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Interview With Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY); President Biden Delivers Remarks on Ukraine Crisis. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired March 16, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:10]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Anderson Cooper is with us in Lviv, Ukraine.

Our breaking news coverage continues right now, with President Biden any moment set to speak. We're awaiting those remarks. We will take you there just as soon as he begins.

His remarks come after a call for help at a critical moment, Ukraine's president delivering a dramatic plea to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: President Biden. You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world.

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Zelenskyy also calling for more weapons, more Russian sanctions, a no-fly zone.

And he invoked American tragedies, like the attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11, saying his country is experiencing essentially the same thing every day. He showed the suffering of his people. He showed the destruction of his cities.

President Biden again expected to announce an additional $800 million in aid that will be sent to Ukraine. Sources say he will stop short of that no-fly zone or fighter jets that Zelenskyy has said are crucial to sustain Ukraine's fight against Russia.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Yes, here on the ground in Ukraine, more proof of Vladimir Putin's assault on innocent people.

Let's go to the president to hear his remarks.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to begin by thanking President Zelenskyy for his passionate message this morning.

I listened to it in private residence. And he was convincing, and a significant speech. He speaks for people who have shown remarkable courage and strength in the face of brutal aggression, courage and strength that's inspired not only Ukrainians, but the entire world.

Putin is inflicting appalling, appalling devastation and horror on Ukraine, bombing apartment buildings, maternity wards, hospitals. It's god-awful. I was speaking about this with the -- our commander behind me here, General Milley. It just is amazing.

Yesterday, we saw reports that Russian forces were holding hundreds of doctors and patients hostage in the largest hospital in Mariupol. These are atrocities. They're an outrage to the world.

And the world is united in our support for Ukraine and our determination to make Putin pay a very heavy price. America is leading this effort, together with our allies and partners, providing enormous levels of security and humanitarian assistance that we're adding to today.

And we're going to continue to do more in the days and weeks ahead. We're crippling Putin's economy with punishing sanctions that's going to only grow more painful over time, with the entire NATO and E.U. behind us, and many other countries.

What's at stake here are the principles that the United States and the United Nations and across the world stand for. It's about freedom. It's about the right of people to determine their own future. It's about making sure Ukraine never, will never be a victory for Putin, no matter what advances he makes on the battlefield.

The American people are answering President Zelenskyy's call for more help, more weapons to Ukraine to defend itself, more tools to fight Russian aggression. And that's what we're doing. In fact, we started our assistance to Ukraine before this war began, as they started to do exercises along the Ukrainian border, the Russians, started in March of last year.

We took the threat of Putin invading very seriously. And we acted on it. We sent Ukraine more security assistance last year, $650 million in weapons, including anti-air and anti-armor equipment, before the invasion, more than we had ever provided before.

So, when the invasion began, they already had in their hands the kinds of weapons they needed to counter Russian advances. And once the war started, we immediately rushed $350 million in additional aid to further address their needs, hundreds of anti-air systems, thousands of anti-tank weapons, transport helicopters, armed patrol boats, and other high-mobility vehicles, radar systems that help track incoming artillery and unmanned drones, secure communications equipment and tactical gear, satellite imagery and analysis capacity.

And it's clearly helped Ukraine inflict dramatic losses on Russian forces. On Saturday, my administration authorized another $200 million to keep a steady flow of weapons and ammunition moving to Ukraine.

[13:05:03]

Now I'm once again using my presidential authority to activate an additional security assistance to continue to help Ukraine fend off Russia's assault, an additional $800 million in assistance.

That brings the total of new U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $1 billion just this week. These are the large -- these are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them as they fight against this invasion.

Now, I thank the Congress for appropriating these funds. This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine. It includes 800 anti-aircraft systems to make sure the Ukrainian military can continue to stop the planes and helicopters that have been attacking their people and to defend their Ukrainian airspace.

And at the request of President Zelenskyy, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems and the munitions for those systems. Our new assistance package also includes 9,000 anti-armor systems. These are portable high accurately -- high-accuracy shoulder-mounted missiles that the Ukrainian forces have been using with great effect to destroy invading tanks and armored vehicles.

