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Russian Airstrikes Hit Western Ukraine Near Poland; More Lawmakers Support Sending Fighter Planes To Ukraine; Russia Said To Have Asked China For Military Assistance In Ukraine; Ukrainian Surgeon In U.S. Shares Trauma Training Videos On YouTube; Tom Brady Tweets He Will Return To The NFL 23rd Season; Russia Brutally Detains Anti-War Protesters Across Country; Interview With Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA). Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 13, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:17]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Sunday.

And tonight, President Vladimir Putin is taking his unjustified and unprovoked war against Ukraine even closer to NATO's doorstep with more than 30 Russian missiles that killed 35 people at a military base about 12 miles from the Polish border, a NATO ally. The Pentagon says it was the third strike to hit the western part of Ukraine just in the past few days.

And we're getting a stunning new look at the devastation Russian troops are unleashing on the city of Mariupol. This new video shows Russian tanks repeatedly firing on residential apartment buildings there.

We want to show you this video so you see the brutal tactics that the Russians are deploying in Ukraine in residential neighborhoods there. And people in Mariupol are struggling to survive in the rubble of the city with no food, water, or electricity, repeated attempts to get civilians out of the city or bring aid in have failed amidst continued Russian attacks.

And elsewhere, the Ukraine government has been able to bring some people to safety. Kyiv says it was able to use several evacuation corridors today, getting more than 5,000 people out of the crossfire.

And in the southern city of Kherson, angry protesters ignored Russian soldiers firing gunshots over their heads, demonstrators against Moscow's suspected plan to turn the region into a new breakaway republic.

And a massive crackdown on any sign of dissent inside Russia. More than 850 protesters were detained in cities across the country today.

Well, concerns are growing about what comes next. U.K. Defense officials say the bulk of Russian forces in Ukraine are gathered about 12 miles from the capital city, Kyiv, which makes these images more unexpected. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posting these images on social media today showing him visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital there, but not everyone is able to stay safe.

Award-winning American journalist Bret Renaud was killed by Russian troops in Irpin. He was 50 years old.

And a worrying development from the Chernobyl nuclear site, the IAEA there says staff there who have been unable to leave or stop working since the invasion began are so tired that they've stopped doing repairs and maintenance of safety-related equipment.

We want to go straight to Scott McLean. He is in the city of Lviv.

Scott, Lviv has now taken its first hits from Russian troops as the Russian military focuses new attacks on the western part of Ukraine. What is the latest from where you are?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pam. For the last two weeks, air raid sirens have been going off in Lviv daily or almost daily and lately, it seems that people barely even notice. They continue to go about their business because this city still very much feels like a safe-haven in the west.

There are hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who have made their way here and so this latest round of strikes, Russian military strikes in western Ukraine serves as somewhat of a wake-up call for Lviv, that even this city is not immune from potential attacks.

This one was against a military base just 11 miles from the Polish border. It is a sprawling site typically used for training, where American or Canadian or European troops will come in for several months and train local Ukrainian troops on combat or on peacekeeping or what have you.

Now 35 people were killed. That's the official number that we have right now, well over 100 were injured, and one possible explanation for the high number of fatalities is what one witness told CNN and that is that when the sirens went off, they went down into the bunker.

At some point later, it seemed like things were under control, things were safe, and then 30 or 40 minutes later, according to this witness, that is when these strikes actually landed leaving mass craters and obviously a lot of people killed there.

[19:05:02]

The Ukrainians say that there were no foreigners killed. Of course Ukraine has made no secret of its desire to form a foreign legion of soldiers from Europe and elsewhere in the West. My colleagues were on the ground earlier today. They did see some foreigners in a village wearing army fatigues nearby. They said that they were volunteering to help with medical evacuations.

The Russians, on the other hand, insist that some 180 foreigners were killed in the strikes. They called them mercenaries, and they say that they will continue to be targets. That is something that the Ukrainians call pure Russian propaganda -- Pam.

BROWN: Scott McLean in Lviv, Ukraine, thank you.

