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Biden in Poland Where Millions of Refugees Have Fled War in Ukraine; New Video Shows Devastation Inside Mariupol Theater After Airstrike; Biden Says, Russia Should be Removed From G20. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting live here in Poland where President Biden is now on the ground where he will see for himself the humanitarian crisis unfolding for millions of Ukrainian refugees.

Only moments ago, President Biden stepped off Air Force One in Rzeszow, roughly about 60 miles or so from the Ukrainian border. The Polish president was set to greet President Biden there but, unfortunately, we just saw that that was not possible. He had to make an emergency landing, President Duda of Poland, here in Warsaw. But now he's flying back to Rzeszow and he's hoping to reconnect with the president for a humanitarian briefing. We're watching all of this unfold.

Very important day, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM: A very important day, Wolf. I'm so glad you're there for this special coverage, and, everyone, we're so glad you're with us for it. I'm Poppy Harlow.

Because of the Polish president's delay, President Biden will now start his day meeting with service members from the 82nd Airborne Division stationed there in Poland as part of NATO's deterrence on the eastern flank. He will then attend humanitarian events, including a briefing on the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

And then across the border in Ukraine, look at this devastating new video in from that Mariupol theater bombed nine days ago. Ukrainian officials now say at least 300 people were killed in that attack. Officials say hundreds could still be missing with initial estimates saying between 800 and 1,300 people were there seeking refuge. Remember, that was a shelter, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's so, so heartbreaking. You hear those horrendous stories, men, women and children killed by the Russians in Ukraine.

Let's see what's going on with President Biden's visit. Our Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is here in Warsaw with me, CNN's Barbara Starr is reporting from the Pentagon. We'll get to her in a moment.

But, Kaitlan, first to you, the schedule is clearly changing a bit because of this emergency landing that the president of Poland had to make.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Though we should note, President Duda has now just landed in Rzeszow safely. Of course, that is after his plane earlier had to make an emergency landing and to come back here to Warsaw, therefore, delaying his visit with President Biden. As you saw, Air Force One is kind of sitting on the tarmac for about half an hour or so as President Biden was on board with senior staff.

And so, basically, this is just shifted the White House schedule a bit, Wolf, and essentially reversed it, where President Biden is now going to be going and meeting with members of the 82nd Airborne Division here in Poland, talking about this effort of course and highlighting how they've really bolstered the NATO forces here on the eastern flank in Eastern Europe since this Russian invasion began. And that will be highlighting that effort, of course, that was a huge topic during the emergency meetings that the president held with NATO allies yesterday.

And then you're going to see the president go and get a briefing on the other crisis that's been caused by this invasion and that's the refugee crisis, Wolf, where millions of people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine, millions of them have come here to Poland. Over 2 million have crossed the border here to Poland. And the Polish president has asked for help given, of course, they've had to process so many people who were in such desperate need of just basic necessities right now, much less thinking about getting housing, jobs, their kids in school. All of those new issues that they are having to deal with because of this Russian invasion.

And so that will really be the highlight of President Biden's day today, focusing on that, focusing on the service members and also highlighting this refugee crisis that has been caused by this invasion, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's really important information that the president of the United States is seeking to obtain during his two-day visit here in Poland.

Barbara, you're at the Pentagon, the president now heading to meet with troops from the 82nd Airborne Division. It's an important deployment that they have. They say it's a temporary deployment to bolster NATO troop presence in Eastern Europe, not far from the Ukrainian border. What are you hearing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the 82nd Airborne is really just part of the larger effort by the U.S. and NATO to send thousands of forces over the last several weeks into Eastern Europe for deterrence against Russia and reassurance of those eastern flank NATO allies.

[10:05:11]

There is a growing sense, while this deployment may be temporary, the basic security picture in Europe now changed by Vladimir Putin for the long-term and there will be some additional perhaps permanent beefing up of U.S. forces and NATO forces in the east.

But when the president, as commander-in-chief, meets with the 82nd Airborne later today, it is an important message. First, of course, service members are always, I think, very fair to say, thrilled to meet the commander-in-chief. It is a highlight for them. But it is an important message. The 82nd is one of the most elite units in the U.S. military. It is ready to deploy at all times on 18 hours notice from its home base in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, to any contingency around the world. Their expertise is forcible entry, meaning under fire, parachute entry into objectives, potentially behind enemy lines.

Nobody thinks that's going to happen here. Here, it's about reassurance, deterrence, helping with the refugee crisis, as the Polish government requested additional help, but it is an important message that the 82nd is there. It's telling both Poland and Russia what kind of capability the U.S. is committing to this crisis. Wolf?

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Barbara, that the U.S. troop presence in Europe, not that long ago, maybe 60,000 U.S. troops and 70,000, 80,000, now 100,000 U.S. troops have been deployed to the NATO alliance in Europe. These are big numbers.