It will include 7,000 small arms, machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers to equip the Ukrainians, including the brave women and men who are defending their cities as civilians, and they're on the countryside as well. And we're -- and as well as the ammunition and artillery and mortar rounds to go with small arms, 20 million rounds in total, 20 million rounds.

This will include drones, which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense. And we're not doing this alone. Our allies and partners have stepped up to provide significant shipments of security assistance and will continue to help facilitate these deliveries as well.

The United States and our allies and partners are fully committed to serving weapons of assistance to the Ukrainians. And more will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that are -- that we're ready to transfer now.

Now, I want to be honest with you. This could be a long and difficult battle, but the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine in the face of Putin's immoral, unethical attacks on civilian populations.

We are united in our abhorrence of Putin's depraved onslaught. And we're going to continue to have their backs as they fight for their freedom, their democracy, their very survival. And we're going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead. We're going to continue to mobilize humanitarian relief to support people within Ukraine and those who have been forced to flee Ukraine.

In just the past few weeks, we provided $300 million of humanitarian assistance to the people in Ukraine and in neighboring countries, tens of thousands of tons of food, water, medicine, and other basic supplies to support the people in need. Our experts on the ground in Poland and Moldova and other neighboring countries are there to make real-time assessments of the rapidly evolving crisis to get urgently needed humanitarian supplies to the people in need when they need it.

And we will support Ukraine's economy with direct financial assistance as well. And, together with our allies and partners, we will keep up the pressure on Putin's crumbling economy, isolating him on the global stage. That's our goal, make Putin pay the price, weaken his position, while strengthening the hand of the Ukrainians on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.

Together with our allies and partners, we're going to stay the course, and we will do everything we can to push for and end this tragic, unnecessary war. This is a struggle that pits the appetites of an autocrat against humankind's desire to be free. And let there be no doubt, no uncertainty, no question, America stands with the forces of freedom.

We always have, and we always will.

I want that thank you all. And God bless you.

And now I'm going to walk over and sign this legislation, sign this bill to allow the drawdown of those materials.

And may God protect the young Ukrainians who are out there defending their country.

What I'm signing here is a delegation of authority under Section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (OFF-MIKE) a total of $800 million in defense (OFF-MIKE)

[13:10:17]

QUESTION: Mr. President, what will it take for you to send the Polish MiGs that President Zelenskyy is asking for?

BIDEN: I'm not going to comment on that right now. I'm not going to comment on anything other than what I told you. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. President, quickly, you just did say that Putin is going after maternity wards.

CABRERA: You just listened to President Biden announcing and then signing $800 million of additional security equipment and support that he will be sending, the U.S. will be sending to Ukraine in this continued battle against Russia, as the Russia invasion is now in its third week.

I want to go to M.J. Lee from the White House now.

And, M.J., obviously, this came after this very impassioned address that we heard from President Zelenskyy this morning, as he spoke to members of the U.S. Congress pleading for more help. And this was in many ways a response to that. President Biden had a big -- a big reaction that was desired.

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. President Biden was in part directly responding to President Zelenskyy's speech to Congress earlier today.

Right off the top, he said that he watched that speech from the private residence at the White House, and he commended President Zelenskyy for being the voice for the Ukrainian people and had a message of sort of unity and support for President Zelenskyy said, the world is watching and the world is with you.

We also heard the president announcing some of these new assistance measures that we had been expecting him to announce, some 800 million additional dollars in military assistance and security assistance to Ukraine, the president also announcing that there will be other weapons. He said more is coming, that more assistance essentially will be headed Ukraine's way.

And then he also had this very blunt assessment, Ana, about the trajectory of this war. He said -- quote -- "I want to be honest with you. This could be a long and difficult battle."

He said that the American people are going to remain steadfast in supporting the people of Ukraine as they try to fend off these Russian attacks. He also said that he was aware of the toll that these attacks were taking, he said, particularly on the civilians. We have, of course, seen over the last couple of weeks these attacks affecting even places like hospitals.

And he said that that was an atrocity. Now, of course, two things that the president did not announce, as we had been expecting, imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine, and also the issue of sending these fighter jets to Ukraine. The administration has been very, very consistent over the last couple of days in saying this would be an escalation that is not acceptable from the U.S.' perspective.

