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Ukraine's Zelenskyy To Address Australian Lawmakers; Ukrainian Forces Claim To Retake Sloboda From Russians; Ukraine: Chernihiv Under Fire From Russian Attacks; Pentagon: Russian Attacks On Mariupol "Devastating"; CNN Gets Close-Up Look At Destruction In Kyiv Suburbs; Mayor: City Of Irpin Stood Up To The Russian Military; Russia Keeps Up Attacks Despite Pledge To Scale Back; At Least Five Killed In Russian Strike On Mykolaiv; U.S.: Some Russian Forces Have Withdrawn From Chernobyl; Russia Announces Evacuation Corridor From Mariupol; U.N.: More Than 4 Million Refugees Flee Fighting; Ukrainians Reluctant To Leave Home Arriving In Hungary. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired March 31, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:35]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Hala Gorani, reporting live from Lviv, Ukraine.

Let's bring you up to speed with the very latest. And we begin with breaking news. Ukraine's president is scheduled to address Australian lawmakers this hour. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to appeal for more military support as Russia keeps up its attacks on Ukraine, despite that promise to scale back.

A CNN crew on the ground in Kyiv reports repeated attacks in the suburbs around the capital. This video is from Irpin where the mayor says half of the city is destroyed and that the shelling is near constant.

Farther north, Ukrainian forces claim they have recaptured a town on the outskirts of Chernihiv, that's one of the areas where Russia promised to reduce its military assault. But President Zelenskyy credits Ukrainian fighters, not a Russian pullback.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): This is not a retreat. This is the result of the work of our defenders who pushed them back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Authorities in Chernihiv say Russian attacks have not let up. The city has no electricity, no water, no comms (ph). Russian tanks stationed in some villages have left residents isolated without food or medicine. The mayor spoke with CNN. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR VLADYSLAV ATROSHENKO, CHERNIHIV, UKRAINE (through translator): They actually have increased the intensity of strikes. Yes, today

we've had a colossal mortar attack on the center of Chernihiv. Twenty five people have been wounded and are now in hospital. They're all civilians.

Russia says that it is fighting the Ukrainian armed forces. That's another lie, because Russia is deliberately exterminating civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, Ukraine says at least 15 people were killed in a strike on a government building in Mykolaiv in the South. Special emergency response team is leading the rescue operation there.

The Ukrainian port of Mariupol is key to linking territory held by Russian backed separatists in the East with Crimea in the South is when one of the hardest hit cities so far as the Russian invasion now enters its fifth week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PRESS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PENTAGON: It's devastating what we're seeing there and the place is just being

decimated from a structural perspective by the onslaught of Russian airstrikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Meanwhile, a U.S. official tells CNN that the Biden Administration believes Vladimir Putin is being misinformed about Russia's military performance in Ukraine. This is according to U.S. Intelligence sources. Now, the sources say that Putin's senior advisors are simply too afraid to tell him the truth.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen and his team traveled outside the Capital Kyiv to get a closer look at the fighting and the destruction, and we want to let you know his report does contain some graphic video.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Through heavily fortified checkpoints, we reached the edge of Kyiv at the suburb Irpin.

Suddenly, on top of the artillery barrages, we hear gunfire. Much closer and we have to take cover. This is what it sounds like after Russia said it has scaled down its military operations around Kyiv. Even in the calmer moments, the big guns are never silent.

This is the final checkpoint before you would reach the district of Irpin. But it's impossible for us to go there right now simply because it's much too dangerous. It's also impossible for the people who lived there to come back to their homes because there's still so much shelling going on, and so much unexploded ordinance still on the ground. Irpin was heavily contested between Russian and Ukrainian forces as

Vladimir Putin's troops attempted to push through to Kyiv. Now, the Ukrainian say they've pushed the Russians back taken control and released this graphic video of the aftermath. Buildings and cars destroyed, dead bodies still lying in the streets.

Ukraine Security Emergency Service has now also released this video, showing rescuers taking out at least some of the dead while under fire from Russian artillery.

