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Soon: Biden To Deliver "Major Address" As Refugee Crisis Escalates; Explosion Rock Lviv Ahead Of Biden's Speech In Nearby Poland; Biden: Ukraine On The Frontlines Of The Struggle For Freedom. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired March 26, 2022 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:00:40]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting today from Warsaw, Poland where moments from now President Joe Biden is set to deliver what the White House is calling a major address on the war in Ukraine. And you're looking at live pictures coming in the motorcade, the presidential motorcade heading over to the location right now.
The speech coming as we're watching also major developments on the ground, not in eastern Ukraine but in western Ukraine. CNN cameras live in Lviv as the city was just hit by a Russian -- by Russian missile strikes, one of them triggering clearly a massive explosion a -- at a fuel storage facility. At least five people were reportedly injured in this attack. The strikes are less than 60 miles or so from Ukraine's border with Poland where we are and the President United States is getting ready to make this major speech as well.
CNN has teams covering all of these late breaking developments in Ukraine as well as here in Poland. I want to go quickly to CNN's it as John Berman. He's going to anchor in our coverage in Lviv and western Ukraine. John, tell our viewers who may just be tuning in right now, what has just happened, where you are.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: OK. Where I am right now, we heard air raid sirens, oh, about a couple hours ago, followed by three blasts. And then the smoke started rising into the sky. It was a Russian airstrike on a fuel storage depot. You can see those pictures from a short time ago. That fuel storage depot on fire. I will tell you, I just heard something else. It's hard to discern because the wind is blowing very hard here right now.
So, occasionally we hear things that don't prove to be explosions. But it's possible there are more things happening now. But we heard those three blasts earlier, we saw this fuel storage tank ablaze. And you can see our CNN cameras gone to the scene to see the heroic efforts by the firefighters there to put it out. The mayor of Lviv said it did not hit a residential area, no residential structures were damaged. The regional governor said there are reports of five injuries. We're waiting for more information about that. But this fire is going to burn well throughout the night at that fuel storage facility. And it's the type of target that the Russians have been striking around the country. Trying to hit the logistical efforts of the Ukrainians. Now, it's notable that this strike happened in daylight in Lviv, one of the western most major cities. Wow, what you're looking at right now, President Biden is over the border in Poland.
I'm just an hour away from Poland. President Biden is scheduled any minute now to deliver a major address on the war in Poland. We'll bring that to you live as soon as it comes. It's from the castle there in Warsaw. Beautiful location for a speech. We expect to hear from President Biden very shortly. And the Russian airstrike here not that far away in broad daylight. Could it have been some kind of a message from the Russians showing that they can hit wherever they want, whenever they want? Who knows?
I am joined by CNN's Sam Kiley who just arrived in the city after traveling for months all over this country and seeing really the heated battles firsthand. Put this in context what we're seeing here tonight.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, well, it looks relatively small bear if you compare it to what's going on in Kharkiv or Mariupol, those cities that have been devastated in a wholesale way. But that would be a mistake. This is a very important strategic decision that has been taken to conduct the strike. I suspect nothing to do with Biden's visit to Poland. But everything to do with fuel.
Everything to do with trying to undermine the logistical ability of the Ukrainians to sustain themselves in the defense of their country. Why are the Russians choosing to do that? First of all, because they can't reach the far west with their regular military structures. They have to use their long-range precision missiles and then as you go further west, they're running into more and more difficulties.
Kiev has been saved. It may not be permanently saved depending on what the Belarusians do, if they join the fight that would be difficult, but there has been a counter attack in Kiev, there's a counter attack from the Ukrainians, they are claiming going on in Kharkiv.
[13:05:04]
KILEY: A city that has been almost flattened by the profligate use of dumb bombs. This was a smart bomb. What's going on in the west -- in the east of the country is the use of dumb bomb to try and break the will of the civilian population, that hasn't worked. And so clearly, and you've seen that here in the west of the country before, you know, with the strikes on training facilities and air facilities.
The efforts being made by the Russians to undermine the ability of the Ukrainians to continue to fight. I think that's really what you're seeing here, John. BERMAN: Sam Kiley, I appreciate you being with us. I just want to thank you for the work you've done over the last many weeks, all over this country. And thank you for joining us now as we're seeing these fires burn here behind us in Lviv. Let's go back to Wolf right now in Warsaw, as we see the president arriving for this, what we're told is major speech, Wolf.
BLITZER: It certainly will be a major speech according to the White House, John and Sam, guys, be careful over there. We will of course get back to you. We're going to set the scene for the President of the United States, the presidential motorcade has now arrived at the Royal Castle, here in Warsaw. The president will be getting ready to deliver the speech. So, Kaitlan Collins, our chief White House correspondent is with me.
Kaitlan, I think that the president has been briefed already on what is going on in Lviv.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We were actually just told by a White House official that the president was briefed. He's a few moments late leaving his hotel to go to the Royal Castle for this speech. A major speech the White House has been describing it as, Wolf. And of course, look at the timing here. Lviv is just about 200 miles from Warsaw, where President Biden is obviously planning to give this speech.
A culmination of his entire trip here. And our White House official has just confirmed that President Biden was briefed on this latest strike before leaving to give this speech. It remains to be seen, Wolf, it'll mention it during this speech which is obviously about to be -- was going to be about his whole trip here from Brussels, where he met with all of these world leaders to -- today where he spent a lot of time with these Ukrainian refugees who have been forced from their homes because of President Putin.