Well, a group of U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans are in Poland meeting American troops and Ukrainian refugees. And the trip comes just days after a massive funding bill passed through Congress authorizing billions of dollars in aid for Ukrainian.

CNN's Joe Johns is on Capitol Hill with more on this. So, Joe, what are these lawmakers hoping to achieve on this trip?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, a congressional delegation like this is a potential delegation that can be used as a microphone or even a megaphone if you will, and that's what's been going on here. This delegation has been very busy after they got on the ground just yesterday. They met with the U.S. ambassador, USAID. They sat down and talked with U.S. troops that have been deployed to Poland and then today, they went out to the border and met with some of the refugees.

All of this drawing attention to what they see as a need for more military, as well as humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including that controversial proposal to provide military aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force through a transfer agreement with the Polish government. The Pentagon sees that as escalatory and potentially a problem. Nonetheless, what does seem clear from both sides of the aisle they don't see this idea going as away anytime soon. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): What we've heard directly from the Ukrainians is they want them badly. They want the ability to have better control over the skies in order to give them a fighting chance. So I don't understand why we're not doing it.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): One of the things we have to remember is this is all about air defense and you can do it with planes, you can do it with drones which have been incredibly effective in Ukraine.

We have to remember, Dana, it's not just America, there's also allies that we're working on as you could see how we coordinated on the sanctions, as we're coordinating on the issues of the planes but we also are coordinating in many other ways. Some of which don't get on your air ways for good reasons. It's in the middle of a war.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): We should provide those planes because they are potentially very important to the Ukrainian defense.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now here at the Capitol in the coming week, we do expect to see even more legislation attempting to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, including that bill to essentially revoke Most Favored Nation trading status for Russia which would put more pressure on the Russian economy. The speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has said she'd like to get that bill passed by the end of the week. Pamela, back to you.

BROWN: All right, Joe Johns, live for us from Capitol Hill on this Sunday. Thank you.

Well, for weeks ahead of the invasion we saw Russian footage of what looked like a polished military killing machine. Now we see abandoned tanks in Ukraine, death tolls and Moscow bringing in foreign mercenaries. And today, news that Moscow is asking Beijing for military help. Now for the record, a Chinese embassy spokesperson says that's news to them.

I want to bring in Kimberly Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst and "TIME" magazine contributor.

Hi, Kim. So if Russia is asking China for help, what does that say about how Putin's war is going?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, first of all, it says they really hadn't anticipated not being able to access that $600 million war chest that they put aside. They knew that they'd be facing sanctions but perhaps not this sweeping. I think it's also a way of just, by asking Beijing for help, getting them on side, saying, you know, we want to be, you know, in your sphere of influence, it's us against the United States and the West.

That said, China is in an awkward situation in that it was one of Ukraine's largest foreign investors. Ukraine was part of China's super highway that it's trying to build around the world for trade. It's one belt, one road program, and every Russian bomb is smashing things that were useful for that Chinese investment.

I think you could see China eventually intervene and also maybe give Moscow a ramp out by saying what you're doing is causing so much havoc not just in Ukraine but across Europe in terms of trade and they're a major trading partner for us.

[19:10:15]

It's hurting our bottom line, please find a way to resolve this. Now would that be public? I don't know, but I heard the ambassador on the last hour saying that you'd only see Russia negotiating, actually giving concessions at the negotiating table if they were losing on the battle field. I think one other way that they could be pressured is by their major trading partner and right now the one superpower that they see as on their side, Beijing.

BROWN: That's interesting, because I've had a lot of viewers reach out asking about China, why aren't we seeing China doing more? We just don't know also what is going on behind the scenes though, and so that's scenario is a really interesting one to contemplate.

I want to talk about some of the latest developments on the ground in Ukraine. We learned today that American journalist Bret Renaud was killed reportedly by Russian forces there. What are some possible U.S. responses to that? DOZIER: I think what we're going to see from the White House, just

like in the many cases where journalists have been killed in various conflicts before, expressions of sympathy, our hearts go out to his family, but the fact of the matter is when you go into a war zone and you're next to combatants, especially as a first offer or videographer like he was you've got to be in the middle of the action.

