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Scholz, Macron Urge Immediate Ceasefire In Call With Putin; Zelenskyy Pleads For More Aid As Russia Intensifies Attack; U.N.: At Least 579 Civilians Killed Since Invasion Began; Romanians Open Their Homes To Ukrainian Refugees; Chinese State Media Pushing Russian Misinformation. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired March 12, 2022 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:28]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Paula Newton at CNN Center. I want to welcome everyone here and around the world. Our breaking news this hour, Russian forces are intensifying their attacks on Ukraine cities as strikes continue hammering civilian areas.

I want you to take a look at the upper left hand corner of this surveillance footage. This is from Saturday. You can see two explosions hitting near an apartment building in the city of Mykolaiv. And yes, that is a children's playground right there.

Now these new images also reveal the extent of the damage in the hard- hit southern port city of Mariupol before and after satellite images showing the aftermath of strikes on buildings there. Now the city is now completely encircled by Russian troops and Russian backed fighters and so far, the efforts to evacuate civilians have absolutely failed.

Meantime, we are seeing increased fighting around Kyiv as Russian forces inch ever closer to the Capitol. British intelligence estimates that the bulk of Russian forces are now about 25 kilometers a little over 15 miles from Kyiv. This as Ukraine's President again pleads for more support from allies. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): I keep reiterating to our allies and friends abroad. They have to keep doing more for our country, for Ukrainians and Ukraine. Because it is not only for Ukraine, but it is for all of Europe. The evil which is purposefully targets peaceful cities and ambulance vans and expose hospitals will not stop with just one country if they have the strength to keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: And that Zelenskyy calls this a new stage of terror. Now those diplomatic efforts to end the fighting appeared to hit yet another wall Saturday. During a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the German chancellor and French President urged an immediate ceasefire. But a French source said Mr. Putin seem determined to continue on with this invasion.

CNN's Hala Gorani is on the ground for us in Ukraine. She joins us now from the western city of the Lviv. And Hala, good to see you again on what has been another, a difficult day and night there in Lviv. I know you've been watching diplomatic efforts quite closely, not least from the French, right?

Another high level phone call with Putin and as we just said, it went nowhere. Macron, in particular, has been quite blunt about Putin's resolve. What more can Western allies do to apply more pressure?

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the lines of communication at least are open especially between the French President and Vladimir Putin. They've spoken numerous times. This time, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joined the call, it was 75 minutes long. But, unfortunately, at the end of that conversation of the French presidency spokesperson said that Vladimir Putin did not seem to show a willingness to end this conflict, according to the French presidency.

As I mentioned, 75 minutes, which at least tells you that some views were exchanged. They did give a general readout of the call without going into much detail as they consider this to be part of an ongoing diplomatic effort to try to get the Russian president to back down. But, unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though those efforts have been fruitful at least so far, the Kremlin's readout of the call, very different from what we heard from the French presidency and German sources, saying that the Russian president is essentially briefed to the two leaders on the state of play on the ground.

And also saying that the Ukrainians were using civilians as human shields, as we've continued to get updates and reports on civilians, suffering very much as a result of Russian airstrikes and shelling. So diplomatic efforts. Yes, they are ongoing, but they are going absolutely nowhere, it seems at this stage, at least, in terms of putting in place a ceasefire, and certainly not in terms of ending the actual conflict itself, Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, all of this as the humanitarian situation, of course, worsens by the hour. Now, Hala, Russia has issued a warning that it could fire on weapons shipments to Ukraine. I will also point out that in those same pipelines, there are things like food and water and medicine that is also coming to ordinary Ukrainians like where you are in Lviv. What more can you tell us about that Russian threat?

[23:05:01] GORANI: So the Russians are saying that foreign shipments of arms are, quote, legitimate targets. Now, what does that do? What it does is that it raises sort of the level of tension and brings us ever closer to potentially direct confrontation between Russia and NATO Allies sending very heavy weaponry now into Ukraine to help Ukrainians defend themselves against the Russian invaders.

So it just -- is that incremental kind of raising of the level of tension. It hasn't happened yet. We haven't had a Russian strike target, foreign weapons shipments into this country. If it does, though happen, it would be very interesting to see what the response of the NATO countries who are sending these weapons shipments will be though.

The U.S. President and others have been extremely clear. They have absolutely no intention right now, neither of implementing a no-fly zone, nor of sending combat troops or any kind of ground troops into Ukraine to defend this country against Russia, Paula.