And now the strike happening just moments before he is set to give this speech, which is not just to Warsaw, not just to those in Lviv in Ukraine, but the entire world really is watching this speech. And it's a big moment for the White House. And they fully realize that. And of course, the timing of this strike happening just moments away to take the world stage. You can't ignore that, Wolf.
BLITZER: And it follows a very emotional moment that the president had meeting with Ukrainian refugees, little kids, older people, not too far for we are at this football stadium.
COLLINS: Absolutely. A moment today where you saw he came face to face with refugees, Ukrainian refugees for the first time since this invasion started. And he was going around meeting with little girls that he -- a little girl that he picked up, one woman. He put his hands on his shoulder and was listening to her speak and he -- the president doesn't speak Ukrainian. He acknowledged that he had someone coming around and translating.
But he still was saying he wanted to send a message to them, to talk to them about what they've gone through. And he was saying it really said something about the human spirit.
BLITZER: A very moving moment. Indeed. Phil Mattingly is over there at the Royal Castle. Set this eve for us so -- where you are, Phil. Give us a sense of what's going on.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. To give you a sense of kind of how the White House was trying to elevate this moment. There's about 1000 people here gathered in front of the stage. Obviously a very carefully calibrated and choreographed scene for the president to speak obviously, at the Royal Castle. Incredibly important symbol for the Polish nation, also a symbol of resilience for Eastern Europe, generally.
But inside the crowd, Wolf, this is the most interesting thing. You have local officials, you have members of Parliament, the Polish president, Duda will be here as well. But also, I'm told there will be Ukrainian refugees in the crowd. If you look into the crowd, there are people holding Polish flags, Ukrainian flags, American flag, some holding all three as well. And so, to get at the point that Caitlin was making about the intent of the speech, what the President is going for with these remarks.
The scene is certainly intended to back that up as well, as we've seen the crowd file in and as we expect to hear the president here in just a couple of minutes.
BLITZER: The crowd there you say about 1000 people. These are by invitation only? Is that Is that how these folks arrived?
MATTNIGLY: You know, what's interesting -- well, there's actually a crowd outside the castle as well that is gathered. But inside the castle there about 1000 people and it is by invitation. And that invitation is again, members of the Polish government, members of Parliament, local officials, the Polish president, but again, I think an interesting piece of this as Caitlin was laying out how the president had very personal interactions with refugees earlier today. There are refugees that were invited and are here in the crowd today as well, Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, that's significant as well. Let me set the scene a little bit more with Fred Pleitgen. He's joining us right now from Kiev, Ukrainian capital. I assume, Fred, folks in Ukraine are going to be really interested to hear what the President of the United States is about to just say.
[13:10:03]
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they certainly are going to be very interested. Certainly, the leadership of this country is going to be extremely interested, the regular people are going to be extremely interested, the military of this country are going to be interested very much as well. The Ukrainians have for a very long time said that they believe that their best ally in this war that Russia has unleashed on their country is the United States. It's been quite interesting because the leadership here understand that it's the U.S. that's really leading all of this, as far as the western world is concerned. As far as weapons deliveries are concerned, as far as policy is concerned. And of course, as far as uniting. The western alliance is concerned as well. President Biden, of course, is someone who is believed here to know Ukraine very well.
He was, of course, essentially the man responsible for Ukraine policy during the Obama administration. So, a lot of people, a lot of senior officials very familiar with President Biden, I think, by and large, many of them are very happy with the decisions that have been made on the part of the U.S. Of course, you hear the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy often say that he wants more, he wants a no-fly zone which obviously the U.S. is not willing to provide.
He wants, for instance, old Russian-made jets that some Eastern European countries still have. That, of course, haven't -- hasn't happened yet either. But by and large, the Ukrainians certainly say with the amount of javelins that they've gotten, Stinger missiles that they've gotten. They believe that they've gotten a lot of help from the United States. And officials that I've been speaking to say they are very thankful to the United States.
And so, therefore, of course, very interested to hear what the president is about to say to that crowd there at that very historic location there in the Polish capital, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. The Royal Castle indeed, they're getting ready for the President of the United States. You see, some of the invited guests there, you see some of the people who have organized this event, and it's going to be a significant speech indeed. Kaitlin Collins is with me, we're watching it very, very closely. And you can't ignore the fact that the Russians attacked a location about 60 miles or so from the Polish border just outside of Lviv.
COLLINS: You absolutely can't ignore it. And as John Berman was noting, you know, Lviv has been what -- is believed to have been a relatively safe space. Obviously, it's still well within Ukraine and they've been under complete attack for over a month now. But it has not been an area that has been hit as much as other parts of Ukraine. And so now the strike coming shortly before President Biden is set to speak is something you can ignore.
We don't know, obviously, what's buying the timing. We know the mayor of Lviv says it was a Russian strike on this industrial facility that's fuels -- that stores fuel. And President Biden was briefed on it. And that could have been why he was a little bit delayed in coming out to deliver the speech because he was (INAUDIBLE) or used to slip his hotel just a few moments before. He hasn't briefed on this. We'll see if he mentions it in this speech,
Wolf.
