracy and we're fighting against autocracy. We're fighting against a vile, inhumane and immoral leader. A terrorist. That is what I call Vladimir Putin. So, unfortunately, the timing couldn't be worse. I believe all of this may have even been orchestrated. I want to make sure that her legal representation is able to do so in the most appropriate way possible.
But, Jim, I frankly believe that this is going to have to be a combination of legal good work. The lawyer was hired by her Russian team. A team that loves her dearly. But it's also going to have to be, even in these difficult times, the work of a sovereign nation. She's a United States citizen. That's why I demanded for her release immediately and that's why I've spoken to the president and provided him with a letter asking for his help and the help even more so of our State Department.
ACOSTA: And so is Brittney Griner a hostage at this point?
JACKSON LEE: Well, let me say this, there is no legal system that anyone could even comprehend here in the United States. We could not comprehend what is called a legal detained or incarceration in Russia. You've already heard about Trevor Reed and others. You get deadly ill, you're in solitary confinement. It's cruel. It's -- I use the term inhumane, but it is, it is killing to a certain extent.
[16:25:06]
You don't know if you're going to live. You're incarcerated, but it looks like you've been given a death sentence. I only want to say that we have a magnificent young woman, a young woman who would give you the shirt off her back, a very kind person. The second most famous and second most outstanding player in the WNBA. And she has continued that as an Olympian and as a WNBA player.
She is strong by nature, but I would only say that the quicker she is released, the better. Because you cannot count on the kinds of conditions that she would be subjected to. She shouldn't have been in, I don't believe, in any guilt. These are items it seems that if it was even true, could have been confiscated and she could have been sent on her way.
ACOSTA: Right. Exactly.
JACKSON LEE: Renowned as she is -- renowned as she is, famous in Russia, the team loving her. Russians loving her. Enjoying the game. And so we know that they think they had a prize. The only thing I can say is it's important for families to know that this sovereign nation is not going to abandon their citizens and that's what my job is. To make sure that we continue to work together, the administration, the State Department, because you cannot count on the conditions except for the strength of this young woman.
She is strong, but we're going to make sure she and the others if you will are not retained. We haven't classified her, Jim, as a hostage. She's been in, it will be a month coming up this coming week. But we don't want to classify her as that. But we want to say that she is unjustly being detained, unfairly being detained and should be released immediately.
ACOSTA: And as you know, Congresswoman, Russia has very strict LGBTQ laws. And, you know, do you think that Griner is perhaps even in more danger at this point because of her sexual orientation?
JACKSON LEE: If there's any shame that could be felt in Russia, they should feel shame on targeting human beings. Human beings, LGBTQ persons, their children, transgender. They are human beings. And the one thing that Brittney did courageously was to stand up as she is as a human being and to have her wife be at her side. But I do know that it is a shameless posture that Russia has treated its LGBTQ community.
They're in jeopardy and there's no doubt that she is both a woman of color, she is a celebrity, and she's an LGBTQ community, and that's why I think, Jim, that the American power, sovereignty, I know that we're in a vicious war. Our relations are poor, but we also have the ability to let Russia know that these individuals are under our protection and we're just going to have to stand with her as the legal process proceeds.
It is important for the family to know that the sovereign nation, United States, a democracy, is going to stand with her as well.
ACOSTA: No question about it, Congresswoman. And we know how much Vladimir Putin prizes, you know, international athletics because of the emphasis that's placed, you know, in the Russian Olympic program and so on. And they had an embarrassing situation in Beijing and to think that they would snatch one of our athletes at the airport with something just as trumped up as you know, this ridiculous charge that they're holding her on right now. It just seems very deliberate and it seems she is being used as a pawn right now.
But, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, thank you so much for your time. Thanks for your work on it. We appreciate it. Thanks for coming on.
JACKSON LEE: Jim, thank you for your concern and we are going to get Brittney out. Thank you.
ACOSTA: All right. Best of luck. Thank you.
Coming up, CNN goes into a Ukrainian city where a food warehouse was destroyed, hospitals are packed, and small children are crying out for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:33:56]
ACOSTA: We want to take you now to the hard-hit city of Mykolaiv, where, after days of shelling and bombing, victims are coming to terms with the fact that, despite their injuries, they are the lucky ones.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXPLOSION)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): This is probably when Russian forces tried to cut off Mykolaiv, pushing to its North to encircle it. Ukrainian shells here not holding them back.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: The governor told locals to bring tires to the streets, which they did fast.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: And in the dark --
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: -- Russia's punishment of just about everyone here did not let up.
