Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Polish, Czech, Slovenian Leaders Meet Zelenskyy in Kyiv; Evacuations from Kharkiv Interrupted by Shelling; Ukraine's Zelenskyy to Address U.S. Congress; Fox Cameraman and Ukrainian Journalist Killed Near Kyiv; Biden to Announce New Military Assistance for Ukraine; Biden to Attend NATO Summit, European Council Next Week; Residents Flee as Russian Forces Aim to Surround Mykolaiv; NATO Chief and U.S. Defense Secretary Discuss War in Ukraine. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 16, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. We are following breaking news of the war in Ukraine just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This invasion has to stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We defend our children, our families, our building, out city and out future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our people do not care what says to anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be a Ukraine, an independent Ukraine a lot longer than there's going to be a Vladimir Putin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe in our victory 100 percent.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

FOSTER: It is Wednesday, March 16, 4 a.m. in Washington, 10 a.m. in Ukraine where we're getting new reports of Russian forces shelling yet another residential building in Kyiv. Rescuers evacuated 37 people from the 12-story building. They say two people were injured. It comes just a few hours ahead from a virtual address to the U.S. Congress to from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He's expected to turn up the pressure on lawmakers for more military aid and the no-fly zone over Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So, what I'm trying to say, everyone needs to do more to stop Russia. More needs to be done to protect Ukraine, to protect Europe from this absolute evil. They're destroying everything. Memorial complexes, schools, hospitals, residential complexes. They've already killed 97 Ukrainian children. We're not asking for much, we're asking for justice, for real support which will help us to defend our people and the whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, we'll have much more on Mr. Zelenskyy's address and how President Biden is assisting Ukraine including live coverage of the speech at 9 a.m. Eastern.

Back in Kyiv President Zelenskyy welcomed the Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic to the capital. The Polish leader called for EU candidate status for Ukraine and the Czech Prime Minister said his goal was to tell Ukraine it's not alone in its fight against Russia. President Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): I would like to thank you for what you are doing during such a difficult time. Your help is greatly appreciated. These ambassadors of wonderful, independent European countries have come to Ukraine during a full-scale invasion of our country by the Russian Federation. You do not fear anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, the scene there was in sharp contrast to what's helping elsewhere in the capital. Russian strikes on the suburbs of Kyiv killed at least four people on Tuesday. CNN's team has reported more air raid sirens and explosions early this morning there. Kyiv is under curfew until tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, civilian evacuations in Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv were interrupted by renewed attacks. Local officials reported 65 instances of shelling on Monday alone.

Kharkiv's mayor says 50 schools plus medical facilities and hospitals have all been attacked. And Russian strikes have destroyed 600 residential buildings in the city since the invasion began. In Mariupol thousands have been evacuated through a humanitarian corridor. But it's still a dire situation with hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEI ORLOV, MARIUPOL, UKRAINE DEPUTY MAYOR: We can provide up to 1/3 of our population the access to water and they do not care for any utility, any food, any medicine, so we in previous days they used -- they collected wood, they used fire to prepare some food and we had an awful case well people were preparing their food. It was shelling and a lot of people killed while preparing this food together with children. It's awful situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, this is the surreal scene in the city of Kherson posted on the social media platform Telegram.

[04:05:00]

You see residents just walking down the street going about their business as a convoy of Russian military vehicles rolls through the town there.

The British Defense Ministry says Moscow is calling up troops from as far as eastern Russia to send a Ukraine as reinforcements. Among the latest Russian losses at least three helicopters destroyed by Ukrainian forces at the airport in Kherson.

CNN's Scott McLean is live at this hour in Lviv, Ukraine. Let's first of all talk about the East European leaders there. Incredibly brave and very symbolic that they're going straight into the capital when we see the scenes that we do elsewhere in the city.

SCOTT, MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Kyiv is a dangerous place right now. The meeting between these three prime ministers from the Czech Republic, Slovenia and from Poland took place later on yesterday. Because it took them the better part of the day to actually arrive in Kyiv by train which was their perhaps unusual method of transportation. But the rail system in this country has been remarkably resilient through all of this.

President Zelenskyy pointed out how novel their visit was, especially when you had ambassadors and entire embassies clearing out of Kyiv amidst all of what's happening in the country. He obviously said that he was grateful for their visit saying that with friends like this we can win. He continued to obviously appeal for more from European leaders. We heard him tell the Canadian Parliament asking them to do more as well. Here's what the three Prime Ministers said about the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETR FIALA, CZECH PRIME MINISTER: You are fighting for your lives, your freedom but we know that you are also fighting for our lives and our freedom and it's for us very important.