There's also the worry, though, that this is the second time we're hearing that it seems a news team that was identifying itself as a news team was targeted. Also happened to a Sky News team and you could hear on that video, them, you know, calling out that they were journalists. So it makes you wonder, you know, are the Russians targeting people who look like journalists to stop them getting this video out at least to the west that is making them look bad on the battle field.

They don't really care about the message that's reaching the Russian public since that's now so constrained.

BROWN: Yes.

DOZIER: But may care about how they look to the rest of the world.

BROWN: Right. You had said something interesting in a note you sent me that Putin is not embarrassed by all the setbacks because of the fact that the Russian, the message is so tightly controlled in Russia.

DOZIER: People can't --

BROWN: The people in Russia can't see the reality of what is going on but the amazing journalists we have there on the ground, including those with CNN, they are providing what is really going on to the West, they're showing us the reality.

I want to ask you about these kidnappings, these alleged kidnappings that have happened. Ukrainian officials say the two mayors of different towns there in Ukraine have been kidnapped. What do you think the tactic is there for the Russians?

DOZIER: It's a way to try to -- to pick off the strong men, to pick off those who are standing up to Russia and if they can convince them to bring the people on to the Russian point of view, on to Russia's side, then that's a more bloodless way of taking over the country. Mariupol, it seems, was a place that they couldn't convince people. They couldn't convince the mayor so they disappeared him, but they're making an example by smashing it to the ground to the rest of the country. And that could help either make people surrender or make them leave other contested cities.

BROWN: Before we let you go, I've got to ask about these Russian media reports that Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia's Chechnya region and a major ally of Vladimir Putin has been speaking to Russian troop in Ukraine, telling them that the big objective is to take control of Kyiv. What are we to make of that?

DOZIER: That they're bringing in their big guns to try to inspire their troops who've taken some heavy losses and have been by all reports, beset with poor morale because of it, but that could also be a way of messaging to the rest of Ukraine, watch out, now we brought the Chechens in. It's only going to get worse and more bloody from here, stop your fighting.

BROWN: Right. They have been known to be just brutal in their tactics as well.

DOZIER: Yes.

BROWN: All right, Kimberly Dozier, as always thank you for your analysis on this.

DOZIER: Thank you.

BROWN: And we have this news just into CNN. Police in New York offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps nab the person who shot two men Saturday. One of them died. Authorities say the victims were apparently homeless and sleeping on the streets of lower Manhattan when they were shot about 90 minutes apart. Police hope surveillance video will help lead to an arrest. Mayor Eric Adams called the crimes a horrific intentional act.

[19:15:04]

And still to come, bipartisan pressure growing tonight to give Ukraine more direct military air support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLUMENTHAL: I think we ought to use every tool that we have to keep Ukraine in the fight and to secure its air space, including jet fighters.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We're going to discuss if that might start a broader war between Russia and NATO. Also ahead this hour, I'll speak to a surgeon making how-to videos to help Ukrainians treat traumatic injuries.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR KITSCHKO, KYIV TERRITORIAL DEFENSE, FORMER BOXING CHAMPION: We all stand together and we're highly motivated to defend our country because this is our home, that's where our children were going to school, that's where our relatives buried in the ground. This is our home and there's no other way that we're going to leave. And why? Because this is our home, so we will defend the country until last drop of the blood. MAYOR VITALI KITSCHKO, KYIV, UKRAINE: And regarding how much time we

have, we have a lot of time. So we never lose the fight for our homes, for our future, because the whole population against Russian aggressors.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That was Kyiv's mayor and his brother who is a former heavyweight boxing champion and now a member of the Kyiv Territorial Defense. Both spoke earlier today with Dana Bash on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," proving the battle for the heart of Ukraine is a family affair.

Well, Ukraine civilian army is getting medical assistance from far away, really far away thanks to YouTube videos from a Ukrainian- American oncology surgeon here in the United States. Dr. Nelya Melnitchouk is offering a tutorial in Ukrainian that shares the "ABCs of Stopping the Bleed."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. NELYA MELNITCHOUK, UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN ONCOLOGY SURGEON: (Speaking in foreign language)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And Dr. Nelya Melnitchouk joins me now.