NEWTON: OK, Hala, I appreciate your insights from there on the ground. Of course, you'll have more for us in live reporting at the top of the hour for now. We'll leave it there. Thanks again, Hala.

Joining me now is Andriy Zagorodnyuk, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. He also served as the Ukrainian Defense Minister from 2019 to 2020. And I thank you for joining us from somewhere inside Ukraine at this hour. Can you sketch out for us the Ukrainian defense plan, as you know it right now, as best you can tell what's working and why at this point?

We're defending our country and the ground invasion from Russia is stumbling. They couldn't so far, reaching operational goals. So Kyiv is under firm control of Ukrainian government, same as Kharkiv, same as Mykolaiv, Odessa, and so on.

So of course, we have a terrible situation within sieging Mariupol, where -- which is still under Ukrainian control, but it's been extremely damaged. And we have at the south of Ukraine, about Crimea, where we have lots of Russian troops, and they control some of the towns. So generally speaking, this campaign is ongoing, Ukrainian defense. We believe that on the ground, our forces are much more effective than Russians.

But, of course, we do have a problem with airstrikes because they happen pretty much every night. And lots of them hit civilian buildings and infrastructure.

NEWTON: And I will talk about that in a minute. But how much of a difference is it making on the ground in terms of the military aid that you've received so far? I think so many people have expressed shock that Russia is where it's at right now in this campaign.

ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL'S EURASIA CENTER: Yes.

NEWTON: And yet, what has made the difference for Ukrainian forces? ZAGORODNYUK: Well, some of the supplies were game changers, basically, because like, the equipment like javelins and lose (ph) -- anti-tank weapons and stingers, they actually made our forces way more efficient. And, you know, resolvable. So yes, it's a huge deal.

And all these discussions about the different other equipment, types of equipment. It's very much valid, because it indeed enhances our capabilities a lot. Yes.

NEWTON: What about the Russian threat to those supply lines, though, coming in from the west? We're just talking to our Hala Gorani about it. Are you believing that perhaps those supply lines are in jeopardy, and that that could really change the state of play?

ZAGORODNYUK: We, of course, can do our best to ensure the security. But of course, if this is the NATO supplies, or NATO country supplies, and the hitch to them would be actually hit to attack on the NATO countries. So they should think twice before doing that, of course.

We've seen lots of threats from Russia. Some of them realize, some of them were just threats. But in this case, of course, there's been lots of warning, including from NATO's Secretary General about the fact that this would be an engaging of the some NATO country into the conflict, if they do it, of course.

NEWTON: And yet, it would be dire though, not just for the weapons, the weapons pipeline, but just continually trying to get food, fuel, medicine into Ukraine at all...

ZAGORODNYUK: Yes.

NEWTON: Even Western Ukraine.

ZAGORODNYUK: Yes, of course, but we will do our best to ensure that this is secure. And one of these discussions about the non-fly zone also could be applied to the security of the roads, because indeed, some of the roads are critical for the -- for, you know, for people and for having at least some sort of normal life, at least in some parts of the country. So -- yes.

NEWTON: OK, I want to get -- yes. I want to get to that issue, though, of the no-fly zones because whether it's from Ukrainian officials or ordinary people, we continually say there must be a no-fly. We all know the answer right now from Western allies, it's affirm no.

[23:10:05]

But because some U.S. officials also say to us that, look, the no-fly zone zone wouldn't make that much of a difference that the damage now is from artillery, it's from missiles. It's not from aircraft. So why risk escalating the conflict further, if it's not going to have a material benefit? Meaning we are still going to see the savage destruction of Ukrainian cities and towns.

ZAGORODNYUK: In some parts of the country, that's the case. But in most of the country, we take territory, it's actually airstrikes, missile strikes. So we have airstrikes pretty much every day as I said, and in many cases, this is not artillery. Artillery can shoot at some range, you know. So depending on the type of weapons. And the country is huge. So we can actually with a no-fly zone -- welcoming in (INAUDIBLE) people, you know, from different regions.

NEWTON: OK, we're going to continue on with one more question. We lost you for a little bit there. But I do want to ask you this, because it is just so tragic right now. What is going on in Ukraine and is strong and resolute as the Ukrainian defense forces have been. You know, civilians are paying dearly right now for this resistance.

ZAGORODNYUK: Yes.

NEWTON: At what point? Is it just too high of a price to pay?