JANEZ JANSA, SLOVENIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are bringing here full support for your future not only the European path but your membership.

MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, POLAND PRIME MINISTER: It's what they agreed on. The next couple of days or weeks and the candidate status will be given to end of this year. I'm delighted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLEAN: OK. So, it seems like NATO membership, no-fly zone, those things are non-starters for the moment but you hear that perhaps Zelenskyy is wearing them down. You heard there the Polish Prime Minister saying Ukraine should be given candidate status for the EU. The Polish Deputy Prime Minister said even that there should be a NATO peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. So perhaps, some baby steps. Yesterday Zelenskyy was quite critical of NATO actually. Saying that the NATO Article 5 which is the Mutual Defense Pact is the weakest that it's ever been -- Max.

FOSTER: All right, let's talk about the talks between Ukraine and Russia. We're getting positive messages from both sides but we have to be very careful about how we interpret those.

MCLEAN: Yes, exactly. Perhaps don't get your hopes up just yet. Because, you know, this is the fourth round of talks, it's ongoing. We haven't really seen any major breakthroughs yet. But going into this latest round, which is being held by a video link, there were some optimistic signs put out by both sides.

The Russians saying that a lot of progress had already been made. The Ukrainians saying that the Russians were more to their perspective. And so, yesterday we got an update from the negotiator saying that essentially talks for the second time now had been paused and put over to the next day. So, they'll resume again today. And he said specifically it was a very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions but there are certainly room for compromise.

And perhaps another optimistic sign, he says that they're actually working in subgroups to really hammer out the fine details of whatever would be -- whatever would be agreed upon. We also heard from the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament yesterday who pointed out, look, of course we're not going to compromise on our territorial integrity, but the best kinds of deals are ones where no one is satisfied. So, clearly the Ukrainians are willing to compromise in some way. The Russians, obviously, have lost a lot already in terms of the sanctions against them. They may also be in the mood for compromise to try to find an exit so this conflict. But as I said earlier, Max, probably too early to get your hopes up about anything.

FOSTER: OK. Scott in Lviv, thank you very much indeed. We'll be watching, of course, very closely on any updates to the day.

The war in Ukraine has claimed the lives of two more journalists meanwhile. Fox News a veteran photo journalist was killed when the vehicle he was in, British correspondent Benjamin Hall came under fire. 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist as well was working for the network. She was also killed. Fox's says Hall remains hospitalized with serious injuries. The tragic news underscores the danger of covering the conflict. This past Sunday U.S. journalist Brent Renaud was also killed. Ukraine says he was shot by Russian forces.

[04:10:00]

After Mr. Zelenskyy's speech to the U.S. Congress. President Biden is expected to announce another multimillion-dollar round of military aid to Ukraine. He is under growing pressure from U.S. lawmakers do more, as Kaitlan Collins reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Zelenskyy and President Biden both expected to give major speeches on Wednesday. First, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is going to address the United States Congress. Where we know he's going to thank the United States for the support that they've given to Ukraine since Russia invaded. But he is also expected to ask the West for more assistance.

And two of his major demands have been to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine and also to send the Ukrainian air force more fighter jets. Two things that have been firm nos from the White House so far. Citing conflict that they believe that could draw the United States into. And of course, the high-risk situation of transferring planes into Ukraine as Russia is attacking it.

Of course, Zelenskyy can ask for other assistance in the speech that he is going to give to Congress. And we will hear from President Biden later on where he is going to announce $800 million in new assistance to Ukraine. That would bring the total in the last week to a billion dollars in new lethal assistance that the United States has provided to Ukraine.

Obviously, they'll try to get that in as quick a as possible. We'll wait for specifics from President Biden on what that will look like whether or not it includes the armed drones that Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have talked about that they need at this time.

And of course, both of these speeches come as the White House says President Biden is preparing to travel to Brussels for an extraordinary meeting with the leaders of NATO next Thursday on March 24th. That's going to happen before a European Council meeting as well. And potentially a trip to Poland, where of course, President Biden could come face-to-face with some of the millions of refugee whose have fled Ukraine. Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: President Zelenskyy hasn't held back really his criticism of NATO's response to the war. He called on NATO's principal of collective defense weak on Tuesday. And he suggested he doesn't expect NATO membership soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted NATO's expansion and Ukraine's possible membership is a big reason for the invasion. But the U.S. Secretary of State says this war was never about NATO membership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: First of all, it's a reflection of reality that even before this aggression by Russia, Ukraine was not going to get into NATO tomorrow. All the more reason why as we've seen when Putin was saying that their concerns about Ukraine centered on its admission to NATO, that was wrong. That was a lie. What this is about, what Putin's demonstrated it's about, is denying Ukraine its independent existence. But what we've done in support of Ukraine is to provide extraordinary security assistance that continues as we speak to make sure that Ukraine has the means to defend itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: For more on the upcoming NATO and European council, Natasha