STARR: It is a significant increase and, Wolf, it raises the fundamental question here in Washington for Congress, which is financing all of this for the U.S. military which has to be ready for crises around the world. How do you get out of this? Is there ever victory day? Is there ever success day when you can pull back and say, okay, we're done?

You know, for the U.S. military, getting out of a crisis often, as we all know over the last several decades, proves very difficult. So, the commitment is there now and it may be quite a long-term commitment. We simply don't know because there's no indication Putin is about to change his views anytime soon, Wolf.

BLITZER: We're showing our viewers of, Barbara and Kaitlan, live pictures of President Biden now. He has now walking into this room with the 82nd Airborne Division. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, nice to meet you.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing, Mr. President?

BIDEN: I'm doing well. Don't worry about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing, Mr. President?

BIDEN: Good to see you, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too?

BIDEN: You guys looked like you just got a haircut. You're getting it again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

BIDEN: Yes. I don't have that much hair to take off.

How are you doing, pal? Great to see you. Thanks. How are you? So, where are you from?

BLITZER: You see the president greeting troops from the 82nd Airborne Division. The defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, is there and the secretary of state. He got off the plane together with the president, Tony Blinken. They're all there, the president's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

This is a big deal, Kaitlan, for the president to be meeting with these troops. It's not just a big deal for these soldiers, it's a big deal because it sends a powerful message of what the U.S. is all about bolstering this NATO presence in Europe.

COLLINS: Yes. And look at the numbers that are in Poland now. It's certainly meant to send a message on behalf of the White House because, of course, they have said repeatedly, these are forces that are not going to be going into Ukraine. That is something that President Biden is maintained for several weeks now before this invasion started. Now, this invasion has started. He has said the U.S. is not going to get directly involved militarily in Ukraine and these forces are there to defend NATO allies, to bolster them, to make them feel more secure in light of this Russian aggression, Wolf.

And there have been a lot of questions facing President Biden in recent days about what happens if Putin conducts a chemical attack in Ukraine, because that has obviously been like a high concern for the White House, that that is something Putin could do, they say, that they've been contingency planning how the U.S. could respond if Putin does conduct a chemical weapons attack.

And so one thing that it has raised, Wolf, if Putin does conduct one, does it change President Biden's calculus on sending in military forces into Ukraine? And so far, that has not something they've answered directly at the White House.

[10:10:00]

You saw President Biden yesterday at the press conference in Brussels telling us that if Putin does conduct a chemical weapons attack, that the United States and NATO will respond. Initially he said in kind, which raised some questions given, of course, that's not something the United States would be expected to do to conduct a chemical weapons attack. But the White House later pointed to the fact that the president said they would respond accordingly. Basically, depending on the severity of the attack, that would warrant a certain response from the United States and from NATO.

And so that's been a big question. They have not said whether or not that would change his calculus on sending the military in. And, of course, he's been incredibly reluctant to do so, Wolf. And so I think part of this effort of this stop today, this symbolic measure of this stop today is the president showing that there are U.S. forces in these NATO ally countries supporting them, bolstering them in light of all the Russian aggression that you've seen in Ukraine.

BLITZER: It's interesting, Barbara, you were showing our viewers some more live pictures coming in from Rzeszow. This is where the president as he's inside that room now with some of the troops of the 82nd Airborne but you can see these other troops that are now lined up. I see some armored vehicles, some battle tanks. But I think they're trying to send another message, aren't they?

STARR: You know, I think they want this visual. It's possible these troops have to scrambled just a little bit with that change in schedule, the president coming slightly earlier than they expected, but that's not heavy lifting for the military. They are out there. They are ready to meet the president and they are ready to show the world that they are there.

Now, let's be clear, we have not, in the media, been allowed to see U.S. troops operating in Poland to any large extent. It's been very controlled by the Pentagon, pardon me, and the White House. Initially, fair to say they didn't want it to appear too escalatory and unsettle things even further.

But now that they're settling in here, there is a lot of questions to get a firsthand account from the troops to the public, to the American public about what they think about what they're doing there, what their mission is, how they feel about it in a way that is not so tightly controlled by the U.S. government. Let the troops speak up and speak their mind.

We will have to see in the coming weeks if that happens, because this whole effort may be settling in for the long haul, Wolf. The president just coming out of that NATO meeting in Brussels, there is a lot of talk about more permanent presence, more rotating presence over the coming months. There is no indication of any ratcheting back anytime soon. Putin is still looking for leverage. NATO is trying to deny that to him. This may be settling in for a very long haul.

BLITZER: Yes. It's so disturbing to see that the United States now has to deploy thousands of additional troops in Europe, in Europe to deal with the potential threat from Russia.

Let's continue the conversation with retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton. He is joining us.