Doctor, first of all, before we get into these videos, do you have friends and relatives in harm's way right now?

MELNITCHOUK: We do. We do. We have a lot of friends in Ukraine and relatives as well. My husband's parents, my in-laws in Ukraine, his brother is, my aunts, uncles, cousins, we have lots of family in Ukraine.

BROWN: Wow. That is a lot of family members there. You say that text message from your aunt inspired you to share your medical skills with Ukrainians who are caught up in this unwanted war. Tell us a little bit more about that.

MELNITCHOUK: Well, that's how we actually found out that the war has started. We got a text message from my aunt, and we were all together, my mom and dad was on vacation actually, and that's what started, on TV right away and learned of Russian invasion into Ukraine and just started thinking right away of what we can do to help. We're already have been doing work in Ukraine on educating physicians and lay people on cancer cure, so we decided to transform the platform and our work into educating on trauma care and specially to stop the bleed for civilians.

BROWN: That's amazing. I know so many people are wanting to help something and this is such a wonderful, unique way to help so many Ukrainians who are right now in the middle of a war zone having relatives, loved ones who are severely injured because of the Russian offensive there. This is the kind of information all of us should have about stopping a major bleed. Have you heard from anyone in Ukraine telling you that they have been able to put your advice to work?

MELNITCHOUK: I actually haven't yet. We are spreading the information, we are asking everybody to share on social media or any other network that's available. I haven't heard anything from Ukraine, I would love to hear this is useful or not but so far we're just disseminating the videos and hopefully we can save at least one life.

BROWN: And so many Ukrainians have fled major cities. They are trying to survive now in rural areas. They may be lacking even the most routine medical care right now. Are you going to share any other videos offering advice that might help people survive in these circumstances?

MELNITCHOUK: We are. We are working on educating physicians or surgeons like me who are cancer surgeons in their regular lives who are now have to do trauma care so we are providing the medication on ATLS, which is advanced trauma life support. We are translating that into Ukrainian and we are very grateful of American College of Surgery to providing that information.

We are also working on education on burn care. And we will work actually on educating civilians and lay people on what to do during nuclear attack and chemical attacks.

BROWN: As a Ukrainian American, how difficult is it for you to watch your fellow Ukrainians under attack like this, suffering so much?

MELNITCHOUK: It is very difficult. I am angry, I am sad at the same time, and also feel very guilty that I'm here, not there, and also feel useless and wish I could do more. And at the same time, I feel as if I also understand that I am very privileged situation.

[19:25:04]

I am safe here and nobody is attacking my home, nobody is attacking my children, but I really wish I can do more and feel very bad for what's going on.

BROWN: Well, you are certainly not useless, I mean these videos are such an important way to help Ukrainians in the fight. And I know how difficult this is for you and you talked about it but it also must be inspiring to see how your fellow Ukrainians are fighting back against the Russians and just the spirit and the will.

MELNITCHOUK: I am very, very impressed with every single Ukrainian. Everybody is doing their job. Everybody is trying to contribute. Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and a lot of countries a lot of people, are underestimating what Ukraine can do and Ukraine showing the whole world what we can do. So very, very proud of my country.

BROWN: Yes. There's video that we showed earlier where there are Ukrainians were out protesting on the streets in Ukraine right next to Russian soldiers who were one of the Russian soldiers was firing off his gun and they didn't even flinch. They just kept on protesting. It takes a lot of courage to do what they are doing.

Dr. Nelya Melnitchouk, thank you so much.

MELNITCHOUK: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: And to help humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, go to CNN.com/impact. At last check, CNN viewers like you have helped raise nearly $5 million to help in Ukraine and neighboring countries with shelter, food, water, and other needs.

And breaking news into CNN right now, shock announcement just coming in. Tom Brady says he will return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next season? Didn't we just talk about how he was retiring? Guess he's coming back now. That story is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:20]

BROWN: Breaking news right now just in to CNN: A surprise word from the NFL that the GOAT is coming back. Tom Brady could only step away from the NFL for a month and a half before announcing his return, his unretirement, shall we say.