ZAGORODNYUK: Well, to be honest, I mean, we have a situation where we don't have another option, but to defend ourselves, because Putin strategy is to is to ensure that there is no such country as Ukraine. He wants to turn us into a dependent state or colony or whatever, you know?

And we Ukrainians, we do not see that happening. Because Ukraine wants to be a Western democracy, a free country. And as you can see, for people, it's great deal. So we don't want to be under anybody's roof, particularly the Trinitarian, regime of some dictators. So we certainly are going to be defending ourselves.

And in that defense, unfortunately, even those humanitarian corridors just seem not to be open so far. Andriy Zagorodnyuk, thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with you.

Now, as we were just talking about right every day, thousands of people flee the fighting and Ukraine in hopes of trying to make it to safety. A sports hall was turned into a temporary shelter hosting some of the more than 300,000 who've fled just to Romania. Many are sharing the details of their escape from war telling just so horrifying their stories are of Russian attacks near their homes and mourning as you just heard that Putin's aggression might not stop with Ukraine. Listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELENA PUGCHOVA, REFUGEE FROM ODESSA, UKRAINE: I can't speak without tears, I'm sorry, but I'm really sorry for my country and nobody could expect this really. This is awfully awful things. They're bombing Kharkiv, they're bombing Mykolaiv, it's only one country 20 kilometers from Odessa. And it's painful inside.

DYMITRI PROPENKO, UKRAINIAN BASED IN CHINA: I think that we need more support for our people right now to stand against this. If Ukraine can fall, the next will be Europe. Because for Putin, there is no stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: That's a message we've been hearing again and again for many Ukrainians and there is the issue of support for many refugees that's been of course a saving grace in this time of war. CNN's Miguel Marquez introduces us to one extraordinary family in Romania trying to ease the plight of those escaping the conflict.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 31 refugees from Ukraine, under one Romanian roof. All different ages, all nationalities, all staying free of charge.

(on-camera): I want to show people this first. What this says so much. What is this?

ALINA GREAVU, HOSTING UKRAINIAN REFUGEES: This is the shoes of all refugees and volunteers. For the moment, I think some of them are out in the city, so there might be even more shoes.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): It's a lot of everything. From laundry to home cooked borscht. Alina Greavu and her husband, Adi Kampulyan (ph) and a whole bunch of volunteers in their rural Romanian home, so far, have hosted more than 60 refugees from Ukraine. Yelena Petrunina from Kharkiv has cancer.

YELENA PETRUNINA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE FROM KHARKIV: (Speaking Foreign Language).

MARQUEZ (voice-over): I was diagnosed with cancer, she says. I was supposed to have the operation and was prepared to have it on February 24th. The day the war started. Her surgery in Ukraine canceled. She now has it planned for Romania and is getting the support she needs from her new Romanian hosts.

19-year-old Nigerian Iman Odejobi, was studying medicine and playing soccer in Ukraine. He's here waiting for a flight to reunite with his family in Qatar.

[23:15:02]

IMAN ODEJOBI, STUDENT FORCED TO FLEE UKRAINE: I didn't expect people like this especially Europeans. I don't really see anything like contradicting but like I didn't expect them to be this like welcoming to like --

MARQUEZ (on-camera): Because you're African?

ODEJOBI: Yes, that is one. That is one.

MARQUEZ (on-camera): Look, we've all heard the stories of Africans and Indians being treated differently on the border, but you're --

ODEJOBI: This is all completely different, all completely new and like, I'm very like proud of them. I'm very appreciative of what they've done.

Olga Batochka and her daughter Alona from Kharkiv are here waiting for a flight to Portugal to stay with relatives. Their town being pummeled by Russian rockets and artillery. Some of her Russian friends don't believe it.

OLGA BATOCHKA, UKRAINIAN REFUGES FROM KHARKIV: I know him from four years old, and he called me and what does happen? I say I'm in an underground now. I can't tell you. It's awful. We have bombs on our houses on. Oh, it's -- can't be. Go home.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): From Kyiv, Sasha Nichmilov, his wife and five kids have nowhere else to go.

(on-camera): How do you explain the war to your children?

SASHA NICHMILOV, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE FROM KYIV: (Speaking Foreign Language)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The older kids understand what's happening, he says. The younger ones don't, but even when our windows broke from the bombing, I told them it was an earthquake. He says the war will end but can't say when or what that end will look like.

For now refugees, volunteers, strangers.