First of all, Colonel, how significant, how important is it for these troops to actually meet with the president of the United States, the commander-in-chief, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is there as well? This is significant for them.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It sure is, Wolf. This is like the biggest deal. It's kind of the Super Bowl of all visits. And when you see the troops and how pleased they are to see the commander-in-chief, it always shows a resonance with them. It means a lot for the commander-in-chief himself, I'm sure, but it means a very great deal to the troops because it shows that the commander- in-chief has their back and it's going to consider what goes on in the daily lives of these troops as he makes decisions on force deployment issues and how to use the American military when it comes to responding to things like the crisis in Ukraine.

BLITZER: We're showing our viewers some live pictures coming in from Rzeszow. You see the troops from the 82nd Airborne Division. Now they're inside. The president is there. We saw other troops, Colonel, outside. They're formally -- I assume, there is going to be some sort of inspection by the president as he walks around once he leaves this room. I assume that's what's going to happen but we shall see soon enough. They're showing us these pictures.

The other thing in the last few years, the U.S. would be sending thousands of additional troops to Europe to deal with a potential threat.

LEIGHTON: Well, it sure is different than the peace dividend that we all hoped for in the 1990s when right after the fall of the Berlin wall. But on the other side of that, Wolf, there had been discussions as far back as the late 1980s about putting U.S. bases in Poland, and that was even before the changes in the Soviet Union occurred.

[10:15:03]

And now with this, I didn't expect it to be this soon, but it's very clear that NATO has to make a response and part of that response is what the 82nd Airborne is doing there in Rzeszow, Poland.

BLITZER: Yes, with the collapse of the Berlin wall and with the collapse of the Soviet Union back in 1991. We thought the cold war was completely over. Things were moving in a totally different direction. I was there when Gorbachev signed that agreement ending 74 years of communist rule with the Soviet Union but, sadly, all these years later, now 30 years later, it seems that cold war is back on. It's pretty depressing.

We'll stay on top of what's going on here in Poland. We're watching the president. He's having these meetings now with the 82nd Airborne. And then he's going to get a humanitarian briefing on the millions of refugees who have been leaving Ukraine.

Poppy, this is an important day. I'm sure it will have a significant impact on the president of the United States, who's got to get ready to make some major decisions.

HARLOW: That such a good point, Wolf. What does he leave here with that may change how much the United States is willing to do, and as Kaitlan said, in what capacity.

Wolf, we'll get back to you very soon. We have a lot.

Still to come, President Biden ready to remove Russia, Vladimir Putin, from the G20. How could that impact efforts to deescalate the conflict in Ukraine and are others G20 nations on board? That would be critical.

Plus, a dramatic look at the front lines in Ukraine, where civilians tell the stories what remains in Mariupol and it being shelled as they tried to escape. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:00]

HARLOW: All right. I want to go back right now to John Berman live in Lviv. That's in the west of Ukraine.

John, you were still hearing air raid sirens there?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. They were going off until about literally 15 seconds ago, Poppy. And it's the first time in about 48 hours that we've heard that here in Lviv. Lviv, the city itself, the outskirts only hit once by an airstrike, this is in the far west of the country, not at all in the middle of the fighting, but as I said, last week, it was one week ago that there was a missile strike near an air repair factory there. It's been two days of quiet here with no sirens at all, but the sirens were just sounding for about four or five minutes. They do appear to be off now. And as far as we can tell, no sign of anything going on, obviously. We'll keep you updated on that.

In the meantime, we're getting the first video from inside the theater in Mariupol that was devastated by a Russian airstrike nine days ago. Look at the pictures here. You can see debris on the floor, holes in the walls, people make their way down a staircase to leave the building, some of them covered in dust.

In another video, you see where the missile hit, right in the center of the theater causing huge structural damage. Ukrainian officials now estimate that 300 people were killed, hundreds still believed to be missing.

I want to bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. And Fred is in Kyiv in front of this anti-tank barrier right in the middle of the city and there's a lot of action, Fred, around this city with Ukrainian forces trying to push back. What's the latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right, there certainly is and it's something that we've been hearing throughout the day, John. And so we have had air raid sirens go off. It's about an hour ago. Here we've heard what we believe could have been some outgoing anti-aircraft fire coming from the Ukrainians but you do also hear some of that shooting apparently going towards Russian positions as well.

And it is the case that there is a big active front line here, especially towards the north of Kyiv. It's pretty complicated frontline because the Ukrainians are trying to push out towards the northwest of the city. They believe they have the Russians on the back-foot there.

There's a suburb called Irpin, where they say that they've now recaptured 80 percent of that. There's also talk of them possibly trying to encircle Russian forces but it's not clear where that stands. All we're hearing from the Ukrainian side is that they're making gains there but the Russians are still shelling them. And into the east, that's a very similar picture as well with the Ukrainians also saying that they've now taken a place that's about 35, maybe 40 miles to the east of the Ukrainian capital, so, obviously, some gains made there as well.