On Twitter, he writes, "These past two months, I've realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands. That time will come, but it is not now. I love my teammates, and I love my supportive family. They all make it possible. They make it all possible. I'm coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa."

Joining me now is sports analyst Christine Brennan.

Christine, wow.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST (via phone): Exactly, Pamela. Stunning news and of course, this is the night of March Madness, the men's and women's brackets. And if there's one person on earth, who could steal the thunder and the headlines from March Madness, it would be Tom Brady.

This is a huge surprise. He just retired. It was just right before the Olympics, that was the end of January, so not even two months. And now he says he is coming back.

In some ways, this is predictable because most athletes, Pamela, you certainly know the sports world that they find there is nothing as they start thinking about their life in retirement. There is nothing that can compare, nothing at all to their life as an athlete, just that rush -- that adrenaline rush unlike anything else.

But this is really quick and at least, there are a lot of questions about the stops and starts of that announcement back in January. Remember it was breaking, then it wasn't, and maybe there was a -- maybe he wasn't all in on that back in January, but it certainly sounds like he's all in on it now.

BROWN: Yes, he certainly clearly wasn't satisfied with the decision he made and is being pulled right back to the field. I had wondered, too, that he retired back in February 1st when they announced it.

They almost made it to the Super Bowl, but not quite, right? And it kind of made me wonder, is he really okay with leaving on that note? Not having another Super Bowl win, another notch on his belt. So are the Bucs now favorites for the Super Bowl?

BRENNAN: They certainly are right up there with the Green Bay Packers, of course, who are bringing back Aaron Rodgers. There is a bunch of old guys out there now who are still leading the charge.

I mean, Brady is 44. Not old in real life, but certainly old in football years. He'll be 45 in August. But yes, absolutely. He is the most watchable player there is. He is the one who has done more than any other. He is the greatest of all time in the NFL.

And for him to come back, it is a shot in the arm obviously for his team Tampa Bay. It's a shot in the arm for the league. It energizes everyone again. It creates a whole new storyline. This kind of crazy, he is gone, now he is back, and I think -- I mean, the NFL -- the leadership at the NFL, the front office of the NFL, Roger Goodell and company has to be doing cartwheels. They have to be loving it.

Of course, Tampa Bay has to be loving it. And you know what? Who doesn't love this storyline? I mean, it's a little weird, right? It's a little weird. It's bizarre. I mean, this is not a young guy just going on and look -- I mean, he's been around a while. He knew what he was doing in February, but obviously whatever it was, as he said, he wants to come back. This is not the time to retire, and more power to him and it makes for a fantastic storyline come this fall in the NFL.

[19:35:02]

BROWN: Totally, and I respect that. Look, I mean, just because he said he was going to retire and it clearly didn't sit well with him. Why not come back out and say: Look, I'm not actually retiring, I belong in the field.

It is an incredible storyline. Christine Brennan, thanks so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Up next, I'm going to ask Congressman Brendan Boyle if the Biden administration needs to reverse course and help send fighter jets to Ukraine.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:05]

BROWN: In Russia, new images show riot police cracking down on anti- war protesters across the country again today. You see it in this video, more proof that the news of Putin's invasion is making it through to the Russian people.

An independent human rights groups as nearly 15,000 protesters have been detained in dozens of Russian cities since the invasion began.

Police are also reportedly searching the homes of Russian human rights activist and stopping people on the street to check through bags and phone conversations.

From seafood and diamonds to oligarchs and banks, nearly every sector of Russia's economy is being punished for invading Ukraine.

President Biden says more sanctions are coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin is an aggressor. He is the aggressor, and Putin must pay the price.

We're going to hit Putin harder because the United States and our closest allies and partners are acting in unison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But some lawmakers say that's not enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): All means of air defense should be considered, and my personal feeling is we should provide those planes.

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): They want the ability to have better control over the skies in order to give them a fighting chance. So, I don't understand why we're not doing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. He is on the Ways and Means Committee and serves on the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus.

