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Fighting Rages Around Kyiv, Ukraine Reclaims Ground; Western Leaders Tout Unity After Emergency Summits; Biden to Visit Polish Leader, U.S. Troops in Poland; U.N. Nearly 3.7 Million People Flee Ukraine Since Invasion; U.S. to Welcome Up to 100,000 Refugees from Ukraine; Speculation Grows About Russian Defense Ministers Health. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 25, 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]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewer joining us here in United States and all around the world, I'm Paula Newton in Atlanta. We are following breaking news on the war in Ukraine just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The world continued to focus on what a brute this guy is.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine has asked for planes so that we don't lose so many people and you have thousands of war planes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This pretty much reminds me like a fairy tale, the fight between good and evil.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The operation was a complete success. We decisively repelled the enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's our homeland. It's our friends here, we've grown up. It's our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

NEWTON: There is no break in the fighting across Ukraine or in its capital were authorities report heavy rocket attacks from Russian forces. Ukrainian troops meantime claim they've recaptured ground east of Kyiv previously occupied by the Russians.

Now battles are also raging in the eastern city of Kharkiv in the southern port of Mariupol. And a new video shows the destruction in that contested town of Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv. The mayor says Russian forces are using grad rocket systems but that Ukraine's Army still controls about 80 percent of that city. Satellite images from the eastern city, meantime, of Izyum, show the

damage from days of fighting. You can see it there. A massive crater with a burnt-out school on one side. Also, a damaged apartment complex and a church.

Now the regional governor in Kharkiv meantime reports six people cuing for aid were killed when a Russian missile hit a shopping mall parking lot. And the mayor of Kherson in the South posted video of a huge Ukrainian flag draped down the wall of city hall. Continuing to show their defiance, Kherson was among the first cities to fall to Russian forces and it's seen regular protests by locals who wants those occupiers out.

Ukraine's president remains positive in his latest online post.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): We are bringing Victory closer because of in war, it is simply impossible for us not to win and it will be so. And we can't stop, not even for a minute, because every minute it is about our destiny, about our future, about whether we live or die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Well, U.S. President Joe Biden meantime will meet with European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen this hour before traveling to Poland to visit American troops. He and other world leaders met Thursday in Brussels where they warned there would be a response if Russia use chemical weapons in Ukraine. Not everyone agreed that Russia should be expelled though from the G-20 and its next summit in November. But Western leaders were keen to show a united front against Russia in support of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: Putin was banking on NATO being split. NATO has never, never been more united than it is today. Putin is getting exactly the opposite what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine.

The single most important thing is for us to stay unified and the world continue to focus on what a brute this guy is.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I think it might be likely that it will be a full-fledged war. But that's also because we have been so clear about the consequences if Russia attacks a NATO allied country. Not only words but also in deeds by and really demonstrate the unity of this alliance and more troops and more combative troops at the borders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For more on the developments, we have Phil Black who's live for us in Lviv, Ukraine. Kevin Liptak is traveling with the president in Warsaw, Poland -- ahead of that trip to that country. And Natasha Bertrand is at NATO headquarters for us. And we will begin with Natasha. Good to see you this morning.

As Biden continues his trip, you know, many people have commented that it's impressive what Biden what Biden has been able to achieve in terms of trying to keep those European allies united. But there is still a long game ahead. What does the United States expect will be the toughest part here in terms of trying to keep them united in the coming weeks and months?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Without a doubt, it's going to be reducing the European dependence on Russian oil and gas, on that Russian energy sector. Because as you said, they are very exposed to Russia economically and it's been difficult to get them all on the same page about the kinds of sanctions that they want to impose on Russia. That can actually hit Russia where it hurts.

[04:05:00]

Which of course is its energy sector. So, remaining on the same page about the kinds of sanctions they want to impose is going to depend an lot on what the European Union is willing to do with regard to its energy imports from Russia. Now the EU has said that they want to cut those gas imports from Russia by about two thirds this year.

And we are preparing to hear a significant announcement this morning about how the United States is going to work with countries and companies around the world to divert liquefied natural gas to Europe so that they can actually reduce their dependency on Russian energy.