But this does come as a White House that said they don't believe this invasion is over anytime soon. This fight that has been happening inside Ukraine, they have warned, it's not going to be over soon, it's not going to be over easily. And that's been something they've grappled with and talked about as the President has been here on the ground.
BLITZER: Phil Mattingly is over there at the Royal Castle. Phil, I'm told that they work really, really hard carefully in drafting this prepared speech for the President of the United States. He got involved himself, obviously, as well. You got the President of the United States who's there, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the president's national security adviser, all of them have weighed in in making sure that this moment is critically important.
It's a pivotal moment in what's going on in the war in Ukraine clearly, and they want to make sure that the president says precisely the most important things.
MATTINGLY: Wolf, we've seen over the course of the last four days at various points, the president will riff on specific issues and give you some insight into I think the depth in which he wants to go in these remarks about this moment in time, the urgency of the moment, the stakes of this moment. And he wants to expound on that a lot. And in detail, trying to kind of underscore the reality of what's happening right now.
I think what's most interesting in Kaitlan can talk to this too, is this is a White House that doesn't do big events. They are mostly scripted. And as public remarks, they don't necessarily seek out the big stadiums, the big crowds, those types of things. This is different. This is -- this is very carefully planned. If you look behind me in terms of how the scene is set, they are doing everything they can to elevate these remarks.
Both and how they've described them, leading up to them, both in what you're talking about, and what we reported in terms of the preparation that went into them, but also the scene as well. Just where this is at the Royal Castle here in Warsaw. Such a critical place for this country, this critical NATO ally but also a critical piece of Eastern Europe which is very much in a different place than it was just a month ago, just two months ago, just three months ago.
And I think everything that's gone into this underscores that they really want this not just to be the capstone of a trip, Wolf, in a very important trip at that. But they want this to be a speech that is referred to in terms of President Biden's legacy, not just in his first year or second year but over time beyond just this moment, Wolf.
[13:15:12]
BLITZER: Yes. It's a very, very historic moment. Indeed. Because this Royal Castle, as you pointed out, it was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II and only in recent years, has it been completely rebuilt as a gesture, as a -- as a symbol of Polish history and polish tradition. Tell us -- I'm sure the president will get into that a little bit as well.
MATTINGLY: Yes. I think the -- you don't -- you don't set the scene and have this as your backdrop and not find a way to thread that into the remarks. I think there's no question about it. I think in terms of resilience, there's perhaps no better place in this country in particular, maybe in terms of Eastern Europe than this Royal Castle. Obviously, the history of Poland has very much been intertwined with the history of this castle over the course of hundreds of years.
But I think the point that you made in terms of the timing that stands out this -- the most is it was almost completely destroyed in 1939 by Nazi artillery. It was completely destroyed in 1944. And the resilience and rebuilding matters here, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, standby. I think they're about to introduce the President of the United States. They just said. Let's just hold on, Phil. He's coming out right now. Here comes the President of the United States. Let's listen in a major address on the war in Ukraine.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please have a seat. Be seated. If you don't, come up on stage. Thank you very much. It's a great honor to be here. Mr. President, they tell me you're over there somewhere. There you are. Thank you, Mr. President. Be not afraid. These are the first words at the first public address of the first Polish Pope after his election on October 1978.
There were the words would come to define Pope John II. Words that would change the world. John Paul brought the message here to Warsaw in his first trip back home, as Pope in June of 1979. It was a message about the power, the power of faith, the power of resilience, the power of the people. In the face of a cruel and brutal system of government. It was a message that helped them to sober repression in the central land in Eastern Europe 30 years ago.
It was a message that will overcome the cruelty and brutality of this unjust war. When Pope John Paul brought that message in 1979, the Soviet Union ruled with an iron fist behind an Iron Curtain. Then a year later, the Solidarity movement took hold in Poland. And while I know he couldn't be here tonight, we're all grateful in America and around the world for (INAUDIBLE) It reminds me of that phrase of philosopher Kierkegaard.
[Faith sees best in the dark. And there were dark moments. 10 years later, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Poland and Central and Eastern Europe would soon be free. Nothing about that battle for freedom was simple or easy. It was a long, painful slog fought over not days and months, but years and decades. But we emerged anew in the great battle for freedom. A battle between democracy and autocracy.
Between liberty and repression, between a rules-based order and one governed by brute force. In this battle, we need to be clear-eyed. This battle will not be won in days or months either. We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead. Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Mayor, members of the Parliament, distinguished guests, and the people of Poland, and I suspect some people of Ukraine that are here.
[13:20:09]
BIDEN: We're -- we are gathered here at the Royal Castle in this city that holds a sacred place in the history of not only of Europe, but humankind's unending search for freedom. For generations, Warsaw has stood where liberty has been challenged and liberty has prevailed. In fact, it was here in Warsaw when a young refugee who fled her home country from Czechoslovakia was under Soviet domination, came back to speak and stand in solidarity with dissidents.
Her name was Madeleine Korbel Albright. She became -- one of the most ardent supporters of democracy in the world. She was a friend with whom I served. America's first woman Secretary of State. She passed away three days ago. She fought her whole life for essential Democratic principles. And now, in the perennial struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are on the frontlines fighting to save their nation.