Hi, Congressman. So I want to start with the sanctions that President Biden announced last week, the big one being revoking Russia's most favored nation trading status. That idea reportedly came from your committee. How big of an effect do you think that will have on the Russian economy?

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): Well, great to be back with you. And yes, we will be voting since that requires congressional action when I return to Washington tomorrow. We will be voting on that this week, and I have no doubt that it will pass Congress on a pretty big bipartisan basis.

So that is yet one more sanction on Russia. Already, these are the most severe sanctions the United States has ever placed on any other country. And keep in mind, as was mentioned in the previous clip from President Biden, we are also working in conjunction with our European Union allies, so that makes those sanctions all the more crippling and all the more severe in their effect on the Russian economy.

BROWN: You heard Senators Blumenthal and Portman. They are calling on the Biden administration to reverse course and allow Poland to send fighter jets to Ukraine or get fighter jets into Ukraine in some way.

Do you think that should be on the table now that a senior U.S. official is saying Russia is requesting military assistance from China?

BOYLE: Well, let me preface what I'm about to say, there might be Intelligence the administration has that we in Congress have not yet been briefed on. But that having been said, the view I expressed as recently as last week is still my view and that is the idea of the Russian made jets, which Poland has and the Ukrainians know how to fly being supplied to Ukraine and the U.S. backfilling those planes to Poland. That, to me makes the most sense.

And, we're already providing Ukraine with substantial defensive and military assistance. In Congress on Wednesday night, we passed the bill providing $13.5 billion worth of assistance that's humanitarian, economic, and defensive. So I don't get any sort of functional difference between what we are already providing Ukraine now and if we were to backfill planes to Poland because Poland is giving their Russian MiGs to Ukraine.

BROWN: I want to talk about what's going on here at home and Americans are experiencing gas prices that have climbed to $4.32 per gallon. Now, President Biden is attempting to buy oil from other countries with questionable human rights records like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela.

Do Democrats and the Biden administration bear any of the blame here for past moves they've taken to limit domestic oil production?

BOYLE: Well, a few points on this. First, there is more oil production today in the United States than there was over a year ago when President Biden took office. That's just the fact. Second, if we were already at that future that I and fellow Democrats would like in which we were 100 percent dependable, dependent on renewables, we wouldn't have to worry about awful dictators like Putin.

We wouldn't have to worry about getting our oil from regimes like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, et cetera. The third point is, since we are not at that future yet, we need to make this a moment which we go big and essentially do all of the above and I do think there is real support for that, even Joe Manchin has talked about that as well.

[19:45:08]

BOYLE: That if we can increase further domestic production, but marry that with shortening the time period in which we get fully dependent upon renewables, oh, my God, that would be one of the best things to come about as a result of this otherwise awful war.

BROWN: All right, before we let you go, I'm going to go to the sound from the former Chief of Staff to the former Ukrainian President, and he said -- he told me last night that he sat face-to-face with Putin and here is what he said about how the U.S. should deal with them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEH RYBACHUK, FORMER DEPUTY UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ON EUROPEAN INTEGRATION: My advice would be first, stop talking what you can't do. Many experts have been saying yes, say what you can do. Stop talking that you -- that you are not doing that because Russia may think that this is escalation.

What are the escalation did you need? They have now almost threat of nuclear disaster. They are talking about chemicals. What else do you need?

My advice, would be you can't be gentleman with a real crook and thug.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So in light of what he just said, do you think the administration should use more strategic ambiguity about its plans? In other words, not just putting out there broadcasting telegraphing that, for example, the U.S. isn't going to send troops into Ukraine.

BOYLE: Well, let me be clear, and I've said this before, and I put it up on my social media, Putin is evil. The reason why he invaded Ukraine, the reason why he previously moved on Georgia as well has absolutely nothing to do with NATO expansionism or any action the West took. And I have little patience, frankly, for those who suggest that.

The reason why Putin invaded Ukraine is because of his evil and his depravity. So, I actually have the same sentiment as Zelenskyy's Chief of Staff.