GREAVU: We help each other no matter our race, sex, sexual orientation, color of the skin and so on.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Trying to make an uncertain world a little less strange.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): (Speaking Foreign Language).

Miguel Marquez, CNN, (INAUDIBLE), Romania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Incredible stories like that all over Eastern Europe.

Still to come here for us, you'll want to see this story ...

Unidentified Participant^ How Chinese state media is pushing a pro- Kremlin narrative amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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[23:20:45]

NEWTON: So at this hour, Russian forces are moving closer to Ukraine's capital Kyiv and stepping up their assault on key cities. Now earlier, CNN spoke to Ukraine's former President Petro Poroshenko. He had a dire warning for Russian troops about what they can expect from urban warfare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: But we are not giving up. We are not forgive the Putin these type of things. And I am absolutely confident that we will fight in every single house every single street and every single quarter in Kyiv, in Kharkiv, in Chernihiv. And all of the cities would be the hell for the Russian soldiers and would be the end of the day the hell for Putin.

141 nation support Ukraine. And Ukraine now providing the beginning the end of the Russian Empire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: OK, now Poroshenko also said Russia's president has underestimated the strength of Ukraine's armed forces and the unity of his people.

Now, in China, meantime, government officials have attempted to stake out a seemingly neutral position on the war in Ukraine and public remarks and international summits. But much of China's domestic media coverage of Russia's invasion tells a much more one-sided story. CNN's David Culver reports now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): China's national broadcaster, CCTV looking increasingly like Russian state television these days. Its anchors parodying the Kremlin. Calling the invasion of Ukraine a special military operation. Its stories, highlighting Moscow's grievances against Kyiv and its Western allies, along with Russia's military progress on the battlefield. They rarely mentioned their fierce resistance and growing suffering and war torn Ukraine.

Publicly Beijing stresses its impartiality and the complex even indicating its willingness to be a mediator. Coverage and it's strictly controlled state and social media tells a very different story. CNN combing through Chinese TV and digital news reports in the first eight days of the Russian attack, along with thousands of social media posts from the outlets.

(on-camera): Our findings, China has largely adopted Russia's talking points, actively helping the Kremlin, disseminate its version of the bloody war to millions here and beyond.

(voice-over): The Chinese foreign ministry has yet to respond to our requests for comment. But remember, Russian President Vladimir Putin's last foreign visit before he launched the invasion was here to China, following the 38th meeting between Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2013. And just hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, the two governments declared a partnership with no limits.

China and Russia has increasingly close ties had included coordinating their message on the global stage. Such coordination it now appears has drawn Beijing into playing an important role in the Kremlin disinformation campaign. On February 26, after two nights of Russian bombardment, Zelenskyy shared a video of himself on the streets of Kyiv. Russian officials quickly allege that Zelensky had fled the country and the video was pre-recorded.

Less than 15 minutes later, CCTV flashed a news alert claiming Zelenskyy has left Kyiv, initially without any attribution. More than 160 Chinese state media outlets reposted the CCTV alert. A hashtag Russia says Zelenskyy has left Kyiv, later got more than 510 million views on Chinese social media Weibo. And yet, it was not true.

Perhaps most damning and internal memo purportedly from state run publication, Beijing News surfaced online two days before the Russian invasion even started. The memo directed staff not to publish anything negative about Russia or pro-west. It was mistakenly posted on the outlet social media account before being set to private and eventually deleted.

CNN research has found that China's major state media outlets appear to be following that playbook. Of the most retweeted post on Weibo from February 24. through March 3rd, more than 46 percent contained pro-Russia comments compared to less than 5 percent with pro-Ukraine statements. Roughly 35 percent of the post included attacks on the U.S. and its allies.

[23:25:07]

With reports by Russia's state media outlets being banned in many Western nations and Moscow enacting its own great firewall to censor dissenting voices domestically. Chinese state media is spreading and amplifying Putin's narrative on air and online around the clock and across the globe.

David Culver, CNN Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So what if the world stop using Russia's oil? Russia says current soaring prices will be nothing compared to what the future holds. We'll get to the bottom of those threats after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: And welcome back to our breaking news coverage. Ukraine's President says a ceasefire must be a starting point for any future negotiations about ending Russia's invasion. Now President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also said close to 13,000 people were evacuated from some of the areas affected by fighting that was on Saturday but Ukraine says seven civilians including a child were killed by Russian firewall trying to flee near Kyiv.