And their brave resistance is part of a larger fight for an essential Democratic principles that unite all free people, the rule of law, air and free elections. The freedom to speak, to write, and to assemble, the freedom to worship as one chooses, freedom of the press. These principles are essential in a free society. But they have always -- they have always been under siege. They've always been embattled. Every generation has had to defeat democracy's mortal foes.
That's the way of the world for the world is imperfect, as we know. Where the appetites and ambitions of a few forever seek to dominate the lives and liberties of many. My message to the people of Ukraine is the message I delivered today to Ukraine's Foreign Minister and Defense Minister who I believe are here tonight. We stand with you. Period. Today's fighting in Kyiv and Mariupol and Kharkiv are the latest battle in a long struggle.
Hungary, 1956, Poland, 1956, and then again 1981, Czechoslovakia, 1968. Soviet tanks crushed Democratic uprisings, but the resistance continued until finally in 1989, the Berlin Wall and all of the walls of Soviet domination, they fell. They fell. And the people prevailed. But the battle for democracy could not conclude and did not conclude with the end of the Cold War. Over the last 30 years, the forces of autocracy have revived all across the globe.
Its hallmarks are familiar ones, contempt for the rule of law, contempt for Democratic freedom, contempt for the truth itself. Today, Russia has strangled democracy, has sought to do so elsewhere, not only in its homeland. Under false claims of ethnic solidarity, it has invalidated neighboring nations. Putin has the gall to say he's denazifying Ukraine. It's a lie. It's just cynical. He knows that. And it's also obscene. President Zelenskyy was democratically elected.
He's Jewish. His father's family was wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust. And Putin has the audacity, like all autocrats before him, to believe that might will make right. In my own country, a former president named Abraham Lincoln voiced the opposing spirit to save our union in the midst of a civil war. He said, let us have faith that right makes might. Right makes might. Today, let us now have that faith again.
Let us resolve to put the strength of democracies into action to thwart the denigns of our -- the designs of autocracy. Let us remember that the test of this moment is the test of all time. The Kremlin wants to portray NATO enlargement as an imperial project aimed at destabilizing Russia. [13:25:09]
BIDEN: Nothing is further from the truth. NATO is a defensive alliance. It has never sought the demise of Russia. In the lead-up to the current crisis, the United States and NATO worked for months to engage Russia to avert a war. I met with him in person and talked to him many times on the phone. Time and again, we offered real diplomacy and concrete proposals to strengthen European security, enhance transparency, and build confidence on all sides.
But Putin and Russia met each of the proposals with disinterest in any negotiation, with lies and ultimatums. Russia was bent on violence from the start. I know not all of you believed me and us when we kept saying, they are going to cross the border. They are going to attack. Repeatedly, he asserted, we have no interest in war. Guaranteed he would not move. Repeatedly saying he would not invade Ukraine.
Repeatedly saying Russian troops along the border were there for training, all 180,000 of them. There is simply no justification or provocation for Russia's choice of war. It's an example of one of the oldest of human impulses, using brute force and disinformation to satisfy a craving for absolute power and control. It's nothing less than a direct challenge to the rule-based international order established since the end of World War II.
And it threatens to return to decades of war that ravaged Europe before the international rule-based order was put in place. We cannot go back to that. We cannot. The gravity of the threat is why the response of the west has been so swift and so powerful and so unified, unprecedented, and overwhelming. SWIFT and punishing costs are the only things that are going to get Russia to change its course.
Within days of its invasion, the west had moved jointly with sanctions to damage Russia's economy. Russia's Central Bank is now blocked from the global financial systems, denying Kremlin's access to the war fund, it stashed around the globe. We've aimed at the heart of Russia's economy by stopping the imports of Russian energy to the United States. To date, the United States has sanctioned 140 Russian oligarchs and their family members, seizing their ill-begotten gains, their yachts, their luxury apartments, their mansions.
We've sanctioned more than 400 Russian government officials, including key architects of this war. These officials and oligarchs have reaped enormous benefit from the corruption connected to the Kremlin. And now they have to share in the pain. The private sector is acting as well. Over 400 private multinational companies have pulled out of doing business in Russia, left Russia completely, from oil companies to McDonald's.
As a result of these unprecedented sanctions, the ruble almost is immediately reduced to rubble. The Russian economy -- that's true, by the way. It takes about 200 rubles to equal one dollar. The economy is on track to be cut in half in the coming years. It was ranked, Russia's economy was ranked the 11th biggest economy in the world before this evasion -- invasion. It will soon not even rank among the top 20 in the world. Taken together, these economic sanctions are a new kind of economic statecraft with the power to inflict damage that rivals military might. These international sanctions are sapping Russian strength, its ability to replenish its military, and its ability -- its ability to project power. And it is Putin, it is Vladimir Putin who is to blame, period. At the same time, alongside these economic sanctions, the Western world has come together to provide for the people of Ukraine with incredible levels of military, economic, and humanitarian assistance.
In the years before the invasion, we, America, had sent over $650 million before they crossed the border, in weapons to Ukraine, including anti-air and anti-armor equipment. Since the invasion, America has committed another $1.35 billion in weapons and ammunition.
[13:30:04]
BIDEN: And thanks to the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian people. The equipment we've -- (APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: -- the equipment we've sent and our colleagues have sent have been used to devastating effect to defend Ukrainian land and air space.