[02:05:05]

PLEITGEN: Some of the remaining residents were also brought to safety including many children, Irpin's Mayor tells me.

MAYOR OLEKSANDR MARKUSHIN, IRPIN, UKRAINE (through translator): Now, Irpin is a 100 percent Ukrainian. We are taking out the wounded and dead bodies. Today and yesterday we evacuated approximately 500 people. Today, I, myself evacuated about 50 children and 100 adults.

PLEITGEN: The evacuees are brought to this base outside of Irpin. It's not only people, aid groups are now also evacuating the animals left behind when their owners had to flee, including these puppies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have volunteers who are going under the fire and picking animals on the streets.

PLEITGEN: Under fire going into Irpin and picking animals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, yes.

PLEITGEN: The Ukrainian army says it's in the process of pushing Russian troops further out of this area, hoping to silence Putin's guns, and restore calm to this one's quaint suburb. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

GORANI: Joining me now from Canberra, Australia, Sam Roggeveen, Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute. Thanks for being with us.

So, let's first talk about what the Russians promised and then a promise that they broke literally minutes after making it at the negotiating table. They are still hitting some of these suburbs hard, and obviously, despite the fact that Ukrainians are defending their capital very effectively so far.

SAM ROGGEVEEN, DIRECTOR, LOWY INSTITUTE'S INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: Yes. It appears there's a little bit of confusion on the Russian side and a bit of distinction between what's being said at the level of those attending the peace talks, and then a little further up the chain.

So, it's not clear that the fog of war at the moment is incredibly thick. It's not clear at the moment what Russia's intentions are. And in fact, you know, where these peace negotiations are going, where the war is going. There's still a wide range of possibilities that look really quite plausible to me.

Everything from, you know, the Russians, and the Ukrainians continuing this war for a very long time, we could still be in the early stages of the war, or we could see some kind of settlement. I think the one thing we can rule out at the moment is that Russia's maximum ambitions of overtaking the entire country of basically, overthrowing the Zelenskyy Government.

I think we can pretty much draw a line under that one, but everything else is still very much early.

GORANI: So it's interesting, you say it's potentially the case that the negotiators on the diplomatic front, and the military commanders are not on the same page, not that it was some deliberate attempt to mislead?

ROGGEVEEN: No, forgive me. Not so much the military commander. So, I'm referring to the differences between the comments made by the negotiators and the leaders--

GORANI: Yes.

ROGGEVEEN: -- further up the line in Moscow rather than the military (INAUDIBLE)

GORANI: I see. But how could there be a disconnect on that for-- I don't get it. I mean, wouldn't they go with clear orders from the Kremlin?

ROGGEVEEN: You know, you would expect so. Look, I mean, it could simply be a slight difference in time. But the indications that I've gotten over the course of today is that there were some differences between the negotiators who seem to be hinting at an openness to a negotiated settlement to a harder (ph) line coming from Moscow.

GORANI: Yes. Either way, what they said, and what happened on the ground was a completely different thing. And we're seeing still a huge shelling attacks and bombardments of key positions around the capital. That being said, and as we've discussed many times, Sam, they are not taking the big city centers. Not at all. Where do we go from here?

ROGGEVEEN: Well, look, as I said earlier, I think there's still a wide range of possibilities here. And one of them is that actually, we're still in the very early stages of this war. So we could be settling in here for, you know, a long campaign where there are an awful a lot of changes on the battlefield.

But both sides still feel that there's something to be gained by continuing to fight. Both sides feel that they could--

GORANI: Yes.

ROGGEVEEN: -- make battlefield which they couldn't make at the negotiating table. So that is one possibility here. I think we should be open to that. So I mean, we do get a lot of information from the British government, for instance, and from the U.S. government of the Russian military campaign is faltering.

And that's relatively clear--

GORANI: YES.

ROGGEVEEN: -- from all the sources that we're getting, but nevertheless, it doesn't look catastrophic enough.