Zelenskyy also pleaded for more Western aid and said Russia will be held responsible for what it did in Ukraine.

[23:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): We have to stand firm and keep on fighting every night. And every day, we should be fighting for ways to destroy, to harm the enemy and all the directions.

We will achieve and we will reach what's ours so that all the occupiers and all the collaborators will know that Ukraine will not forget. Never, nothing. Ukraine will not forgive. Ukraine will find them and will call them to

responsibility, each one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Also, Ukraine's energy minister said the country is doing everything possible to reconnect to the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant to that power grid.

The plant has lost external power, which it needs to cool used or spent nuclear fuel. And right now, it's running on generators.

The U.N. Atomic Energy Agency now says Russian officials told it that power cables can be extended from nearby Belarus.

Ukraine says Chernobyl employees have now been allowed to leave since Russia occupied the plant.

Now, as sanctions against Russia continue to pile up, Russia is making clear it does plan to fight back. Its weapon? Oil and gas or, rather, the lack thereof.

Russia's deputy prime minister warned Monday that global prices would skyrocket if his country cut off oil exports to the West.

Russia says cutting off its supply would push prices to $300 per barrel. That's about three times the current price of Brent Crude of $112 a barrel.

We want to take a closer look at this stunning $300 per-barrel figure. We're joined now by Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, who, in fact, co-authored a paper on this very scenario.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

And let's get to that point. I mean, OPEC has been a sticking point here in terms of not really rushing to increase demand.

And now Russia is seizing on research, apparently, that you co- authored, that this 300-barrel figure could really be reality.

Are they correct?

ED HIRS, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: Yes, they are. When I heard the threat on Monday, I pulled the paper and worked the math out, and it's there to the dollar.

You know, we wrote this paper in 2010. The price elasticity demand for oil is very elastic. Once you've filled your car with 15 gallons, the value of the 16th gallon goes to zero.

But if you need that extra gallon to get to grandma's house at Thanksgiving, it becomes a lot more valuable to you. And that's the way it is around the world.

You know, most folks have been planning on a supply interruption in the Strait of Hormuz. But any interruption in the global market has an impact.

An interruption in the midland or Saudi Arabia or Ghana, Russia, the North Sea, it ripples across the entire globe.

NEWTON: So this is not a hollow threat. What can be done by the administration or other countries around the world to help?

We all know it's complicated. And I think one thing you can help viewers understand is, well, it's not like swapping out one barrel for another barrel. It's not like for like.

It depends on what kind of oil it is, how it's refined, where it can be refined. It's quite complicated.

HIRS: That's absolutely right. There are 70 different trading nodes around the globe, you know, sweet, sour, light, heavy.

If the Russians decide to take their seven million barrels off the table, that -- we've all been concerned about them shutting off the natural gas flows to Europe.

But pulling that seven million barrels a day off the market, there's no quick response to this.

Keep in mind, the reason we import oil from Russia, the reason they're able to sell it into the market is they can sell is for less than it takes us in the United States to drill and produce it.

They have a competitive advantage. And we just can't dial up production that quickly.

The Saudis have stated that they don't think this is going to happen. They don't see this as a long-term supply-and-demand disconnect. It's just a temporary dislocation.

NEWTON: You know, what's interesting here is, again, what you do to make sure that even if you can't solve this in the next few weeks or months that there's more of a long-term solution.

At CNN, we've spoken to a former secretary of the Navy. No, he was not the energy secretary. His name is Ray Mabus.

I want you to listen to what he says now in terms of what must be done to move to energy security. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY MABUS, FORMER U.S. NAVY SECRETARY: The thing that makes oil prices and gas prices spike and causes so many problems for American families and American businesses and around the world is chaos and uncertainty of the kind we're seeing right now.

And so the U.S. ought to speed up getting off -- I took the Navy and Marine Corps mainly off fossil fuels as a war-fighting measure. It is a national security issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[23:35:08]

NEWTON: Professor, is he right?

HIRS: Well, I mean, the Navy and the Marine Corps need fossil fuels. They need oil and gas. That has not changed. You know, aircraft fly on petroleum.

And so -- going back to an issue of energy security, President Eisenhower saw this in 1959 when he imposed an oil import quota.

He saw that the United States would become vulnerable to cheaper oil supplies from foreign nations. And also that we're the high-cost producer. He wanted to make sure that we weren't terribly dependent upon foreign producers.