Now this was a main topic of discussion yesterday we are told during the meetings with the G7, with EU leaders and with NATO allies. Because of course, they cannot continue to depend, they believe, on Russian energy if they actually want to isolate Russia from the international financial system and of course, punish them for their aggression in Ukraine. So, we do expect to hear -- according to the national security adviser, Biden's national security advisor -- a significant announcement this morning on how the United States is going to help them kick that habit.

And of course, the other major way the that U.S. is trying to help the European Union and NATO allies stay united in terms of its opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine, by taking on some of that burden when it comes to refugees. And the president did say yesterday that they are prepared to accept about up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. Which is a very, very high number, a very significant move here by the United States. Given that over 3 million refugees have already fled into the neighboring countries and put a really large burden on countries like Poland, for example. Of course, 100,000 is a small but significant dent in that number and they are hoping that they can do this this sooner rather than later as well as commit over $1 billion in two humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. So, basically trying to lessen the burden here so that the European Union and NATO allies can all stay on the same page about punishing Russia -- Paula.

NEWTON: And we will wait for the announcements, Natasha. We expect to hear more at the bottom of the hour. Natasha Bertrand for us, thank you. We want to go now to where the president will be next, that's Poland.

We find Kevin Liptak at Warsaw. Kevin, Biden will be in Poland, as you were saying, just in a few hours. He will be in fact just a few hundred miles away from the conflict. What's his mission in going to such close range now to a country that has now taken in more than 2 million refugees?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, what the president wants to do is really see much closer range what the effects of this war are. And some of the issues that were discussed at NATO yesterday, he will be able to see in a more fuller view when he comes to Poland, when he flies east onto the eastern flank of NATO and sort of experiences the unease that is being felt here as this war rages in Ukraine. And sort of the unsettled nature of things here.

And as you said, Refugees will be the main topic of discussion today when the president goes to a town in southeastern Poland. It's about 60 miles from the Ukrainian border. There he'll meet the Polish President Andrzej Duda. He'll host a roundtable with aid workers who have been facilitating this massive refugee flow from Ukraine. About 2.2 million people have fled the violence here. They are in to Poland.

It was only about a week and a half ago that Vice President Kamala Harris was also in Warsaw. She met with President Duda as well and he was very explicit in saying that he needed more support from the United States in dealing with this crisis and he needed the United States to expedite refugees to come to the U.S. who had family there. And now yesterday's announcement about those 100,000 refugees who would be admitted to the United States is a step in that direction. But certainly, there will be more to discuss about assistance to Poland as they wrestle with this refugee flow.

You know, the other issue that the president is certainly focused on is security assistance and reassuring Poland that NATO and the United States have its back as this war continues, and you heard some of those anxieties yesterday. The Polish prime minister decided that he mused potentially Vladimir Putin in one or two years could have his sights on Warsaw. So, when the president speaks with the 82nd Airborne that will be certainly him sort of reinforcing this notion that the United States is here to support Poland going forward -- Paula.

NEWTON: OK, Kevin, we'll wait for all of that to unfold in the coming hours. Appreciate it.

And now we want to go live to Ukraine and our Phil Black who's standing by for us. Phil, good to see you. Zelenskyy's pleas have been more urgent, right, and blunt. In fact, when you listened to him on Thursday, he was quite impatient. What is he asking for now in terms of military aid? And is there more of a realistic timeline for when the Ukrainian officials may get some of those reinforcements?

[04:10:00]

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Zelenskyy wants to, Paula, needs to even the fight. As we've seen on the battlefield repeatedly really, Ukraine's disadvantage is not in its commitment, its will to fight, it's in the hardware. So, when Zelenskyy was speaking to NATO leaders, he again said we want some big-ticket offensive items like tanks and planes.

But his allies don't want to give him those. They feel that could be escalatory from the Russian point of view. And these are also items and systems that need a lot of support. They can't be deployed easily. They're not going to make a quick impact on the battlefield. But he is likely to get more of what else is on his wish list, and in particular he will get more of those sophisticated light lethal defensive weapons that are already said to being used on the battlefield to such an effect by the Ukrainians. Those easy to train, easy to use antiaircraft missiles and antitank systems. Ukraine has told the U.S., Paula, that it needs about 500 of those every day.

NEWTON: All right, our thanks there to Phil Black who's live for us from Ukraine. Natasha Bertrand in Brussels and Kevin Liptak in Poland. Thank you all.

Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent for "The New York Times" and he is with us now from Berlin. And good to see you as we continue to follow now going into the second month of this conflict. We were just talking about the unity among the allies. Obviously, it's impressive and yet we're just a month in here, right. What could challenge that united front, especially as we expect this to go on at least for months, if not years?

STEVEN ERLANGER, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I think that's right. I mean, this is grinding. This is the way Russians do war. And I think the whole point of Biden's visit was to say, yes, we're a month in and we have a long way to go so don't get frantic now because, you know, we have 30 allies in NATO. There are 27 countries in the EU.

They all have different vulnerabilities. Some suffer more from our sanctions on Russia than perhaps even Russians do. Some are much more dependent on Russian energy. There's a lot of pressure, even on Germany, to block oil imports let alone gas imports. There's a recession coming. There's money to be spent on refugees.

So, I think, you know, part of really what Biden was doing was saying, look, let's hold our patience. Let's keep going. We know the pain in Russia is real. As he said in his press conference, these sanctions will cause pain. They could make him stop but it will take quite a long time.

NEWTON: Yes, and I know that that is the realistic view and yet, as you said, the sanctions are the long game so what happens in the meantime? You know, you wrote last week negotiations only work when a conflict reaches a stalemate or one side wins, right? I know people are throwing around the word stalemate. This is not a stalemate.

ERLANGER: This is not a stalemate. It is not a stalemate.

NEWTON: So, what brings us the diplomatic breakthrough here?

ERLANGER: Well, I'm sorry to say, I think it will take time. I mean, already the Russians and Ukrainians are talking. Zelenskyy wants to talk directly to Putin. Putin recognizes Zelenskyy now is not going away, but Putin is not ready to talk. He wants more gains on the ground. He has time. It's not going well for Russia, don't misunderstand me, but, I mean, without the stuff NATO countries, including the United States are pouring into Ukraine, I suspect the war would have been over before.

So, it is a very brave fight and I think in the end we'll see what Vladimir Putin decides is enough for victory. Because for him, he cannot be seen to lose. If he loses, he may lose everything. So, it's a big gamble. It makes him perhaps more reckless, which is why everyone is worried about him escalating possibly to use chemical, biological, even a tactical nuclear weapon -- though I'm personally skeptical about that. But we'll see. It's just he is not going to settle for talks now, not real talks and not for a while it seems to me.

NEWTON: Yes, and that has dire consequences of course, for Ukrainians on the ground there. And I wonder -- I just want to lean on some of your experience here. How destabilizing do you think any of this can be for Europe proper? I mean, I don't think when we say more than 2 million refugees in Poland.

[04:15:00]

OK, it's been a few weeks. It will be a few months and then a few years. I don't think people in other parts of the world appreciate what a burden that puts on a country like Poland.

ERLANGER: Paula, you're absolutely right. And yet Poland has been a friend to Ukraine for a very long time. Of course, Western Ukraine used to be Poland let's not forget. And so, there are a lot of family ties, religious ties, et cetera, ethnic ties. And the Poles care about this. And they're getting help from the EU. Biden promised them help.

And also, it's a different kind of migration. These are largely women and children. The men stayed home to fight. And so, you don't have the same kind of sometimes racist tropes that we had with the 2015 migration when a lot of young males were coming. And so, this feels different and also, there's a kind of patriotism at stake here and kind of solidarity. So, I think it's OK.

But the difficulty will come when the energy bills keep rising, when the gasoline prices keep rising. I mean, there are people, voters out there who are already very worried about their incomes and whose countries are very dependent on all of these higher energy prices and this is bound to have an effect and it could have a political effect.

This is what drove the yellow vests in France, the climate induced rise in the energy crisis. Well, now you have a climate crisis. You have a real war in Europe and this is changing minds. It's a shock. People haven't absorbed it. There are a lot of people who want it just to be over so they can go back to the way things were. I don't think we are going back to the way things were, not for a very long time.

NEWTON: Yes, and it will take, like you said, a little while yet for that to sink in with all of the implications. Steven Erlanger thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.

