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Biden Announces $800 Million More in Security Help for Ukraine; Biden Demands Faster Drop in Gas Prices as Oil Tumbles; Next Hour, Federal Reserve Expected to Raise Rates; ICC Prosecutor: Reasonable to Believe War Crimes Committed; Plumes of Smoke Seen after Overnight Blasts in Kyiv. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 16, 2022 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:28]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: President Biden just announced an additional $800 million of military assistance for Ukraine. This includes anti- aircraft and anti-armor systems, small arms and drones.

It's a strategic package. These are weapons that can be brought in and unpacked quickly.

Let's bring in retired Army Major John Spencer. He is the chair of Urban Warfare Studies with the Madison Policy Forum. He's also the author of the book "Connected Soldiers."

Major, we know President Zelenskyy is going to welcome what he just heard from President Biden.

But one thing he didn't hear was an agreement for a no-fly zone. That seems to be out of the question from the U.S. and NATO, even though that's what Zelenskyy really wants.

Bottom line, can Ukraine win this war without it?

MAJOR JOHN SPENCER, U.S. ARMY, RETIRED & CHAIR, URBAN WARFARE STUDIES, MADISON POLICY FORUM & AUTHOR: Yes, absolutely. I mean, He's still contesting the air. These systems will be critical to help him keep doing that.

If Zelenskyy loses the air and Russia can fly freely above him, if they can bomb the cities freely, they can move troops around and do what they want to do really quickly.

CABRERA: You mentioned that the air is still contested. That is our latest reporting as well.

We also have new video of the Ukrainian military destroying at least three Russian military helicopters that were sitting at the Kherson airport.

You say that's really important, right?

SPENCER: I think it's key. Again, every day that they don't lose, they're winning. Continuing to contest the air scares the Russians.

I think the comments by these pilots were critical, too, showing that the Russian military is demoralized.

Soldiers don't fight for dictators. They fight for a cause. They fight for their families and they fight for their nations.

[13:35:10]

Russian soldiers don't have that, clearly, right now. And the Ukrainians do.

CABRERA: You mentioned the comments by the Russian soldiers. I'm going to read some of those. Because CNN had a chance to speak with at least three captured Russian Air Force pilots.

They seem to disagree with this invasion. They didn't seem to be talking under duress or anything.

Here are a few quotes.

"I want to tell our commander-in-chief to stop terror acts in Ukraine because, when we come back, we'll rise against him. The crimes that we committed, we all will be judged."

One Russian pilot said his unit was told it was an operation localized to the DPR -- that's the break-away Russian-backed Donetsk area -- and not an attack on the whole country.

"My division was totally against it."

If this is how they feel, Major, does it give you a sense that perhaps, either, one, they won't carry out and go through with the mission, or other members of their units feel the same way and may, in fact, turn on their own country?

SPENCER: I think so. What we're talking about is the will to fight. The will of the soldiers.

It doesn't matter how big your military is or your military weapons. Once you lose that, everything starts to unravel. You have platoons that won't fight. You'll have people that puncture their own gas tanks.

We're seeing that already. Russia is failing.

CABRERA: You have been outspoken about the battle of Kyiv that is to come still. What do you think that's going to look like?

SPENCER: Unfortunately, I think it will look like an apocalypse at this point. Russia has failed. And this has allowed the Ukrainians to do what they need to do to defend it, to turn Kyiv into a fortress.

So that means Russia is going to bomb it a lot before they can even get close to entering with troops.

Once they try to enter, each street will be house-to-house destructive hell on earth. Unfortunately, I still think Ukrainians have the advantage and they can win.

But it's going to look more like Stalingrad, Aleppo, Raqqa, things like that, that we've seen in the past, to include civilians and tens of thousands dead.

CABRERA: That is horrific to think about.

John Spencer, I appreciate your insights and expertise. Thank you.

Oil prices are falling. They're down about 20 percent from a recent spike. So why aren't gas prices following suit? That's next.

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[13:42:29]

CABRERA: If you're wondering why gas prices aren't falling as fast as oil prices, you're not alone. President Biden today calling out this painful reality.

Here is what he tweeted. He writes, "Oil prices are decreasing. Gas prices should, too. Last time oil was $96 a barrel, gas was $3.62 a gallon, now it's $4.31. Oil and gas companies shouldn't pad their profits at the expense of hardworking Americans."

We took a look at the numbers. Here is the fact. This was on March 8th. West Texas crude trading at $123 a barrel. Now it's $95 a barrel. We're talking about almost a $30 drop in oil prices.

Gas not so much. In fact, not even close. Here, March 8th, a little over a week ago, $4.17 a gallon of regular unleaded. Now it's $4.31 a gallon. That actually shows it's up 14 cents a gallon.

I want to bring in CNN's Matt Egan, who has been watching these prices and tracking it this like a hawk.

And this is maddening for all of us, right? But it's not that cut and dry, and that simple. Explain.

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Right, Ana. This is not an entirely new phenomenon. This has actually been going on for decades.

Here is what's actually happening right now. We've seen 23 percent decline in oil prices in the last eight days. Gas prices are actually up by 3 percent. Now, it is normal to have a delayed reaction. It's because, you have

to remember, the fuel you're buying at the gas station, the gas station may have purchased that fuel days ago, back when oil prices were higher.

Also there's a lot of uncertainty about oil prices right now, so they're in no rush to slash prices.

The issue here is that -- the complaint is that consumers end up feeling the price spikes right away.

CABRERA: It goes up like a rocket.

EGAN: It goes up like a rocket but it goes down like a feather. They call it rockets and feathers in the industry.

It's clear the White House is not happy about this practice, even though it's been going on for quite a while.

CABRERA: We've seen gas come down by a couple cents in the last couple days. That's nothing compared to the $30 that oil prices have dropped.