This import quota was reversed by President Nixon in the '70s. And ever since then, we've become more and more dependent upon not only oil produced but on the economic impacts of the global oil market, ripples in Brazil, ripples in Venezuela and Mexico.

And that's left us very vulnerable, too, not only the price hikes but to issues with supply security.

NEWTON: You know, his point is also, though, that we should be moving quickly to renewables. Again, diversifying the supply there.

I mean, a lot of people in the United States have complained, look, we're trying to trade barrels from one dictator, namely Putin, from another dictatorship, whether it's Iran or Venezuela.

We don't have a lot of the time left. But what do you think would be the best response to that Russian threat?

HIRS: Well, the first thing is select a price increase because that's going to make more renewable fuel, such as renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, come back into the money.

It's going to encourage the switching by consumers to electric vehicles.

You know, we've been trying to do this top-down with Washington policy. It has to be done bottom-up.

The consumer has to make the decision to run away from F-150s as the most popular vehicle in America and go forward with more economical cars and electric vehicles.

NEWTON: OK, that is certainly a long-term fix to what could be a short-term problem just in the coming weeks.

Ed Hirs, the University of Houston, I really want to thank you for your insights.

HIRS: My pleasure. NEWTON: Now, Russian-themed restaurants and businesses in the United

States are facing backlash over the invasion in Ukraine. Some are experiencing bigotry and seeing their storefronts vandalized.

As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, owners and employees are anxious about whether their businesses can survive this.

(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, a bar owner is dumping Russian-made vodka.

And back in New York, there is no more McPutin's. Von Shats' 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.

[23:40:02]

CARROLL (on camera): You think you can survive this?

VON SHATS: Yes. With a lot of help from our friends. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time will tell. This place has lasted through a lot.

CARROLL: They also wanted to make this a teachable moment, saying he wanted to teach people that, oftentimes, if they are lashing out at Russian businesses, they are also lashing out at the people who work there.

And who might be not only Russian but Ukrainian or Romanian, some of the very same people who actually support Ukraine.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: OK. I don't have to remind many of you, right, parts of the U.S. are absolutely shivering and digging out this weekend. We go to the CNN Weather Center for the latest on this massive winter storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Yes, you can say that again. That was a waterspout coming on shore in Florida Saturday. At least two tornadoes, as well, were reported in the state. The storm is at the tail end of a strong winter storm system that has

more than 25 million people right across the southern U.S. under freeze warnings.

Joining me now is Meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Quite a slap in the face, even here in Atlanta. Today, it was freezing.

[23:45:00]

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And interesting tidbit about that footage you saw. When you have a waterspout that moves on land, it's classified as a tornado at that particular stage.

This is one of two tornados that formed across the Florida peninsula leaving damage to apartment buildings and snapping trees, almost toppling them like they were twigs.

You could almost follow the advancement of the cold front as it moved across the state of Florida. Starting to weaken as it did so.

But it's part of the broader system here that is located across the Canadian Maritimes.

And that word right there really tells it all -- cold. Arctic air that has settled in across the northeast and across the south.

All the way to the deep south, in fact, into the Gulf of Mexico. We have a potential for 40 overnight lows being broken in terms of records.

This is terrible news because the growing season has already begun across this area. Think about the impacts of temperatures.

A prolonged period of time where overnight lows will drop below freezing, below zero degrees Celsius, 32 Fahrenheit.

Soybeans, wheat, the citrus industry here will be impacted with a 25 million Americans being impacted by in freeze warning.

The northeast, you can't escape this arctic blast either. We're talking temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below where we should be this time of year. Very, very chilly.

And you factor in the winds, and this is what it feels like on your exposed skin as you step outside. Eight in Boston, 11 degrees for the windchill in New York City this morning.

And a fresh blanket of snow across many locations from Pennsylvania to the Tennessee River Valley. We're approaching snowfall totals upwards of a foot.

The snow is coming to an end. This storm is moving away quickly. But it's the winds behind it that's going to pick up and it's going to get -- again, going to drop our temperatures. You felt it here in Atlanta. We've got another 24 hours before it warms up here.

NEWTON: Wow. And on it goes. As I said, quite something at the tail end of winter.

VAN DAM: Yes.

NEWTON: Derek Van Dam, appreciate the update.

Police in New York are looking for the suspect in a knife attack at the city's famous Museum of Modern Art.

Now authorities say a 60-year-old white man -- he was, in fact, a regular visitor to the museum -- stabbed two employees in the neck, back, and collarbone.