It would essentially amount to World War III. So that's something that we heard earlier today from Zelenskyy, asking the U.S., is this too much to ask for, a no-fly zone? Is that too much to ask for? And, essentially, Ana, we see that the answer to that from the U.S. continues to be, yes, it is too much for Ukraine to be asking for in terms of the U.S. involvement in this ongoing conflict -- Ana.

CABRERA: M.J., stand by.

I want to bring in Barbara Starr from the Pentagon now. And, Barbara, some of the equipment he laid out that will be going to Ukraine, 800 anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-armor systems, like the shoulder-mounted missiles. He talked about drones and ammo. Talk to us more about this equipment and how quickly it can get into this fight.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what he laid out really is a very strategic package here from purely a military point of view, the things that Ukraine forces can take advantage of and use right away, get it shipped in as fast as possible, get it unpacked, get it to the forces in the field.

When he spoke about anti-armor, anti-air systems in those large numbers, Ana, these are essentially Javelins, Stingers, the shorter- range systems that Ukraine forces have had a great deal of success, actually, in using.

They have also had a lot of success using drones. The president mentioned those, because what we are seeing is, in the field, Ukraine forces very mobile, very quick to move around and shoot on the battlefield from constantly shifting locations against the larger, slower Russian forces on the ground.

This is the nightmare for big tank formations. You have very mobile forces from Ukraine able to essentially shoot and scoot, if you will. But the president also mentioned longer-range systems that they are still trying to, as he said, I think, source.

This may be an indication in fact that they're talking to some of the East European allies who have in their inventories something called the S-300. It's a Russian-made longer range anti-air system. They want to get that into Ukraine hands. They want to get something longer- range, so the Ukraine forces can go after the ballistic missiles that the Russians are now firing into population centers for many days now.

[13:15:20]

These are the big heavy ballistic missiles that are wreaking such havoc. And they're trying to get something into the hands of Ukraine forces that they, again, would be able to most readily and quickly use. And that would be if one of these countries in Eastern Europe can give them some of the anti-missile systems they already have in their inventory from basically Russian manufacturing.

This may be a hint that they're making progress on that. That is really the next thing to watch. How can the Ukraine forces get to those ballistic missiles that are just raining down on their cities?

CABRERA: One of the things that Zelenskyy had wanted were armed drones. Now, the president said they're sending drones to help in this fight. Is that your understanding, that those are the armed drones that Zelenskyy has been calling for, or not?

STARR: Well, actually, what we have been told here at the Pentagon is that there is a Turkish drone system armed that the U.S. -- that the Ukraine forces have that they are using with great success. I think whatever additional drones go into Ukraine will most likely be

a combination of armed and unarmed. Essentially, some may be reconnaissance drones that can fly over a battlefield, locate targets, send it back to Ukraine forces, and then they can go after that target perhaps with an armed drone or something else. Usually, it's a combination of both.

CABRERA: All right, Barbara Starr, thank you. Thanks to M.J. Lee as well.

I want to bring in now Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks. He was actually in Ukraine just days before the invasion, and he is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here.

First, we just heard from President Biden and this additional military assistance that will be heading to Ukraine. Is it enough?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): It is giving Ukraine the ammunition that they need. And it's never going to be enough until Putin is stopped.

But we are working collectively with President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, as well as without NATO and E.U. and G7 allies, to make sure that we stop this evil aggression that has been put forward by Vladimir Putin.

CABRERA: We saw that video earlier today when President Zelenskyy was addressing you and other members of Congress. It highlighted attacks against civilians.

And, every day, it seems we're learning new airstrikes against residential buildings. Today, it was a bread line. There's still also the threat of Russia using chemical weapons. When does this cross the line from war to genocide?

MEEKS: Well, we may have crossed the line. I'm not sure yet. And that, we will determine in the long run.

But I think that what we have is a situation where you just heard the president, particularly on the S-300s, because what Mr. -- President Zelenskyy has been asking for was to make sure that they get some security from the air. Clearly, we can see what they're doing on the ground. And they are knocking the heck out of Russia on the ground.