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: An airstrike flattened this warehouse.
And if you needed proof the Kremlin seeks to reduce all life here --
(EXPLOSION)
PATON WALSH: -- 1,500 tons of onions, beer and pumpkins were an apparent target for a military jet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
[16:35:02]
PATON WALSH: Rezhenya and Radmila (ph), in the back bedroom when a missile hits. Rezhenya built this home himself 43 years ago, and knows he lacks the strength to do so again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: Radmila says she doesn't even have her slippers now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: The hospitals are steeped in pain. Their corridors running underground.
Svetlana lost three friends Tuesday when Russian shells hit the car they were traveling to change shifts at a disabled-children's homes. When she ducked, she saved her life.
She names her three dead friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: Nicholai (ph) was badly burned by a missile in his yard.
Moscow targets hospitals and so they perversely need their own bomb shelters where sick children wait for the sirens to end.
(CROSSTALK)
PATON WALSH: Stass (ph) is 12 and alone. But he doesn't know the reason his father is not here just now is because he is burying Stass's mother and sister.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY (through translation): I was in the neighbor's basement when the bomb hit the roof on my side. We ran to my granny's house. Another hit there. My arm is broken. My dad and neighbor brought me here. I was in coma for two days.
WALSH: Sonia (ph) has shrapnel in her head, causing her to spasm.
Her mother explains they were outside taping up the house windows when the blast hits, while all the time, trying to get Sonia to keep still.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cut the tape, turned around to hear a noise, and I saw the missile flew behind us. And I said, Sonia (ph), let's go.
We ran, Sonia in front of me. And then I heard the blast.
Little Sonia, quiet, quiet. Sonia, little Sonia, don't worry everything will be OK.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: I am cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PATON WALSH: Outside, it is cold and loud.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And our thanks to Nick for that report.
Coming up, they have absolutely no connection to Putin's war, but some small business owners in the United States are facing anti-Russian backlash and bigoted attacks. We'll explain, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:42:57]
ACOSTA: President Biden says no Russian caviar, vodka or diamonds will be allowed into the U.S. amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
CNN's Arlette Saenz joins me now from the White House.
Arlette, President Biden is also moving to strip Russia of its trade benefits, of its trade status, to ramp up pressure on Putin. And U.S. allies are looking to do the same. What's the latest?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. This is the latest U.S. and ally coordinated effort to try to make Russia pay for its attack on Ukraine.
The U.S., E.U. and G-7 countries all calling for revoking Russia's most favored nation status. That would essentially allow these countries to enact and impose tariffs on Russian imports.
Additionally, the United States is taking other steps, including banning caviar and vodka from Russia as well as banning some exports of high-end luxury items, like jewelry, cars and clothing.
The thinking there is they're hoping they can hit some of those creature comforts that Russian oligarchs and wealthy individuals have to then put a squeeze on Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
This comes as there are concerns among U.S. officials about the possibility of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine.
I had the chance to ask President Biden about that yesterday, asking what evidence he's seen and whether there would be a U.S. Military response.
Take a listen to what he had to tell me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to speak about the intelligence. But Russia will pay a severe price if they use chemical weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: Now it's unclear what that severe price would entail.
But hours later, President Biden once again was adamant he would not send American troops into Ukraine on the ground or in the skies.
Warning a direct conflict between the U.S., NATO, and Russia would lead to World War III -- Jim?
ACOSTA: Arlette Saenz, great work over there. Thank you very much.
Here in the U.S., Russian restaurants that once proudly displayed the country's heritage are feeling the wrath of bigotry prompted by Putin's war thousands of miles away.
In fact, some business owners, who fled oppressive regimes themselves for a safer life in the United States, are seeing their store fronts vandalized. And now they're wondering whether it's time to rebrand their businesses.
[16:45:10]
CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VLADA VON SHATS, CO-OWNER, RUSSIAN SAMOVAR RESTAURANT: I'm going to show you the table that is called the Brodsky table. This is a special table. There are people that actually calling for reserve just this table.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But not these days. Russia's invasion of Ukraine increasing worries about empty tables and fewer bookings at this restaurant in New York City's theatre district.
SHATS: Sixty percent of businesses down. Overnight, just wake up one day and the business is gone. Nobody's here.