Will they come down further? How low can they go perhaps? And how quickly?

EGAN: It all depends on what happens to oil prices next week. They're moving dramatically.

But at current levels, analysts do think gas prices will go down by 20, 25 cents a gallon. They'll still high, but that will be a step in the right direction.

CABRERA: All right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Meantime, you have a big announcement you're going to be watching the Feds, having to do with inflation in the next hour. What are you watching?

EGAN: We're minutes away from what is very likely to be first interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve of the COVID era, since 2018.

[13:45:06]

Now remember, when COVID erupted in March of 2020, the Fed dropped interest rates down to zero. That was trying to save the economy.

They hadn't done anything like that since 2008 during the financial crisis.

The economy doesn't need that much help right now. Unemployment is down and inflation is up. So the Fed is raising interest rates.

What does that actually mean for real people? That means borrowing costs will go up, everything from mortgages, student debt, auto loans, credit cards. It's still going to be cheap to borrow but will not be as cheap. The goal is to try to tame inflation. But the debate is whether or not

the Fed is moving with enough urgency because inflation is very high. We're talking about a 40-year high for consumer prices.

Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary, thinks the Fed is moving way too late. He said, if they don't pick up the speed here, that there could be a major recession. Let's hope that Larry Summers is wrong.

CABRERA: All right, Matt Egan, thank you so much.

EGAN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Appreciate it.

What threat did they pose? Ukrainians trying to flee attack come under attack by Russian forces.

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[13:51:02]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I'm Anderson Cooper live in Ukraine.

Just in, new video of the humanitarian convoy that was attacked in southeastern Ukraine today. At least five were hurt, including a child, who's said to be in serious condition. You can see the vehicle there smoking still.

Earlier today, I met with the chief prosecutor from the International Criminal Court, who was in Lviv investigating possible war crimes that are taking place. It's just the start of his investigation.

Here's part of our conversation.

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COOPER: We've seen video of a maternity hospital being attacked. We've seen a pregnant woman being brought out who ultimately died, as did her baby. On the face of it, that would seem to be a war crime.

Is that enough from a legal standpoint?

KARIM KHAN, CHIEF PROSECUTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: It's a start. I'm here for a reason. And we have reasonable grounds to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the court have been committed.

COOPER: You have reasonable grounds to believe that alleged war crimes, alleged crimes against humanity have been committed?

KHAN: Absolutely. When one sees, one thing is clear, the law is clear on this. It is a crime to intentionally target civilians. It is a crime to intentionally target civilian objects.

Now, of course, there has to be further investigation. Were those civilian objects being used to launch attacks that made them legitimate targets?

But even then, it's no license to use cluster bombs or use disproportionate facts in concentrated civilian areas. There's a duty to distinction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Karim Khan is obviously focused on finding that chain of command to find out the individuals responsible for war crimes. That's what he is charged with finding the truth on.

We'll have more on that interview tonight on "A.C. 360" at 8:00 p.m.

Joining me now is a freelance journalist, Oz Katerji, who's been covering this war on the ground in Kyiv.

Oz, there's still a curfew on the ground I think until tomorrow morning. It's been a 35-hour curfew.

What have you heard today? Have there been a lot of explosions today?

OZ KATERJI, FREELAND JOURNALIST: Yes. So today and last night -- after quite a bit of a lull for a few days, today and last night, there were huge explosions and air raid sirens throughout the night and the course of the day.

Very few journalists have had the ability to go out because we're on the curfew until tomorrow. So I can't update you as to what's happened in the city.

I can tell you that, yesterday, I visited two apartment buildings, two separate buildings in two separate areas of Kyiv, that had been attacked, been bombed. They were putting body bags out of the one of the buildings.

So really, really incredibly devastating attacks on the civilian population here right now.

COOPER: You've been interviewing a number of people for an article in "New York" magazine, looking at people, interviewing people under the age of 30, young people who have their whole lives ahead of them.

What are you hearing from them?

KATERJI: So with the people that I interviewed, particularly, the young ones, these were ones that weren't fighting, they gave me two distinct emotions.

Fear and rage were the two strongest emotions I sensed from them. But the fear was for their families, loved ones and friends.

But they have a sort of unified anger and hatred and rage and desire to defend their homes in a way that's quite difficult to put into simple words.

You know, this is a unified feeling of resolve that the Ukrainian people have from all walks of life, from all ages. The young people are not different in any way from that.

COOPER: It is extraordinary -- I know you traveled a lot -- to see just how unified, how brought together people from all different walks of life and all different ages really are here in that resolve, in that determination against -- to fight in whatever form they can against the Russian advances.

KATERJI: Yes, I mean, we should make no mistake here. Ukraine is a liberal democracy and it's being invaded by a fascist totalitarian military dictatorship.

[13:55:05]

So it's quite clear it's in the interest of the world what's happening here.

The people certainly feel that weight on their shoulders, that this is much larger than just about them.

But obviously, for them, this is about them. And what they really want is international support.

COOPER: Yes.

KATERJI: And just off the back of your last interview, prosecuting Russia for war crimes is a really critical part of that.

COOPER: Yes.

Oz Katerji, I really appreciate your talking with us today. Please be careful.

I'll go back to Ana in New York.

CABRERA: That's incredible, the bravery of the journalists there doing their work.

Anderson, we appreciate you as well. Thank you.

We have this just in, in other news we're covering today. Federal investigators will look into a Texas road crash that killed at least nine people, including six college students and a faculty member.

Officials say the University of the Southwest golf teams were returning to campus last night when a pick-up truck hit their passenger van head on. Two students are still in the hospital being treated for their injuries.

That does it for us today. Thanks for joining us. Our special coverage continues after a quick break.

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