And they need the protection from the air. And these S-300 and longer- range artillery forces is what will help close the sky. So, I want to make sure that we're clear when you're talking about closing the skies. President Zelenskyy is not asking for American troops or American equipment or anything of that nature to close the skies.

What he's asking for is the artillery that will do that. The S-300s may be the one that does that.

CABRERA: OK.

MEEKS: Because they need Russian-made artillery, because that's what they know how to utilize, as opposed to the United States.

CABRERA: Sure.

MEEKS: And that's why the MiGs were...

CABRERA: Right.

So, coming back to what you just said, though, at the beginning there, you said we may have already seen them cross the line when we talked about war vs. genocide. If that's the case, if what we're seeing right now is genocide, does the U.S. not have a moral duty to stop it?

MEEKS: Well, I'm saying -- I'm giving what you see. That's ultimately going to be determined as we move on by the collective bodies and by other -- the governments and the appropriate forces.

But when you look at -- your gut tells you, when you look at the film that we saw today and the news coverage that you're doing every day, as I was in Poland just last week and saw the whole host of refugees crossing the line, it pains you, and -- inside. It makes you emotional.

[13:20:01]

And, emotionally, you want to make sure you stop this. And, at the same time, though, you have got to stay focused, as the president has, on what the mission is. And I think that determination ultimately, whether -- I know people want to talk about red lines. And I'm not wanting to talk about red lines, and talk about that there will be punishment to Putin for everything that he does. As he continues to accelerate, there will be the appropriate punishment that will come with that.

And in the end, he cannot win. He will get his. I'm sure of that.

CABRERA: So let's talk more about the appropriate punishments. What is the appropriate punishment at this point?

MEEKS: Well, at this point, the thing that we have to do and I think we're focused on, what the president is focused on is giving Ukrainians the equipment, the artillery, the ammunition that they need to defend themselves to stop these bombs that are coming down on them, to stop the aggression and the mobilization of Russian troops that allegedly are trying to encircle Ukraine.

So, that's what we're focused on right now. And that has got to be number one. We need to stop the bombing of hospitals and taking of individuals.

CABRERA: Right.

MEEKS: And I think that's what we're focused on right now. And then the appropriate punishments will come once in fact that's resolved.

And I think that history will look back also to see what takes place. I don't think, as President Zelenskyy has said this morning, that there's a situation where Putin or anyone just think that they can do this kind of devastation and damage, and then just shrug his shoulders and walk away from it later on.

CABRERA: But Putin isn't stopping. I mean, even with the Ukrainian resistance, as strong as it has been, even with the crushing sanctions from countries, even businesses around the world, that hasn't stopped Putin's attacks. He's escalating. The sanctions aren't working.

MEEKS: And United -- it is.

The United States is not stopping. The Ukrainian people are not stopping. The Ukrainian people, in their courage, they're in the streets every day fighting. When I was in Poland last week, I spoke to the governor of Lviv. And he talked about how him and his people will be victorious. They are fighting. They just need the ammunition.

And we're going to make sure they get it. That's why Congress passed the close to $14 billion last week to make sure that they get what they need. That's why our allies in NATO, et cetera, are moving forward to get the weapons like the S-300 to make sure that they defend themselves.

Look, some people thought and the intelligence even thought in the beginning that this will take two to three days. We're in day 20. And the Ukrainian people are fighting, as you have never seen before. You have seen individuals, and they are pushing back. In fact, reports are, they have gone on the offensive in Kyiv today, when they thought and saw that the Russians were trying to come in.

So what we need to do is stay the course and give, as President Zelenskyy asked for today, the kinds of ammunition that he needs, so that they can continue to fight for their sovereignty and their country and their independence.

CABRERA: Congressman, should President Biden speak directly with President Putin?

MEEKS: I think, at this stage of the game, the negotiations should be between President Zelenskyy and the Russians.

That's so we should not intercede in those negotiations. Those negotiations are between the two. And I think that what we should do is to do what President Zelenskyy is asking us to do. And I think that's what we're doing. The members of Congress, bipartisan, Democrats and Republicans, want to give him what he needs.

The president of the United States is moving in that direction also, and giving them what they need, and trying to make sure that we do stay out of World War III, which is important, I think, also for the peace of the entire globe.