Our allies and partners have stepped up as well.
But as I've made clear, America forces are in Europe. Not in Europe to engage in conflict with Russian forces. American forces are here to defend NATO allies.
Yesterday, I met with the troops that are serving alongside our Polish allies to bolster NATO's frontline defenses.
The reason we want to make clear is their movement on Ukraine. Don't even think about moving on one single inch of NATO territory!
We have sacred obligations --
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: We have a sacred obligation under Article 5 to defend each and every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power.
And earlier today, I visited your national stadium where thousands of Ukrainian refugees are now trying to answer the toughest questions a human can ask. My god, what's going to happen to me? What's going to happen to my family?
I saw tears in many of the mothers' eyes as I embraced them. Their young children, young children not sure whether to smile or cry.
One little girl said, "Mr. President" -- she spoke a little English -- "My brother and my daddy, are they going to be OK? Will I see them again?" Without their husbands and fathers, in many cases, brothers and
sisters who stayed back to fight for their country.
I didn't have to speak the language or understand the language to feel the emotion in her eyes, the way they gripped my hand, little kids hung onto my legs, praying for with a desperate hope that all this is temporary.
Apprehension that they may be perhaps forever aware from their homes. Almost a debilitating sadness that this is happening all over again.
I was also struck by the generosity of the people of Warsaw, for that matter, all the Polish people, to the depths of their compassion, their willingness to reach out, opening their hearts --
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Opening their heart and their opening their hearts and their homes simply to help.
I also want to thank my friend, the great American chef, Jose Andres, and his team for help feeding those who are yearning to be free.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: But helping these refugees is not something Poland or any other nation should carry alone. All the world democracies have a responsibility to help. All of them.
And the people of Ukraine can count on the United States to lead its responsibility.
I announced two days ago we well welcome 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. We already have 8,000 a week coming to the United States of other nations -- nationalities.
We'll provide nearly $300 million of humanitarian assistance, providing tens of thousands of tons of food, water, medicine, and other basic supplies.
In Brussels, I announced the United States is prepared to provide more than $1 billion for additional humanitarian aid.
The World Food Program proposes, despite significant obstacles, at least some relief is getting to major cities in Ukraine. But not Mariupol because Russian forces are blocking relief supplies.
We will not cease our efforts to get humanitarian relief wherever it is needed in Ukraine and for the people who made it out of Ukraine.
Notwithstanding brutality of Vladimir Putin, let there be no doubt that this war has already been a strategic failure for Russia. Already.
(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: As I know loss myself, I know that's no solace to the people who have lost family. But he, Putin, thought Ukrainians would roll over and not fight. Not much of a student of history.
Instead, Russian forces have met their match with brave and stiff Ukrainian resistance. Rather than breaking Ukrainian resolve, Russia's brutal tactics have strengthened their resolve!
[13:35:04]
Rather than driving NATO apart, the West is stronger and more united than it's ever been!
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Russia wanted less of NATO presence on his border, but now he has a stronger, a larger presence with over 100,000 American troops here, along with all the other members of NATO.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: In fact, Russia's managed to cause something I'm sure he never intended. The democracies of the world are revitalized with purpose and unity found in months that we've once taken years to accomplish.
It's not only Russia's actions in Ukraine that remind us of democracy's blessing. It's our own country, his own country, the Kremlin.
He's jailing protesters, 250,000 people allegedly already left. There's a brain drain leaving Russia.
Shutting down independent news. State media is all propaganda. Blocking images of civilian targets, mass graves, starvation tactics of the Russian forces in Ukraine.
Is it any wonder that 200,000 Russians have already left their country in one month? A remarkable brain drain in such a short period of time.
Which brings me to my message to the Russian people. I've worked with Russian leaders for decades. I sat across the negotiation table, going all the way back to Soviet election proceedings, to talk arms control at the height of the Cold War.
I've always spoken directly and honestly to you, the Russian people. Let me say this if you're able to listen. You, the Russian people, are not our enemy.
I refuse to believe that you welcome the killing of innocent children and grandparents or that you accept hospitals, schools, maternity wards and, for god's sake, being pummeling of Russian missiles and bombs.
Or cities being surrounded so that civilians cannot flee. Supplies cut off, attempting to starve Ukrainians into submission. Millions of families are being driven from their homes, including half
of all Ukraine's children. These are not the actions of a great nation.
Of all people, you, the Russian people, as well as all people across Europe, still have the memory of being in a similar situation in the late '1930s and '1940s.
The situation of World War II, still fresh in the minds of many grandparents in the region.
Whatever your generational experience, whether the experience of the seize of Leningrad, or heard about it from your parents or grandparents, train stations overflowing with terrified families, fleeing their home.
Nights sitting in the basement or the cellar. Mornings, sitting through the rubble of their homes.
These are not memories of the past, not anymore. Because it's exactly what the Russian army is doing if Ukraine right now.
March 26, 2022, just days before we're at the -- before you were a 21st century nation, with hopes and dreams that people have all over the world for themselves and their families.
Now Vladimir Putin's aggression have cut you, the Russian people, off from the rest of the world. It's taking Russia back to the 19th century.
This is not who you are. This is not the future you deserve for your families and your children.
I'm telling you the truth. This war is not worthy of you, the Russian people.