GORANI: I mean-- yes.

ROGGEVEEN: Yes.

GORANI: Obviously, Western Intelligence Services get things wrong all the time.

[02:10:03]

GORANI: In this case, they didn't in the lead up to the war they certainly got that intelligence right all the warnings came to pass. And now we're seeing them say that these latest developments indicate that Russian forces, and in fact, we have our own eyes and ears for this that certainly they're not achieving their goals.

Let's talk about what Zelenskyy is going to ask the Australians for. How much of a difference would it make if some of the weaponry that Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants? How-- if that weaponry is indeed delivered. We're talking about surface to air missiles, anti-aircraft weaponry, anti-tank weaponry as well.

ROGGEVEEN: Yes. Look, Australia has already delivered a small amount of weapons and of non-lethal aid. Nothing that Australia does is going to make much-- it's going to make a decisive difference. Australia will contribute because it's a loyal ally of the United States.

And it also believes the Australian government has said that there's a broader, you know, our broader principle here at play, and Australian needs to make a definitive statement that it opposes the unprovoked use of force by the Russian side.

I think the broader issue of weapons transfers to Ukraine though-- I mean, my sense is that it has made a really decisive difference. That it has made a major difference on the battlefield, along with the training that NATO forces offered over the last eight years, which had a major effect on transforming the performance of the Ukrainian military and effectively made it impossible for Russia to achieve its maximal ambitions.

GORANI: Thank you very much, Sam Roggeveen as always. Joining us from Canberra. Appreciate your analysis.

Rescue and recovery operations are said to be ongoing in Mykolaiv in Southern Ukraine after a Russian strike on a-- an administrative building on Tuesday. It's unbelievable seeing there, essentially a giant hole from a Russian missile pierce through that building.

The death toll has now climbed to 15. CNN's Ben Wedeman gives us a firsthand look at the devastation.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Somewhere in this jumble of concrete bricks and twisted metal are more bodies, trapped in the ruins of the office of Mykolaiv's Regional Governor.

Tuesday morning, a Russian missile struck the building, killing more than a dozen people wounding many more.

MAYOR OLEKSANDR SYENKEVYCH, MYKOLAIV, UKRAINE: They bombarded our city and only civilians are dying here.

WEDEMAN: Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Syenkevych doesn't normally come to City Hall like this. But he saw war coming long ago, and prepared himself.

SYENKEVYCH: I think (ph) from 2014. I thought that the war will be like this. So everything you see on me, this bulletproof vest, boots, anything. I bought it a couple years ago. So I started to learn how to shoot. I was in a special school for that.

WEDEMAN: On the outskirts of this city, recently down Russian attack helicopters suggest the Ukrainian military also saw this war coming. They've managed to stop Russian forces in their tracks, regaining territory lost at the start of the war.

Five-year-old Misha (ph) is recovering from shrapnel wounds to his head in the basement turned bomb shelter at Mykolaiv's Regional Children's Hospital. His grandfather Vladimir (ph) shows me phone video of the bullet riddled car Misha's father was driving with his family to escape the Russian advance.

Russian soldiers Vladimir calls them bastards, opened fire on the car killing Misha's grandmother and mother. As we speak, the air raid siren goes on. Taking shelter is an oft practice drill. Stay calm and carry on. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Mykolaiv.

GORANI: Well, a Senior U.S. Defense Official tells CNN some Russian troops have withdrawn from Chernobyl. Russia took control of the abandoned nuclear plant in February. And that led to fears that safety standards would be compromised there.

Russia says it's a part of a de-escalation around Kyiv. But the U.S. Defense Department says bombardment does in fact continue. About 20 percent of Russia's forces moving toward the capital have reportedly repositioned elsewhere.

After a break. They did not want to leave their country and for many, the only home they've ever known. Refugees who only recently escaped the violence tell CNN what finally drove them out of Ukraine.