BROWN: Not Zelenskyy's, the former President, not Zelenskyy just want to note. Go ahead.

BOYLE: Excuse me.

BROWN: That's okay.

BOYLE: Thank you for clarifying. The former President's Chief of Staff. So I agree with the sentiment.

In terms of strategic ambiguity, I think that's a wise point. So I'm not a fan, frankly, of spelling out what exact actions we would take if Putin were to take action X, action Y, et cetera. I think flipping the tables and having Putin more worried about what the United States and our NATO allies and our European allies will do, whether it's economically or defensively, I think that's where we want to go.

BROWN: So then do you think that it was a good thing that President Biden said there would be a severe price, for example, if Russia decide to use chemical weapons in Ukraine without elaborating more on what that is? Or do you think a different approach should have been made?

BOYLE: No, I think that was right. And in fact, that's a good example of what we're talking about. He didn't spell out exactly what the steps would be. We don't want to help Putin, in making his cost benefit analysis of the situation. We do want him guessing what exactly will the West do?

But one thing I want to be clear on and so this is not contradictory to say what I'm about to say. There is a clear red line: Any attack upon a NATO country invokes Article V. That would be an attack on the United States.

BROWN: All right, we'll leave it there on that note. Congressman Brendan Boyle, thank you.

We'll be right back.

BOYLE: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:53:07]

BROWN: World markets have been in a frenzy since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

Back home, the market looks to rally after the major indexes lost significant ground due to the war in Ukraine. And looking ahead to Monday, not much change. The Dow is trending down slightly, while the NASDAQ and the S&P are moving up.

Americans no doubt are feeling the effects of war in Ukraine at the gas pump. AAA has the national average at $4.33 per gallon today. That is 33 cents higher than a week ago.

So let's take a closer look at what the gas prices show. So if you look at today, as I said, it's $4.33 a gallon. One week ago, if you look at that, it was $4.00. So it's gone up 33 cents and then look at the start of the invasion where we were, $3.54. So one year ago from where we are today, gas was at $2.85. That's a big jump up to $4.33 where we are now.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is in New York for us.

So Vanessa, how are these prices impacting daily life here in the U.S.?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: Well, these prices are rising incredibly quickly. I mean, you said it, $4.33 is the national average today, up 33 cents in the last week, up nearly 80 cents since the Russian invasion into Ukraine, which was just at the end of last month, and this is all coming on the heels of inflation, which was already pushing these gas prices a lot higher.

According to Moody's Analytics, American families can expect to spend about $1,300.00 more this year on gas then they did pre pandemic. That is if gas prices stay about where they are right now.

And a new survey by AAA says that about 60 percent of Americans said that they would change their driving habits if gas moved above $4.00 as the national average, driving habits, changing means, either carpooling or cutting back.

But Pamela, we're of course across that $4.00 mark and of course, who would this affecting?

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YURKEVICH: This is affecting people who drive a lot for work, delivery drivers, truck drivers, Lyft and Uber drivers. Lyft saying that they're going to be adding a fuel surcharge of about 55 cents to help offset these costs for drivers, but of course, Pam, who does that get to? The U.S. consumer.

BROWN: Exactly right, and this is all happening as inflation is running rampant. What could the Fed's decision to increase rates at this moment mean for the U.S. consumer?

YURKEVICH: Well, we are expecting that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by about a quarter percent. They are going to announce that we think this week. That's really ending zero percent interest rates that the Fed was holding on to for much of the pandemic that was to help convince people to spend money. Now, they're trying to do the opposite, to get people to spend less, to try to cool down this eight percent year-over-year inflation that we've been seeing. And of course, what's happening in Ukraine is driving prices up here in the U.S.

But what that means for everyday Americans, if you're taking out a new credit card, your interest rate might be higher. Car loan, that might be more expensive, and mortgage rates are rising.

During the pandemic, Pamela, we saw so many first time homebuyers making home purchases because mortgage rates were so low. That is all changing. Mortgage rates are on the rise and we expect the Federal Reserve will not just raise interest rates once this year, but multiple times to try to combat this inflation -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you.

We'll be right back.

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