Putin can and must end this war. The American people will stand with you and the brave citizens of Ukraine who want peace.
My message to the rest of Europe, this new battle for freedom has already made a few things crystal clear.
First, Europe must end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. And we, the United States, will help.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: That's why, just yesterday, in Brussels, I announced a plan with the president of the European Commission to get Europe through the immediate energy crisis.
Over the long term, as a matter of economic security and national security for the survivability of the planet, we all need to move as quickly as possible to clean and renewable energy.
And we'll work together to help get that done so that the days of any nation being subject to the whims of a tyrant for its energy needs are over.
They must end. They must end.
And, second, we have to fight the corruption coming from the Kremlin to give the Russian people a fair chance.
[13:40:02]
And, finally, the most urgently, we maintain absolute unity in the world's democracies.
It's not enough to speak with rhetorical flourish of ennobling words of democracy, of freedom, equality, and liberty. All of us, including here in Poland, must do the hard work of democracy each and every day.
My country as well. That's why --
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: That's why I came to Europe again this week with a clear and determined message for NATO, for the G-7, for the European Union, for all freedom-loving nations.
We must commit now to be in this fight for the long haul. We must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after, and for the years and decades to come.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: It will not be easy. There will be costs. But it's a price we have to pay because the darkness that drives autocracy is no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere.
Time and again, history shows that, in some of the darkest moments, the greatest progress follows. And history shows this is the task of our time, the task of this generation.
Let's remember the hammer blow that brought down the Berlin Wall. The might that lifted the Iron Curtain were not the words of a single leader. It was the people of Europe, who, for decades, fought to free themselves.
Their sheer bravery opened the border between Austria and Hungary, for the pan-European picnic. They joined hands for the Baltic way. Thay stood for solidarity here in Poland.
But together, it was an unmistakable, undeniable force of the people that the Soviet Union could not withstand.
And we're seeing it once again today, the brave Ukrainian people showing that their power of many is greater than the will of any one dictator.
(APPLAUSE) BIDEN: So in this hour, let the words of Pope John Paul burn as brightly today: Never, ever give up hope. Never doubt. Never tire. Never be discouraged. Be not afraid.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people's love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down the will to be free.
Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia where free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness.
We'll have a different future, a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle, hope and light, of decency and dignity, of freedom of possibilities.
For god's sake, this man cannot remain in power.
God bless you all. And may God defend our freedom.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: And may God protect our troops.
(APPLAUSE)
BIDEN: Thank you for your patience. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
BIDEN: Thank you.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right. There you have it.
He ends, the president of the United States, with very strong words, "This man cannot remain in power." Repeatedly referring to Putin of Russia as a dictator.
Opening up his remarks with, "Be not afraid," from Pope John Paul. And concluding those remarks with those same words.
Kaitlan Collins, you listened carefully. It was less than a half of an hour. But arguably, perhaps the most important speech of his presidency so far. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It might be the
biggest speech he ever gives as president, Wolf. The most significant certainly this far.
That line at the end, President Biden saying, "For god's sake, this man cannot remain in power," that is not something we have heard from President Biden so far throughout this.
Obviously, sending a clear message to President Putin in a speech that was completely centered around democracy.
A religious speech coming out and saying, "Be not afraid," quoting the first Polish pope, Pope John Paul II.
And going on and saying what's really at stake here, laying out the stakes here, saying, this is a moment, not just a test in this moment, a test of all time.
And talking about democracy, Wolf, in this fight that he has been talking about since he took office but that has taken on such a different meaning.
And saying that what Putin has done, it's done more in the last few months to reinvigorate and revitalize democracies around the globe than sometimes happens in years.
[13:45:06]
And criticizing Putin, saying this is someone who thinks might makes right, saying that is an ideology shared by all autocrats.
And going after him, speaking directly to the Russian people at times, saying that they're not blamed for this. And that he obviously doesn't think that they support what Putin is doing in Ukraine. But speaking directly to them.
But that line at the end directly to Putin, I think, is the standout line from that entire speech -- Wolf?
BLITZER: He made it clear he wants Putin gone, basically. I haven't heard that from this president at all, anything along those lines.
COLLINS: It's not that surprising given what we were saying earlier. He's called him a war criminal, a pure thug, a ruthless dictator --
BLITZER: A butcher today.
COLLINS: A butcher. But saying there, "This man cannot remain in power."
And making a direct call to the Russian people, saying, you will be supported by the United States of America, by Ukrainians, by everyone in this fight.
That is a standout line there -- Wolf? BLITZER: He made it clear that he's not against the Russian people. He
supports the Russian people. But they've got to get rid of Putin right now.
He says 200,000 Russians have already fled the country. And he calls it a brain drain, as a result of what Putin has done in this brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Phil Mattingly, you're there at the event. Gives your sense. What did we just see and what did we just hear?
MATTINGLY: Yes, Wolf, I'm as struck as Kaitlan is. It was a little bit of a wow moment, that comment, saying President Putin shouldn't remain as leader of Russia.
That the administration's official position is not regime change, it's obviously not something he explicitly endorsed there. But he implicitly did in some degree.
And that is a shift, no question about it.
But it's one that underscores, I think, a darkening view that the president has had and very clearly laid out over the course of the last several weeks about a man he's never trusted in President Putin.