Plus, Ukraine's president as we've been reporting is expected to speak soon to Australia's Parliament as he continues to appeal for more assistance from the West. We are live in Sydney. Ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:19:05]

GORANI: Well, this is just in to CNN. According to state media, Russia has announced that its forces will open an evacuation corridor today from the besieged Ukrainian City of Mariupol. A Russian general says forces will suspend the use of weapons during that time. Ukraine though has accused Russia of shelling evacuation and humanitarian routes with the mayor of Mariupol saying on Monday that evacuation corridors are largely under Russian control.

Not a shred of trust there on the Ukrainian side regarding this Russian announcement. Very much a wait and see if the Russians will honor their pledge to allow civilians to evacuate through these routes.

The United Nations says that in just five weeks, more than 4 million people have poured out of Ukraine, most of them are being taken in by neighboring countries. But hundreds of thousands are moving onto other parts of Europe.

The rapidly growing refugee crisis has been particularly tough on children who make up half of those who fled Ukraine.

[02:20:12]

GORANI: UNICEF says 2-1/2 million others have been forced from their homes yet remain inside the country. This is just among kids.

Many of the refugees lucky enough to reach safety are mourning the lives they once knew, and the family members they have lost. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees tried to describe what it is they are enduring.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FILIPPO GRANDI, HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, UN: I can't put it in context. There's no more context here to compare to this to anything else. It's not just numbers. It's the fear, it's the loss, it's the separation, it's the uncertainty about the future. And this is difficult to compare, difficult to measure, difficult to address.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been crossing into Hungary. CNN's Matt Rivers spoke to some of the new arrive-- arrivals about what finally drove them out of their country.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zahony Train Station, just across the border from Ukraine. It's here where refugees fleeing the war touch Hungarian soil for the first time.

People have been arriving here since the first days of the war, but these are the people that chose to stay longer, up until they couldn't. People like Elena who left with her husband and three daughters.

How old is she? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five

RIVERS: And she asked if the tank would shoot it up?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, because she saw tank every day. Because they--

RIVERS: She saw Russian tanks?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Russian tanks. A lot of Russian tanks.

RIVERS: Wow. Elena says Russian soldiers had occupied her village and set up artillery positions. And that Ukrainian forces started to target them. Just a few days ago, she says there was an explosion about 100 meters from her house. Right after it hit, she knew it was time to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She says, I thought to myself, I'm 34, I have three children. It can't end like this. So we walked right into the forest for two hours. A Ukrainian soldier then stopped us and told us that there were snipers everywhere. They put us underneath shields, and walked us to safety because there were firefights everywhere. They never wanted to leave, she said, but eventually she had no choice.

RIVERS: It is a common sentiment from those here who waited for weeks after the invasion to make a brutal decision to flee, the only home they've ever known. Olessya Lahuta was one of them.

OLESSYA LAHUTA, UKRAINIAN REFUGEE (through translator): We stayed a really long time after the war started she says, about a month. But every day the sound of the bombing got closer and closer. And our children are small. Our building didn't have a basement and there was no cover available.

RIVERS: So she joined the hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians that have arrived here in Hungary. And as her kids sit and play in her lap, she gets emotional about the threat to their lives, and others.

LAHUTA (through translator): I can't understand why, she says, choking up. There are lots of small children who died, and I can't understand the purpose of this war. It's not only my children that are in danger.

RIVERS: The Ukrainian prosecutor's office says at least 145 children have died in the war, a number that is almost certainly an undercount. Olessya fled because she didn't want her kids added to the list. And now she gets back on the train headed toward Budapest with an uncertain future amidst a horror war. Matt Rivers, CNN, Zahony, Hungary.

GORANI: Well, Ukraine says it is being hammered by Russian artillery more than ever, but it has not slowed Ukrainian forces who claim Russian invaders have been pushed out of another key town. An update on that, ahead.

And in just minutes, we're expecting to hear from Ukraine's President, as he addresses lawmakers in Australia, a live report from Sydney is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:28:50]

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani in Lviv. Ukraine's president is expected to address the Australian Parliament any moment now, but he is tamping down expectations for the next round of talks with Russia set for Friday online this time. President Zelenskyy said the meeting so far had been quote only words.