Bertrand joins us from Brussels. Thanks for joining us. First of all, let's just talk briefly about this visit of these East European leaders over to Kyiv. We've seen other Western leaders were called out by that. A slight divide perhaps about what East European leaders would like to give Ukraine as opposed to other parts of Europe and perhaps the U.S.?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Max, it was a really remarkable show of solidarity by those Eastern European leaders, by the Prime Ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia yesterday. Going into Kyiv in the middle of this massive war zone in order to express their support for President Zelenskyy. And I think this really reflects the fact that these eastern flanked countries feel particularly vulnerable by Russian's aggression in a way that perhaps other NATO member countries and other European Union member countries might not.

They are essentially on the frontlines here. And they went to meet with Zelenskyy in Kyiv to make it clear to him that while Ukraine is not a member of NATO, while it is not a member of the European Union, they stand firmly behind the Ukrainian resistance to this Russian aggression.

Now it remains unclear what actually came out of that meeting, whether there were any concrete deliverables that came out of that. But the symbolic nature of it having these three leaders for the first time that we've seen this happen since this war began enter into Kyiv to actually meet with Zelenskyy really was a very strong message that the whole world took note of -- Max.

FOSTER: And Biden's message presumably coming along to Brussels will be that there's wider unity, not just amongst those East European countries but across the Western world in dealing with Russia.

BERTRAND: That's right. And this is something that the White House has touted repeatedly, that Russia's aggression really backfired here because it has reinvigorated the NATO alliance in a way beyond Putin's wildest dreams. Right. This was the exact opposite of what Vladimir Putin had wanted. He had wanted NATO to become divided, especially from Ukraine.

[04:15:00]

And wanted them to cease their eastward expansion. Of course, Ukraine is not yet a member of NATO. They want to be. They're kind of dropping that request now as they see that NATO is not going to impose a no-fly zone. It's not going to send troops in. But in terms of the unity among NATO itself and in terms of reinforcing that posture on NATO's eastern flank to deter potential Russian aggression against those NATO countries, this has united them. This war has united them in a way that we haven't seen really over the last decade certainly. That's a message that the White House has said repeatedly, is that this is a new sign of how important the NATO alliance is, how important the EU alliance is as well in sending a message to Russia that its behavior is really unacceptable here. And of course, they're going to be discussing today during this

defense ministerial here at NATO headquarters. The possibility that there might be a permanent troop presence, a permanent NATO troop presence in those eastern flanked countries. Of course, to reassure them against any potential Russian aggression further west. And on top of that of course, we have seen discussion about sending further surface to air missile systems to the Eastern countries from air defense systems that could potentially ward off any errant Russian missile potentially entering into that territory. So, a lot of discussion here about further bolstering and strengthening NATO against Russia. Of course, the exact opposite of what Putin had hoped to accomplish -- Max.

FOSTER: Natasha in Brussels, thank you very much indeed.

The war in Ukraine has disrupted the country's health care system. Obviously, there's a massive shortage of insulin across the country -- according to Doctors without Borders. And now health experts worry a surge in disease could be next for Ukraine including COVID-19, polio, cholera, measles.

We're also following the growing refugee crisis. The U.N. says more than 3 million people have now fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion started nearly 3 weeks ago. Many of those people are women, they're children and they are the elderly as well. And as the refugees spread across the region, CNN has found a few who decided to turn around and head back to the war zone. CNN's Ed Lavandera has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rail line from Ukraine ends at Platform Five, at the train station, in Przemysl, Poland. After refugees walk off, this same train will go back.

For weeks, it's mostly been men, returning to join the Ukrainian fight, against Russia. But, in front of the sign, reading "Train for Ukraine," women are waiting hours for a ride back into the war zone.

Near the front of the line, we found Tatiyana Veremychenko. She came to Poland, three days ago, to bring her two adult daughters, to safety. Now, the 40-year-old, is going home, to a town, in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border.

"Ukraine is equally important for men and women," she says. "We're the real Ukrainians. Women have the strength, and will, and the heart, as well."

By our count, women accounted for about half of the passengers, in this line, waiting to cross the border, back to Ukraine.

Irina Orel brought her grandchildren to Poland. She's returning now, to be with her family, in Odessa.