And I think that's why it was essential for the president to make sure that we stay lockstep with our NATO allies and that unity. That unity between NATO, the United States, the E.U., the G7 countries is absolutely essential. We would not be where we are today but for that kind of unity. CABRERA: Congressman Gregory Meeks, thank you so much for your time.

I appreciate it.

Let's head back to Anderson now in Lviv.

COOPER: Ana, thanks so much.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who's standing by in Odessa, on some tragic breaking news out of Mariupol.

Nick, talk about what has been going on there.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes, Anderson, initial information at the stage, but it is pretty ghastly.

The Mariupol City Council has published a picture of what appears to show a very damaged drama theater in the city center. That is important because it's been being used as a bomb shelter for possibly as many as 1,000 people, according to local officials there.

Now, that has been hit by an airstrike, the statement said. And their concern is that it appears to have damaged the entrance to that bomb shelter. And that may have resulted in obviously many injuries inside that bomb shelter.

[13:25:10]

Unclear at this stage. Officials saying they obviously are going to have a lot of difficult work combing through the rubble at this stage. But this is potentially one of the worst losses of life we have seen so far. As I say, we don't know how many people were in that bomb shelter for sure. There may have been hundreds. It is still at this stage unclear, but, again, devastating news coming out of Mariupol, a city that's been besieged now for days, in which people have been trying to get some assistance in, but mostly people out.

And another sign with this airstrike coming in that Russia has, at the best, most generous characterization, very little regard for civilian life, if not intentional targeting of civilian areas -- Anderson.

COOPER: Nick, can you just quickly -- I mean, you have seen the use these -- these arguments that the U.S. is now sending even more of, $800 billion worth.

How effective have the Stingers, the Javelins, and now there's talk of also some sort of anti-ballistic systems trying to hit ballistic missiles, which has obviously been a huge issue for President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people?

WALSH: Yes, certainly.

I mean, what we have seen on the ground here repeatedly throughout nearly three weeks of this war is the very effective use by small teams of Ukrainian special forces, ordinary troops, of these anti- armor weapons, of which now there seem to be another 9,000 on the way, 800 or so anti-aircraft systems of some description, President Joe Biden there not spelling out the specific systems, certainly, two million rounds as well of -- for weapons here, small arms.

So, certainly, those anti-aircraft systems, shoulder-launched, have been very effective against helicopters, jets here as well, but most lethal has been for Russian armor these shoulder-fired anti-armor systems. That will be, I think, a -- something that Moscow will take definite heed off.

Their armor has been frankly, performing very badly in this conflict so far, most of the conflict zones littered with the remnants of Russian tanks or armored personnel carriers destroyed.

I have to say, listening to the list of equipment there, it felt like a lot. And I know Ukraine wants more. And I know they want different types of assistance. But it is interesting to see Washington quite so clear about how far it's willing to go, the breadth of the kind of technology being dispensed interesting as well, and this notion of -- quote -- "drones."

Could they be armed technology? That could be a significant game- changer here potentially as well, given the fact we're seeing Russia not necessarily overextended, but certainly questions being asked daily about what their strategy is. How much further resource do they have? These often conscripts, it seems, who give up their armor, how many more do they have in reserve inside Russia to continue to prosecute this campaign?

And what is its end goal? That's a question really here we keep asking, Anderson, in Odessa, a Russian-speaking third largest city of the country. What could Russia possibly think it could do here if it tried to occupy? The city doesn't want them here. We heard anti- aircraft gunfight in the last hours.

And so with each day, as this conflict continues, the ultimate question of Moscow's end goal continues to reverberate here. What do they think they can finally achieve? And the Biden package, I think, will probably be a cause of those Russian military strategists who are still thinking rationally to suggest there could be more problems ahead.

But it also does feed into this broader Kremlin rhetoric about them believing those who arm the Ukrainian forces here to possibly be somehow involved in the fight too, language there vague at times, but this could be another reason for Russia to come back with more escalatory language, if not action -- Anderson.

COOPER: Nick Paton Walsh, appreciate it. Thank you from Odessa.

Our special coverage continues after a quick break.

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