Despite Russia's claim that it is pulling its forces away from Kyiv, Ukraine says the shelling has only intensified. A warning now some of the images we're about to show you are graphic. Emergency workers braved at the Russian shelling to collect dead bodies in this Kyiv suburb.

Irpin's mayor says the town is now under full Ukrainian control, but the Russian soldiers are still nearby in the area. City officials say half of Irpin has now been destroyed. New Video shows families including very young kids seeking protection from the shelling beneath a bridge overpass.

Perhaps, nowhere has been more battered than the Southern Port City of Mariupol, even a Red Cross warehouse in the city has been struck at least twice within the past two weeks. The Pentagon says just about everything in Mariupol is gone.

[02:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: It's devastating what we are seeing there. And the place is just being decimated from a structural perspective by the onslaught of Russian airstrikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Meanwhile, latest U.S. intelligence suggests that all is not well inside of the Kremlin's inner circle. The U.S. believes that Russian generals and advisers are misleading President Putin about how badly they war is actually going. Ukrainian forces claimed they have retaken a key town near Chernihiv in the North, you see a bombed out Russian tank and Ukrainian soldiers as well in the streets. A defiant President Zelenskyy is vowing to keep up the fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not give anything away. And we will fight for every meter of our land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, at any moment now, the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is said to speak via video link to lawmakers in Australia. He also plans another address to the Dutch Parliament in the hours ahead. CNN's Angus Watson joins us now live from Sydney with more. I believe these are live images coming to us from Canberra. What are we expecting the President to say, and more from your perspective importantly, what the Australian lawmakers and politicians are willing to give him?

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Hala, Australia is, of course, a very long way away from Ukraine where Russia's unprovoked invasion has brought so much misery. But Ukrainians will be firmly in the minds of Australians as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is about to address Australia's parliament any moment now. Prime Minister Scott Morrison prefaced Zelenskyy's address this morning by saying just what a good friend Australia has been to Ukraine in its hour of need. And saying how Australians have been inspired by a President Zelenskyy as he has fought this war of defense against Russia.

I'll bring this quote up for you now. Prime Minister Morrison saying, "Australians have been inspired by President Zelenskyy's resilience and courage as he, his government, and the people of Ukraine defend their homeland against Russia's brutal, illegal, and unjustified invasion. Australia stands with Ukraine against Russia's aggression." Now, Prime Minister Morrison also said that he expects President Zelenskyy --

GORANI: Angus.

WATSON: -- will ask Australia to do more to support --

GORANI: I'm just going to jump in, Angus, because I believe President Zelenskyy has started addressing lawmakers in Australia. Let's just listen in. Oh, they're just introducing him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, I invite the Honorable Prime Minister of Australia. And then the Honorable -- the Leader of the Opposition to make some welcoming remarks. The Prime Minister has the call.

SCOTT MORRISON, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. President, Ukraine and Australia are separated by half the earth. Our languages, accidents, histories, and cultures are different. But we share an affinity, for democracy, for freedom, for freedom of speech, expression, and a free press. For the right to live free of coercion, intimidation, and the brute fist of force. And the belief in our shared human dignity. Mr. President, the people of Australia stand with Ukraine in your fight for survival.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

MORRISON: Yes, you have our prayers, but you also have our weapons.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

MORRISON: Our humanitarian aid, our sanctions against those who seek to deny your freedom. And you even have our call, Mr. President, and there will be more. Today, I announce an additional package of defensive military assistance to assist in the defense of your homeland. Including tactical decoys, unmanned aerial and unmanned ground systems, rations, and medical supplies.