He had been denied entry because of two previous incidents of disorderly behavior at the museum. Police say he became angry, jumped the reception desk, and stabbed the employees. Two victims were rushed to hospital and are expected to survive.

New video captured the moment just a few hours ago when a flurry of missiles hit Erbil in Iraqi Afghanistan.

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NEWTON: The Kurdish regional government says a dozen missiles have struck its capital city early Sunday morning. So far, reports say there were no casualties.

The Kurds say the missiles were launched from outside Iraq. And the U.S. says none of the missiles hit the new American consulate under construction in Erbil, although areas around the compound were, in fact, hit.

The U.S. and the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan both condemned the attack.

In Ukraine, a separate race for safety. Coming up, the push to save cultural treasures from Russia's offensive.

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[23:52:10]

NEWTON: Another blow to Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich. The English Premier League has disqualified him as the club's director.

It comes just days after the U.K. government sanctioned Abramovich, freezing his assets. Patrick Snell has our update.

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PATRICK SNELL, CNN "WORLD SPORT" ANCHOR (voice-over): Both Chelsea's men's and women's teams take to the field of play on Sunday in their first home league fixture since U.K. government sanctions were imposed on the Blues billionaire Russian owner, Roman Abramovich.

The four-time Super League champions hosting Aston Villa, while Thomas Tuchel's men take on New Castle in the English Premier League after a tumultuous week for the football giants.

THOMAS TUCHEL, CHELSEA MEN'S MANAGER: Of course, there was a lot of distraction, another level of distraction actually, with the sanctions.

And we could feel it that the players talk about it, they are aware of it and accepted it.

But -- but like I said, think the rhythm and the excitement and the love for the game, in general, helps us.

SNELL: During the nearly two decades of Abramovich's ownership, Chelsea amassing 21 major trophies, including five Premier League titles and two Champions' League crowns.

Now, though, with his assets, including Chelsea, frozen by the U.K., the West London Club has been granted a special license to continue paying staff and players.

But buying and selling new play and selling tickets to matches beyond those already sold to fans is not permitted.

EMMA HAYES, CHELSEA WOMEN'S MANAGER: Let's be honest here, you know, there's a war going on in Ukraine. There -- there's bigger situations.

And, yes, it's a big moment for the club. But I -- but I believe in giving both sides the time to get it right.

SNELL: On Saturday, meantime, Chelsea's week of turmoil continuing with news of a Premier League's board has now disqualified Abramovich as a club director, though, remember, he had already announced his intention to sell last week.

And within the last few days, we have learned the U.K. government is open to Chelsea's potential sale and would consider an application for a new license to allow for it to happen.

Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.

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NEWTON: So of course, it's become clearer there's a dwindling number of safe places to take refuge in Ukraine. Now, while civilians consider their options for escaping the

relentless attacks, there's a separate effort to try and protect what's left behind.

Atika Shubert reports on the rush to safeguard the country's heritage.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Racing against time to save Ukraine's cultural treasures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SHUBERT: Among them, a thousand-year-old Bible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SHUBERT: Ancient manuscripts hastily stored in boxes meant for supermarket bananas, the fastest way to save them from the threat of Russian bombardment.

[23:54:59]

When Russian missiles hit the historic Holocaust Memorial in the capital of Kyiv, National Museum director of Lviv, Igor Korshun (ph), realized no place was safe.

From his now empty museum, he tells us why he ordered the emergency storage of the city's entire collection.

"We see how Russia is shelling residential areas, even people that are evacuating," he tells us.

"They guaranteed they wouldn't, but now we can't trust them. And we need to take care of our heritage because this is our national treasure," he says.

SHUBERT (on camera): It's not just about saving priceless works of art. This is the country's spiritual heritage.

These are from the 17th century. And they're here in the hallway because the museum has run out of space in its basement.

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SHUBERT (voice-over): Even religious sites fear the worst. This mass at Lviv's Cathedral Basilica was one of the last before its giant stained-glass windows were boarded up with steel plates.

Praying for protection in a war where it seems no place is sacred from attack.

Atika Shubert, for CNN, in Lviv, Ukraine.

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NEWTON: OK. I am Paula Newton. We will be back to Ukraine in just a moment where explosions were heard just a little while ago outside the city of Lviv.

Hala Gorani will be there live for us coming up just after the break.

Our live coverage continues here on CNN.

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