At the same time, here where we are in Kyiv, you can see right in the city center, there is indeed this big checkpoint and anti-tank barrier here, of course, John, this city still very much on a war footing. Nevertheless, you have some traffic. We actually have an ambulance coming through here right now, unclear whether that's related to the battles that are going on here around to the city.

But, I would say, there's a bit of easing of the tension here as the Ukrainians are starting to push the Russians back maybe a little bit but, of course, still, as I said, it's a city very much on a war- footing and, of course, with a lot of checkpoints and life maybe coming back a little bit but only very slowly, John.

BERMAN: Well, that would be notable and I know that people there nor you are taking anything for granted. But if the situation turns positive at all in Kyiv, that would be a major development.

Frederik Pleitgen on the ground in Kyiv, the air raid sirens are no longer going off where I am in Lviv, as I said, for the first time in 48 hours they were going off.

Only notable in that, this city where I am, it's so close to the Polish border, about an hour's drive away.

[10:25:05]

And, of course, so much activity with President Biden just over the border right now in Poland. And, Wolf, I'll go over to you. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, I just want you guys in Ukraine to be safe over there. Fred Pleitgen, John Berman, guys, excellent, excellent reporting, as usual. Thank you so, so much.

President Biden now says he believes Russia should be removed from the G20 because of the atrocities that they have committed, the Russian military led by Putin, that we are all seeing on the ground.

Let's discuss what's going on with NATO's former Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller. Rose, thank you so much for joining us.

Do you agree, by the way, with President Biden that Russia should be removed, that Putin should not be allowed to attend the next G20 meeting scheduled for November in Indonesia?

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL, NATO: Yes, I do. It's interesting though what's coming out of the Kremlin. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Kremlin, today said, we don't care, throw us out of the G20. This is quite a typical Russian reaction in the year since the 2014 invasion of Crimea. Every time they've been thrown out of some big international organization, they say we don't care, we'll go our own way, we have our own friends. So, it is quite an interesting and, I would say, bravura reaction from the Russian side.

BLITZER: Yes, very interesting indeed. President Biden says NATO today is strong and is united as it has ever been. You're the former deputy secretary general of NATO. Do you believe that it is as strong and as united as it's ever been in the face of these threats from Putin?

GOTTEMOELLER: It's remarkable that Vladimir Putin's actions in the recent weeks have, a month now, have really, I think, created a coherence in NATO that certainly I did not experience when I was deputy secretary general. NATO was hanging together in a time when President Trump was really hassling it quite a bit. But at this point, the coherence is remarkable. Among the allies in the ways they are deciding to put new strength into NATO deterrence and defense number one with the two -- sorry, four new battle groups forming in Southeastern Europe, but also, the way in which they are united around supplying armaments to Ukraine and doing everything that they can to help on both the military and humanitarian side. So, it's been, I think, a remarkable period for NATO.

I'll just say also, Wolf, that it's great the way NATO and the E.U. are working together with the G7. The symbolism of those three summit meetings right together yesterday at NATO headquarters was really important.

BLITZER: Yes, the G7, they met at NATO headquarters. I was there in Brussels and followed the NATO summit, all 30 NATO leaders were there as well.

As you know, the current NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, says that any use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine would flatly be unacceptable and, in his words, this is Stoltenberg, I'm quoting him now, it would totally change the nature of the conflict. Is that the line drawn between where things stand right now potentially between and maybe, God forbid, some sort of Third World War?

GOTTEMOELLER: I, with my deepest soul, hope that will not be the case, Wolf. But I think what we could expect to see is increasing efforts by the NATO allies to build up resilience to chemical attacks in Ukraine, and that is already going on. That's something that Stoltenberg also talked about preparing that, if, heaven forbid, they should have to deal with a chemical attack.

But I think that, really, the way in which Russia has been piling up outrage against the international legal regime, this would only be renewed because Russia is a member of the chemical weapons convention, in theory, they have agreed to ban chemical weapons. So, once again, they would be, I think, up for a real condemnation under international law and that evidence is accumulating very, very strongly.

So, I do not think, however, it would lead to any change in President Biden's position or the NATO alliance's position that troops should be fighting in Ukraine, that NATO troops should be fighting in Ukraine.

BLITZER: what do you make -- stepping back a little bit, Rose, what do you make of President Biden's leadership amid this really major Russian threat that's unfolding?

GOTTEMOELLER: Biden really seems to be in his element, honestly. And he said it himself during his press conference yesterday when he noted how he has been at this longer than anybody else around those tables yesterday, really very experienced, both as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for many years and as vice president.

[10:30:00]

So, he does know what the issues are very, very well inside and out.

And he seems to have also, a very --