Mr. President, our pledge is that when freedom prevails, Australia will help the people of Ukraine rebuild as well. Here today, in the home of Australia's democracy, we welcome you, Mr. President, as a line of democracy.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

MORRISON: We honor you and the incredible courage of your people whom you lead. We are witnesses to it with all of those around the world, as you call them strong people of an indominable country, and may that be so. We stand with you, Mr. President, and we do not stand with the war criminal of Moscow, Mr. President. I know that man, you know that man, we know that man, Mr. Speaker, and we know his regime. We have seen them unleash unspeakable horror against your children, your hospitals, and the shelters.

[02:35:00]

And we remember the downing of a civilian airliner carrying 298 innocents, and including 38 Australians, and we remember them also on this day.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

MORRISON: In their name, and in the name of the 25 million Australians and their elective representatives, I welcome you Mr. President. I welcome you to our parliament. I welcome a great friend of Australia.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Prime Minister. The honorable Leader of the Opposition.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Your Excellency, our parliament is honored by your presence here with us and your address. You and the brave Ukrainian people are pushing back in the tide of tyranny. For you to share precious minutes with us at a time like this is an act of profound generosity, and we thank you.

What we see and Ukraine are terrible echoes of the devastation inflicted by Hitler's forces in World War II. A devastation that was felt by your own around family. Vladimir Putin's aggression in the name of a poisonous nationalistic lie is abhorrent. Putin and the regime that enables him will be met with determination and escalating consequences if he continues to prosecute this illegal law.

CROWD: Hear, hear.

ALBANESE: Putin's attempt to divide the West has drawn us closer together and strengthened our commitment to our shared values. Values that include the very freedom and sovereignty that rightfully belong to Ukraine.

CROWD: Hear, hear. ALBANESE: The Ukrainian people have known the cruelty of tyrants before. Those tyrants are gone, but Ukraine goes on. As you stand up to this latest tyrant, you are showing us what true courage is. Your Excellency, it is a courage that is embodied by you. You are fighting for your country and your people. You are fighting for your own family. We are here to hear your words. So let me conclude, with the words that resound amongst democratic and freedom loving peoples of the world over, Slava Ukraini.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thank the Leader of the Opposition. President Zelenskyy, Your Excellency, I now invite you to address members of the House of Representatives and Senators. You have our attention. You now have the floor.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Leader of the Opposition, ladies and gentlemen, members of the government, Senators, and members of the parliament, and the people of Australia, thank you for this honor to have this address today.

In May 2016 thousands of Australians came to the City of Perth (ph) to see for the first time the Ukrainian plane Mriya, or Dream as we call it. This was our plane, An-225. Mriya, in English, means a dream. Having traveled for almost 15,000 kilometers has brought an urgent cargo, power generator, 130 ton which was very important to one of your companies. If they had to wait for the shipment through the sea, it would have taken months. And Ukrainian plane has done in a couple of days.

And we have always been proud about Dream, not because it was the largest, but because it was helping people, you know, countries of the world bringing food, water, equipment for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. In 2019 after the beginning of the COVID pandemics, our Dream was bringing the most urgent medical cargo things that were saving people lives, adults, and children all over the world in different countries. This Dream was bringing life. Now this is not possible.

[02:40:00]

This is not possible because there is a country which holds to completely different values, different from our values, from your values, from the values of the civilized world. And this country started a full-fledged war against us. They are shelling our cities and villages. They are killing our civilians and children. They are creating sieges of our cities and keeping -- and holding hostages of hundreds of thousands of people in the cities without water and food. They are adopting thousands of children that they transported to their territories.

And on the 27th of February, as a result of fighting in the City of Kyiv, our plane Dream was destroyed. We can say that Russia destroyed our Dream. No, they just burned down a plane. A hardware. A shell. But not the essence, not the freedom, not the dignity, nor our independence.

We know that our dream is undefeatable and indestructible (ph). Especially if we can count on the support of the free world, on your support, on your assistance. And like in the history that I just told, we needed not just in a couple of months, but we needed urgently, now.

Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Australia, the distance between our countries as you said is big. It's thousands of kilometers. We are separated by oceans, seas and territories of dozens of other countries and time zones. But there is no such thing as distance for the brutality and chaos that Russia brought to the East of Ukraine, into the region of our Black Sea and Azov Sea, and to our Ukrainian land.