LAVANDERA: How worried are you, about your safety?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): "I'm anxious," she says. "But the feeling has become dull, over time. I just want to be next to my family."

LAVANDERA: Do you like this is a way of fighting for your country?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): "Of course," she says, "we have all become united during this time. Each one doing what they can to help our military. Women are doing it and men as well."

Standing with several women, we met Maria Halligan. She's going to Kyiv, to be with her husband, and family, to fight, in her words, Russian terrorists.

MARIA HALLIGAN, KYIV RESIDENT: If you know what you need to do, it's impossible to feel nervous, for something that like this. If I have to do this, I can do it, for my contrary, for my relatives, for my friends.

LAVANDERA: And what stands out to me in this line of people going back to Ukraine is that there are so many women. Why do you think that is?

HALLIGAN: I'm not man. I can't kill. I'm woman. And my work, keep balance, and help, and be kind, and care about relatives, family, friends and all we can. But now, I feel that all Ukrainians, my relatives.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Before she leaves, Maria shows us a heart- shaped Ukrainian flag given to her by Polish children to protect her.

Those returning, walk past a carriage that reads "Safety above all." But the train leaving Platform Five, disappears, into a war zone, where safety is a dream.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Przemysl, Poland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, there are growing fears Russian forces may soon launch a ground assault on a key port city.

[04:20:00]

Residents are trying to escape Mykolaiv before the next barrage of attack. Coming up we'll see how Ukrainian forces are defending the city in Russia's war path.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back. People in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, are desperate to escape as Russian forces close in. The southern port city is a critical route on Russia's advance towards Odessa. And now fears are growing that a ground assault on Mykolaiv could come at any time. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): This is the road down which Russia's war of annihilation may lurch. And it's emptiness speaks only of what is to come from Russia healed Kherson up here to the vital port of Mykolaiv.

They know what it is to be in Russia's way. Out of 18 homes 10 are left in our village, she says. No electricity, gas, water or heat. The only ones left are those who can't leave, another adds.

[04:25:00]

There young, edgy guns raised, unsure of who we are. Press written on our vests and our press cards slowly calms them down, and I apologize. But this is not an army in full control of its destiny.

The trenches aware the rockets land every night. Some are from Odessa, Moscow's eventual target here, others from just down the road.

WALSH: He's saying his house is just there.

WALSH (voice-over): It's important to see what tools Ukraine has been left with by a world that seems so concerned. They fight for their homes but tell me they captured Russians who seemed unaware why they were even here. They said they can't understand what's going on, he said, they can't go back because back there they're being shot for retreating. So, they advance or surrender.

Dust in Mykolaiv has sounded this way for weeks. But unbroken morale takes different forms. And this is a police chief driving a birthday gift to the governor with a captured Russian machine gun soldered on to it. It does not distract from the seriousness of the twilight world in which his colleagues work.

Any drunk or man changing his car battery after curfew could be a Russian saboteur they fear. There really is no way to check by looking at phones and in trunks ...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: NATO ministers including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Let's listen in, they're in Brussels.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: Biden and the other NATO leaders next week for an extraordinary NATO summit.

At our extraordinary defense minister meeting today we will of course, address the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This is devastating for Ukrainian people and it will also change our security environment. It will have a long-lasting consequences for our security for all NATO allies.

NATO has responded in a united and swift way. NATO allies have imposed severe sanctions on Russia. Allies provide significant support to Ukraine, military support, financial support, have added to the humanitarian support and we are reinforcing our collective defense. Hundreds of thousands of troops on heightened alert. Hundred thousand troops -- U.S. troops in Europe and then 40,000 troops under NATO command mostly on the eastern part of the alliance supported by naval and air forces. And of course, the United States and you personally, Secretary Austin,

you are playing a key role in these efforts to really increase and strengthen our collective defense. More U.S. troops in Europe is a strong message of transatlantic unity and we are extremely grateful for your support to what we do together in eastern part of the alliance.

I have met U.S. troops over the last few weeks in Estonia and Latvia, in Poland, in Romania and I was struck by their commitment, by the professionalism of the U.S. men and women in uniform. And there's no stronger message of transatlantic unity than having forces from North America serving in Europe.

At the meeting today we will also not only address the immediate consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine but we will also address the more long-term consequences, their long-term adaptation to our alliance. How to further strengthen our defense and to remove any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to protect and defend our allies.

NATO has a responsibility to ensure that this crisis does not escalate beyond Ukraine. And that's also the reason why we have increased the presence in the eastern part of the alliance. So, once again, Secretary Austin, welcome. It's always an honor to have you here and I look forward to the meeting with all the other ministers starting soon.

[04:30:00]