Overall, look, Wolf, I think the way he started it was so important and poignant given where we are. Obviously, Pope John Paul II, Polish pope, was an outspoken critic of Communism throughout his time.
Even when he was warned to stay away from Poland. He made the first papal trip to Poland, to his native country. And putting it through that frame.
I think the administration has been very cautious about any ideas of a new Cold War, particularly with China, a new Cold War with Russia.
But that was very clearly the frame here, which lines up with the frame through which he's kind of operated his entire presidency to this point, the autocracy versus democracy frame.
But I also think, Wolf, this was a point that officials made clear he wanted to underscore with these remarks, that this isn't easy, this isn't something that countries can just give lip service to or talk about.
It's something that takes work on a daily basis. And it's something that will create pain as well. We're seeing it on the economic side of things right now. And that is likely to continue.
Yet, the unity has to be sustained in order to accomplish the goals that the president laid out.
And that's not just a domestic issue. That's a European, writ large, Western democracies and that alliance type of issue.
So the president laying that all out in detail. Certainly critical, certainly the message he wanted to deliver here tonight.
But that call at the end in terms of Putin, that was something, no question about it.
BLITZER: Yes. Obviously, those words, "This man cannot remain in power," very, very strong words.
Fred Pleitgen is joining us from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
Fred, he basically said earlier in his remarks that Putin is a liar, that repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the war, the Russians had deployed about 180,000 troops, he says, along the border of Belarus and elsewhere along the borders with Ukraine.
And Putin kept saying, oh, they're just training exercises, war games, it's not a big deal, when the U.S. was repeatedly saying they're going to invade. U.S. Intelligence was correct, they did invade.
And these were powerful, powerful words that the president of the United States uttered in blasting Putin.
PLEITGEN: Yes. I think you're absolutely right, Wolf. Those are extremely powerful words.
I'm sure President Zelenskyy, of this country, very keenly heard those words as will many residents of the city I'm in right now.
And, Wolf, as I'm speaking to you, we are once again hearing some massive fighting going on close to where we are, some massive outgoing artillery and what could be incoming thuds as well.
As President Biden delivered those very strong remarks, obviously the fighting still very much continuing.
I think some of the things President Biden said would resonate not just with folks in Ukraine but, in general, with a lot of these countries in eastern Europe.
That have been trying to counter some of those power moves that the Putin administration and Vladimir Putin himself has been making over the past couple years.
We have to understand that Poland and Ukraine have had gigantic unity over the past 20, 30 years.
[13:50:04]
But when it comes to the smaller countries in eastern Europe, you'll recall, for instance, when the Russians invaded Georgia in 2008, it was the Ukrainians and the Poles, who, together with some other countries, launched a mission to go to Tbilisi.
I think that you covered that at the time. To go to Tbilisi and then meet with the then president. And the same thing, of course, happening now that Ukraine is under fire.
Poland, once again, taking the lead there and bringing its leadership here to Kyiv not long ago to speak with President Zelenskyy.
So President Biden choose exactly the right words there, acknowledging what Poland is doing, acknowledging the way that Poland, for decades, has stood up to Moscow.
During the Soviet Union times and the Iron Curtain times when the Poles had challenged the solidarity of their own Communist Party and afterwards as well.
Really standing strong for freedom in eastern Europe. And I think that is something that unites Poland and Ukraine at this time.
It is also one of the reasons why so many people from Ukraine are finding such a warm welcome there in Poland.
I think that President Biden, obviously, he was absolutely correct to point it out. And a lot of people here will have been happy to hear that.
And a lot of people here also will very much understand a lot of the aid and the help that the United States is providing to this country, the weapons deliveries that have gone on already.
Certainly, from the forces that I have been speaking to on the ground. They say that a lot of U.S.-provided weapons have been absolutely key to the fact we're still here in capital of Kyiv.
And the Russians forces are not here and, in fact, are being pushed back -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes. That is really important as well. Standby.
I want to bring in CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Major General Paul Eaton.
At one point in his remarks, General, the president said that this war is going to gone and it is not over by any means.
He said, "We stand with you, period," talking to the people of Ukraine, "We stand with you, period."
It was significant to hear the president conclude - and I want to get your reaction to those words -- when he said, "This man cannot remain in power," referring to Putin. And an hour or two earlier in the day, he called him a butcher.
MAJ. GEN. PAUL EATON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Indeed, Wolf. The Russian people are the critical point here. They are the center of gravity, if you will, for the fight that we have right now between the West and Russia, between NATO and Russia.
And bringing the message to the Russian people is vital. It is enduring. And we have to break through that to get that message through.
And to announce to them that the fight is not with you. It is with Mr. Putin. And Putin's days are numbered.
We have to wrap this up. And we have to encourage the Russian people to act on those words.
BLITZER: What does it say, from the military perspective, when the commander-in-chief, General Eaton, when the commander-in-chief says, of the Russian leader, that he cannot remain in power?
From a military perspective, what does that say to you?
EATON: Wolf, when we started the Army National War College, the college where we take the 42-year-olds, 43-year-olds, we are greeted with welcomed with military practitioners of the military art.
We are going to talk about that. But we're also going to talk about the economic, diplomatic and cyber components of national power, information operations.
