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White House Walks Back Biden's Remark That Putin Cannot Stay in Power; U.N. Says, 3.8 Million Have Fled Ukraine Since Russian Invasion Started; Will Smith Hits Chris Rock on Stage During Academy Awards. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 28, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: President Biden is now back in Washington looking to turn the page from unscripted remarks at the end of his speech in Poland Saturday, in which he appeared to call for the end of Vladimir Putin's leadership in Russia. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: President Biden himself has since clarified telling reporters no when asked if was not calling for regime change in Russia.

CNN's John Harwood is at the White House. Not the end of the speech that administration wanted coming from this trip back to Europe. I wonder where the White House stands on this. Do they view this as a mistake by the president?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question, Jim, that it was a mistake and it was a significant mistake. And it's striking in the context of how the president has managed this crisis.

One of the things that's drawn him praise from across the political spectrum of foreign policy specialist is his discipline, his discipline in maintaining allied unity, his discipline in not getting ahead of members of the European Union or NATO in taking steps to try to punish Vladimir Putin, his discipline in avoiding escalatory steps that, in the context of two nuclear superpowers, that you've got to be extremely careful as the commander-in-chief, so not going for responding to pressure, for example, for a no-fly zone.

But we also know that this is a president who wears his heart on his sleeve, who came into office with a reputation for sometimes being careless with his words, and that's what happened here. Now, the aides quickly and emphatically walked it back. Tony Blinken, Julianne Smith, the president himself has walked it back.

So, one of the questions is, does this have a significant impact? Some foreign policy specialists say no because the key issue is, is there a change in the war aims of the allies and Ukraine? And they said, no, there is not. Also, people have said Vladimir Putin has long assumed that the west wanted him gone.

On the other hand, does Vladimir Putin react in emotion or does somehow having articulated this make it more difficult to negotiate an end to the conflict? Those are things that we simply can't say at this moment but that was clearly a low point in terms of the president's management of the crisis.

SCIUTTO: John Harwood at the White House, thanks so much.

New this morning, a Kremlin spokesperson said that Biden's comments suggesting that Putin removed from power are concerning.

CNN's John Berman is live in Lviv, Ukraine, this morning for us. You spoke with the former Ukrainian president, Yushchenko, and we mentioned this last hour. This is what Yushchenko went through in 2004 when he had run for president, which helped launch one of the color revolutions there. He was poisoned, he believes, by Russians with dioxin. It showed up in his face that way. He's lucky to be alive.

So, how does he view, I wonder, John, this current crisis with Russia and Ukraine?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm so glad you showed that picture, because Victor Yushchenko, his personal history is so closely intertwined with that of Ukraine, the poisoning. His election was a key step in Ukraine trying to assert its independence overall from Russia.

He, by the way, said he perfectly approved of what President Biden said about Vladimir Putin no longer being in power, but I also thought it would be interesting to ask him, given his own history with poison, dioxin, a chemical agent, what he thinks the possibilities are that Vladimir Putin could attack his country with nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Mr. President, you met Vladimir Putin many times. You blame Russia for poisoning you, almost murdering you. Do you think Putin is capable or intends to use chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine?

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, POISONED IN 2004 AS CANDIDATE: If you ask me ten days ago, I would say, no, he wouldn't do that. Today, when his situation is deteriorating day by day, I would say today he is panicking.

[10:35:03]

He is sacking the whole range of his henchmen around him. And I wouldn't be surprised if he will actually command to use that type of weaponry against Ukraine, when we talk about chemical or nuclear weapons, the whole range of planning how to activate this type of weaponry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, a man with his own personal experience, Jim, saying, at this point, he thinks that Putin could be capable of anything. I mean, obviously, he has his own concerns about that.

SCIUTTO: No question. He just invaded a sovereign European country, right, with dramatic and deadly effect.

John Berman in Lviv, thanks so much.

We do just have this update into CNN, perhaps an important one. The mayor of Irpin, that is a suburb of Kyiv, says Ukrainian forces have now reclaimed the area from Russian forces. Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, the mayor said, quote, Irpin was freed last night. Now, we need to clear the town totally. There are wounded Russian soldiers. They are offering to surrender or they will be destroyed.

Irpin is a staging area for an attack. It's considered one of the key battles prior to Russia's attempt, at least, to encircle and perhaps assault the capital, Kyiv.

CNN cannot independently verify the claim. We will continue to follow the story, but a potentially significant development there.

Still ahead this hour, it was not enough to send help to Ukrainians from Chicago. Our next guest had to go there in person, intense work on the ground in Poland to help many of the millions of Ukrainians seeking safety. That's coming up.

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[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: This just into CNN. We are learning that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will participate remotely in Supreme Court arguments, this after missing arguments last week due to what a court spokesperson called an infection. No other details about his illness have been made public. Thomas spent nearly a full week in the hospital. He was released last Friday.

Back to our lead story, according to the U.N., 3.8 million Ukrainians have left their since February 24th, the start of the Russian invasion, that's nearly one in ten Ukrainians. And a growing number of volunteers, some from the U.S., are going to Eastern Europe to help with all those refugees as they seek shelter.

Joining me now is Ted Nims. He left the U.S. to volunteer first in Poland. He is now in Moldova. Thank you so much for joining us, Ted.