ERLANGER: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now the U.S. is getting ready to accept a new wave of Ukrainian refugees. As we were saying, we will have the details on that. Plus, a major increase in humanitarian aid.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: The U.N. now estimates nearly 3.7 million people have already fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Now with the exception of Belarus, all of the countries neighboring Ukraine have taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees. But Poland has by far received the most. More than 2 million according to the Polish border guard but many entering Poland are of course heading to other parts of Europe. Those now living in limbo are describing what they left behind and what they've lost. It is a lot. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUDMILA DORDIJENKO, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (through translator): My daughter is crying the whole time saying, mother, I'll come. I'm the only one in the house. I have two dogs and a cat. I took the smaller dog with me. But the shepherd dog and the cat stayed there. Then the house on the right to ours exploded and the wave threw me around.

NELA KOT, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (through translator): Our city is completely under siege. The more people get out, the sooner some street fighting will appear. It's because all of the neighborhoods around us have already been completely bombed out. When the power supply or water supply gets restored, that ends up being demolished the next day. It's a complete nightmare.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: And keep in mind, they just want to go home. The Biden administration announces the U.S. will take in up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and others fleeing Russian aggression. It also pledged more than $1 billion in aid for necessities like food, medicine and shelter.

Now Ukraine is accusing Russia, meantime, of putting the lives of Chernobyl nuclear plant workers at risk. The plant has been occupied by Russian troops. We remind you for more than a month now. But Ukraine told the U.N. Atomic Energy Agency that Russia recently shelled a nearby village where many of the workers live. Now according to Ukraine, that not only endangered those that will make sure the plant stays safe, but it also prevented their shift rotation. The attack came days after Russia allowed the workers who had been stuck at Chernobyl since his occupation to finally go home for the first time.

Now the U.S. issued a slew of new sanctions against Russian citizens Thursday. Among them, 328 members of the Russian Duma. And that's the lower house of the Russian parliament, by the way. And the sanctions also covered dozens of Russian defense companies and even the CEO of Russia's largest bank.

Now the U.S. has also indicted four Russian government operatives for hacking global energy facilities. The alleged hacks took place between 2012 and 2018. Three of the four Russians are intelligence officers.

Now with Russia coming under new sanctions and its ground campaign in Ukraine are largely stalled, at least forth moment. The man in charge of Russia's military is conspicuously, mysteriously gone from the public eye. Nina dos Santos has been following all of this from London for us. There has been a lot of speculation with in fact, even, you know, Russian state media weighing just to trying and alleviate the mystery. What do we know of the defense minister Shoigu?

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is that he hasn't been seen for 12 days up until yesterday when he briefly appeared in a teleconference with Vladimir Putin on the far right-hand corner of the screen, only for a fleeting few seconds, to update the president on how that so-called special military operation -- as the Kremlin describes the invasion of Ukraine -- is going. But it was only for a couple of seconds. If it weren't for his arm moving just sort of gesticulate, if you like, you might have thought that it was a static image on that televised conference.

[04:25:00]

Now what a lot of people have been speculating given the fact that Vladimir Putin is being routinely admonishing members of his intelligence operators also some members closer to the military as well about how the Ukraine invasion is going. You might have expected his relationship with Sergey Shoigu, up until now has been one of his closest allies, really, really close to President Putin. But that relationship might have suffered a little bit.

But so far is trying its best to put those types of rumors to bed. But there's also been rumors that Sergei Shoigu might actually be suffering from a heart complaint. So, it's appeared as though Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman yesterday, crushed those types of rumors and said, no, he's just busy with what is happening in Ukraine.

But the other thing is, we haven't seen the Russian chief, general staff of the armed forces, Valery Gerasimov, present on-air waves either. So, it's not just Shoigu. This points to a broader question about morale and the relationship between Vladimir Putin and his closer military lieutenants. As the casualties continued to mount, Ukraine says 15,000 Russian soldiers may have lost their lives already in just one month -- Paula.

NEWTON: Yes, and the plot thickens. Nina will continue to follow it. Thanks so much, appreciate it.

Now China publicly claims it's not taking a side in the Ukraine war. And Western leaders are hoping Beijing is serious about staying out of this fight. We'll get the view from Beijing when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: We are getting horrific new images from the embattled town of Izyum in eastern Ukraine. And now new satellite photos taken Thursday, show a massive crater near a burned-out school. Now part of a hospital across the street is also destroyed.