CARROLL: Vlada Von Shats is co-owner of Russian Samovar with her son. It has been in the family for three generations.
Her family defected from what was then the Soviet Union to New York when she was a child. Her stepfather co-founded the restaurant with ballet dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Russian poet, Joseph Brodsky.
VON SHATS: Everybody escaped the same evil and they all found a little piece of heaven here.
CARROLL: But now this little piece of heaven is facing the wrath of hell on Earth, half a world away.
VON SHATS: Calling us Nazis, Fascists.
CARROLL (on camera): People leaving messages.
VON SHATS: Leaving messages on our machine. It's never nice. Our sign has been kicked in.
CARROLL (voice-over): Never mind Von Shats is married to a Ukrainian and many who work here are Ukrainian. All, she says, people see is the word "Russian" and lash out.
And it's not just here. In Washington, D.C., the famous Russia House vandalized.
Threatening messages left at the Pushkin Russian restaurant in San Diego.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) CARROLL: The restaurant owner is Armenian and most of the staff are Ukrainian.
Similar messages sent to Chicago's Russian Tea Time restaurant, where, just like the other restaurants, some of the employees are Ukrainian.
VADIM MUCHNIK, PARTNER, RUSSIAN TEA TIME: We really feel pain. We have a waitress whose mother's hiding in bomb shelters in Kyiv.
CARROLL: Some Wisconsin supermarkets have discontinued sales of Russian vodka.
In Las Vegas, one bar owner is dumping Russian-made vodka.
And back in New York, there is no more McPutin's. His children changed the name of their takeout restaurant and delivery business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe they're calling it Chi-Chi Chicken.
CARROLL: But the Von Shats say they will never change the name Russian Samovar.
CARROLL (on camera): You think you can survive this?
VON SHATS: Yes. There's a lot of help from our friends. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time will tell. This place has lasted through a lot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Our thanks to Jason for that report.
Coming up, it's the symbol popping up on tanks, billboards and T- shirts, but how did the letter "Z" come to signify support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine? We'll did into that mystery next.
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[16:52:36]
ACOSTA: One letter has become synonymous with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the letter "Z," which isn't even found in the Russian alphabet but is now spotted on Russian tanks and military vehicles.
What could it possibly mean?
CNN Phil Black reports.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's impossible not to notice. Many of the Russian vehicles invading Ukraine carry a distinctive mark.
Trucks, tanks, fighting, engineering and logistical vehicles, they are advancing through Ukraine with the letter "Z" painted conspicuously in white.
(SHOUTING)
BLACK: The people being invaded have noticed. Here in the Eastern Ukrainian town of Copianz (ph), an angry crowd swarms after and attacks a single vehicle. It's only obvious connection to the war, the letter "Z."
ARIC TOLER, RESEARCH AND TRAINING, BELLINGCAT: It's almost certainly some kind of tactical grouping. There's a million different theories about what the "Z" means. But I think it's just marking, just easy to do, easy thing to mark. It's like a square or triangle.
BLACK: In a war, where the wannabe conquerors are not flying their national flag, that single character has taken on a special significance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BLACK: At a recent gymnastics World Cup even, 20-year-old Russian competitor, Ivan Kuliak (ph), accepted his bronze medal wearing a "Z" prominently on his chest. He was standing next to a Ukrainian athlete.
The sports governing body described it as shocking behavior.
But how do you describe this? Terminally ill children and their carers formed a giant "Z" outside a hospice in the Russian city of Kizan (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disgusting that the state is co-opting young children to be propaganda mechanisms for their war.
BRIAN KLAAS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON: It's dangerous when small little symbols become proxies for being a loyal citizen in an authoritarian regime during the time of war. Because those who don't wear it, those who don't show the "Z," could be targeted by the state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BLACK: And in this highly produced propaganda video, Russian men wearing that letter declare their support for the invasion. Chanting --
(CHANTING)
BLACK: -- "For Russia, for the president, for Russia, for Putin."
An aerial shot shows a giant "Z" made from the orange and black at the St. George's River. A traditional symbol of Russian military glory usually associated with a victory over Nazi, Germany.
By accident or design, a character that doesn't feature in Russia's alphabet has become an iconic symbol of Putin's invasion, and the propaganda campaign to win support among his people.
[16:55:11] Phil Black, CNN, London.
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ACOSTA: That's the news. Reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
Up next, it's a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
Have a good night.
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