First, I just want to ask you what you're seeing there. I mean, the outflux, the exodus of Ukrainians, frankly, to save their lives and the lives of their loved ones has been monumental in terms of numbers. How are countries like Poland and Moldova handling it? TED NIMS, AMERICAN GIVING UKRAINIAN REFUGEES RIDES IN POLAND AND MOLDOVA: Jim, I was expecting a chaotic scene at the border. I went into Warsaw. I picked up Hertz rental SUV and drove to the main border crossing into Poland from Ukraine. And then I was really pleasantly surprised at the operation with Poland together NGOs have stood up there and really in just a matter of days. It's very organized.

The folks crossing the border now all get on to shuttle buses, which take them to a former supermarket that's been converted into a shelter where they're staging, and there's carts inside that provides the folks crossing the border an opportunity to get organized and coordinate their next step. And there's plenty of volunteers on hand who have been there for longer than I was or is and are staying there for some time. So, kudos to them.

SCIUTTO: No question. I wonder, as you speak to Ukrainians, do they believe they'll be able to go home, soon, ever?

NIMS: Well, the folks that I picked up did not speak much English. So, my conversations were mostly through translators or very simple English. Almost everyone I picked up left their husband or father at home. So, surely, they hope that their depart in Ukraine is temporary and they'll be able to reunite with their loved ones.

SCIUTTO: Yes. That is a fact of this war, right, that no one between ages of 18 and 60, military age males, can leave the country. So, this exodus is splitting up families.

In some of the pictures you shared with us, you're wearing a sweater, and that sweater has a special story. I wonder if you could share it with us.

NIMS: I visited Kyiv about ten years back. And, you know, when this invasion started, I went to my old pre-iPhone camera and tracked down a picture from Kyiv.

[10:45:01]

And it had sweater in it. And then when I -- as I was back in for this trip to Warsaw last week, I happened to come across the sweater buried in my closet deep. And I tossed it in my bag and wore it actually the first day that I made make pick-up of the Ukrainian family at the border. And then when I returned the next day from Warsaw back to the border, I tossed the sweater in the donation pile at the border.

SCIUTTO: One thing I had trouble conveying to folks back home from Ukraine when I returned was just the devastation. I mean, here's a peaceful country, modern country, friendly country that was being literally bombed and people running for their lives. Can you help explain that to folks watching right now?

NIMS: Oh, gosh. You know, most of the people I picked up were mothers of very young children. And you could just see the impact of, you know, what they had seen in body language. This stuff was hard to -- the first family I picked up, the mom brought no luggage. All she brought was the biggest stroller she had to protect her one month old son. One month. Jim, can you imagine that?

I picked up another family and the daughter, she -- over the course of the five-hour ride from the border to Warsaw, she had stomach problems many times during the ride. And who knows, maybe it was anxiety. And then, of course, it's not just what they've seen, it's leaving their father behind.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes. As I said to folks, you had to leave with one, maybe two bags. We met a family that had to put everything into two little kid backpacks. It's hard to imagine. Ted Nims, we do appreciate the work you're doing, and I'm sure folks watching now do as well.

And we'll be right back.

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[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: It was a stunning night at the Oscars, perhaps for all the wrong reasons. A scene people will likely remember most, not the one that the actor, Will Smith, won an Oscar for.

Here's the shocking moment as it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, OSCARS HOST: Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane II, can't wait to see it, all right?

That was a nice one. Okay. I'm out here -- uh-oh. Oh, wow. Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Hit him in the face.

CNN's Stephanie Elam was there. Tell us what it was like in the room, what was the reaction.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jim, everybody was flabbergasted. No one really thought it was real until you actually heard the smack and then you heard Will Smith yelling throughout the auditorium without a mic near him. You could hear him yelling, keep my wife's name out your bleep mouth, and he yelled it more than once. And so it was just completely shocking to hear that. And then looking at Chris Rock's reaction and you could see that that was real as well.

Of course, less than an hour later, he went on to win best actor, as everyone knew he was going to win for his portrayal of King Richard Williams in King Richard. He got on stage on talked about how love makes you do crazy things. He also mentioned Richard Williams and said he was a fiery defender of his family. He made some jokes in there to lighten it up but he was emotional. He was crying when he accepted this award.

Many people wondered if he would come back. That was also part of it. But he did and we should see him at the next Oscars, because whoever wins best actor presents best actress the following year.

Of course, we're waiting to see how the Academy fully responds to all of the things that transpired last night. But of all the things that transpired, I should note that right after this is when we saw best documentary, that is why Chris Rock was on stage at that moment and that is when Questlove won for Summer of Soul, which is his documentary that he directed. He was emotional, had a great speech, but so many people didn't even hear of it because of that.

And then you go on and you see that CODA won best picture. It's a film that people just love, also Troy Kotsur winning best supporting actor in that film as well. And he becomes the second deaf actor to win following his co-star in his movie, CODA, Marlee Matlin, who won back in the '80s.

So, it was a great night for that movie. People were very excited about it. And all the winners, you know, Will Smith apologized to his fellow nominees, but I do feel a lot of people who did win, some of their shine got taken away after that because everyone was so flabbergasted by what happened, Jim.

[10:55:07]

SCIUTTO: Yes. As you note, he apologized to fellow nominees, not to the man that he hit in the face on stage. Stephanie Elam, thanks so much.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan will start right after a quick break.

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