So right now, in the Pentagon, I am confident that the J-5 folks are taking a long hard look at what is on the shelf.
And they are going to work very carefully and very hard with the State Department, with the Department of Treasury, and with our lettered agencies who world the world of cyber, to come up with the overarching integrated plan.
That will bring to bear all of the American components of power to address the instructions that they just got from the commander-in- chief.
BLITZER: Yes, that is a pretty blunt instruction right there.
General, standby.
Fred Pleitgen is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
I understand, Fred, you are getting some reaction to what we just heard from the president?
PLEITGEN: Yes, you are absolutely right. I have been messaging with the spokesman for the Kremlin, with Dmitry Peskov, and they were also watching the speech that President Biden just gave.
And with the comments of, "This man cannot remain in power," of course, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
[13:55:02]
And I just got a comment back from Dmitry Peskov. Again, this is the spokesman of the Kremlin. And he's saying -- this is the quote here:
"This is not to be decided by Mr. Biden. It should only be a choice of the people of the Russian Federation."
And obviously, the Russians are not happy with that comment. As they have not been, of course, with some of the other comments as President Biden has been upping the rhetoric against Vladimir Putin.
Where he's been saying, calling the Russian president a brute, saying that he was a bully, very critical of the Russian president, and escalating the language.
And the Russians very quick to react to this, obviously. They have been paying attention it as well, once again. Essentially saying that this is none of the business of President Biden and only up to the Russians themselves to decide.
As you can see, the Russian also saying, Wolf, and having been saying over the past couple of weeks, that they believe that the relations between the U.S. and Russians are at a point lower than pretty much at any time since the fall of the Iron Curtain.
And the Russians are increasingly saying that they believe that these relations are reaching a point that they believe it is beyond being able to mend these relations.
Now, of course, the thing that they don't acknowledge is obviously the fact that this invasion of Ukraine plays a big role in all of that.
But you can really see the rhetoric getting more vicious on the part of the Russian. And now, clearly, they are not happy at all with the comments that President Biden just made in that speech -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, they were powerful words, indeed, and very powerful words, indeed.
Kaitlan, I wanted to get your thoughts.
At one point, President Biden said noted that the Russians kept saying they were simply going after the Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. And then we heard President Biden say what a lie that is. And he noted that President Zelenskyy is Jewish.
COLLINS: Yes, he noted that, and completely refuted everything that Putin is saying to try to justify this.
I cannot say how surprising it was to hear President Biden there, at the end, advocate for regime change in Russia.
That is something that Wendy Sherman, the deputy of secretary of state, was asked about by our John Berman on our air. And she said that was not something they were supporting. They were not advocating for regime change. That was a choice for the Russian people to make.
And for President Biden to come out to say that, to end the trip by saying that Putin cannot remain in power is an incredibly strong statement, one that we were not expecting President Biden to make.
I think, if you are looking at the level of confrontation between the United States and Russia, laying out there, they are not in an active war. That's obviously something they have stopped short of doing.
But for them at such complete odds. And the idea that just less than a year ago, we were in Geneva and a summit between the two, and obviously, they were not on the same page. But they were still meeting in person and had those kinds of relations --
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: They were shaking hands and everything.
COLLINS: They were shaking hands. They were trying to level with one another.
And for President Biden now, less than year later, be in a space, where he is in Warsaw calling for a regime change is a remarkable, remarkable moment.
Where it's a shift from where the White House has been and certainly a shift from where President Biden has been.
But speaking directly to the Russian people there. You say in the press conference responding to Fred that it's a choice for the Russian people to make.
President Biden was speaking to them directly, saying, if you can hear what I am saying -- and there's a lot of censorship in Russia -- if you can hear what I am saying. And then to end that speech calling for regime change is quite a moment.
BLITZER: It was a message to the Russian people.
And at one point, he noted that the Ruble had become rubble as a result of the sanctions that not only the U.S. has imposed but so much of the rest of the world.
COLLINS: Yes. And saying this is such a test not just of this moment, and not just about Ukraine. I think that was part of the speech as well.
This is a speech where the world is his audience. And he was saying that this is not just a test of right now, but it is a test of all time.
Such a historical speech, Wolf. He went back to the fall of the Berlin Wall and talking about the Iron Curtain and using all of the moments to really put this in a context of what this means for history.
That is why, you were talking, we do believe it is likely one of the biggest speeches that he will every give during in his time in office.
BLITZER: We anticipated -- the White House kept saying it would be a major address. And we noted -- we quoted the White House saying that.
And it was a major address. And as we say, may have been the most important speech he has given so far, but maybe the most important of his presidency.
COLLINS: One thing I'll be interested to know is if that line about "Putin cannot remain in the power," was in the remarks, in the prepared remarks or if that was something that President Biden added at the end.
BLITZER: Yes. He's called him a thug, a dictator, a war criminal. Today, he called him a butcher. And I don't think you want to sit down and shake hands and have a meeting with a butcher.
COLLINS: Yes. That is the big question of whether or not or when they would speak again and what that would mean.
[13:59:53]
You've seen Putin have these conversations with world leaders. And they have not reacted well, obviously, when Biden has called him those names, pure thug, a ruthless dictator.
BLITZER: A war criminal.
COLLINS: And now calling for regime change -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Major, major developments, indeed.