Whatever is happening in our region because of the Russian aggression war is destroying the lives of people has become a real threat to your country and to your people as well, because this is the nature of the evil. It can instantly cross any distance, any barriers, destroy lives. For dozens of years, there hasn't been this threat of nuclear attack as we have now. Because Russia representative officials, official propagandists, they are openly discussing the possibility of using nuclear weapons against those who don't want to subdue to Russian commands.

And for dozens of years, it has never been that the -- a country would block the whole sea for other vessels of any country. But this is exactly what was done by Russia. Path of the Black and Azov Sea as -- is a dead sea these days. Any vessels that were trying to come in can simply be destroyed by the Russian navy. More than hundreds of trade vessels under different flags have been blocked by Russia in our ports.

For dozens of years, we haven't seen this in the world, for a country to start a war against a neighboring country. Openly declaring their enslavement or destruction. Not to leave even the name of that nation. Not to have even any opportunity for this nation to leave -- to live freely. The worst pages of the 20th century have been brought back by Russia already. The biggest threats of that century came back. The evil that humanity thought they had forgotten about a long time ago.

But the most terrible thing, if we do not stop Russia now, if we don't hold Russia accountable, then some other countries of the world who are looking forward to a similar war against their neighbors will decide that such things are possible for them as well. The fate of the global security is decided now. No one can manage wins or precipitations. It means no one can save any part of the world from radioactive contamination which will come if nuclear weapons are used.

No country in the world can theoretically should not have -- even a theoretical possibility of blocking trade fleets and block the seas for other countries. There shouldn't be even a theoretical possibility to do so. No leader of the world can count on being unpunishable if he is thinking about prospects of war.

[02:45:00]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Nation of Australia, after the -- more than a month of the full-fledged war against Russia, we can surely say that there is no any way of bringing the global security as bringing Russia to peace and silence. And responsibility and accountability for everything that Russia has done against the global security. The country which is using their nuclear blackmailing should receive the sanctions. Which would share --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: You have been watching and listening to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was addressing via video Australia's parliament. He is still talking there. And he made it clear that he wants some more support from Australia. And in fact, the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, did announce just prior to this as he welcomed the President, he announced a military package and said that they would offer help to rebuild Ukraine. He also called Vladimir Putin a war criminal.

And in the speech here that we just heard from Mr. Zelenskyy, he pointed out that Russia posed a nuclear threat to the whole world. He said that we must hold Russia accountable now for the sake of the whole world. And we'll have more on all of this after a short break. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDRE SOELISTYO, CEO, GOTO GROUP AND GOTO FINANCIAL GROUP: We grew up in Indonesia so we know our market really. We started at the right time. We started with the right team. We started -- we picked the right motivation. And with luck, you know, suddenly the country actually strived to digitalization and stuff and there's a lot of investors demanding into the market that allows companies like us and others to be able to tap into those opportunities. To some company's sustainability is how, you know, the company can actually retain and continue to motivate the right leaders and people to actually join the cause. And we're so lucky and so humbled that, you know, we've continued to actually preserve that culture and core values that really can now attract the right people to navigate throughout the last 10 years, and maybe for multiple 10 years to come.

[02:50:00]

CHURCH: Millions of Americans are keeping an eye out for possible tornadoes as severe storms rolled through parts of the country as we speak. We want to turn now to our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, who's been tracking the storms. So, Pedram, which areas are most at risk right now and of course going forward?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, Rosemary, right across portions of the Panhandle of Florida, take a look at what's happening here. We've got a mixed plus going on in my ear but when you take a look at what's happening across portions of Birmingham on into Atlanta, that's where the activity is really beginning to pick up in the next couple of hours. Montgomery as well. And points to the South, along the Gulf Coast, tornado watches across this region.

Up until that 8:00 a.m. local time where we have about five million Americans underneath a tornado watch, meaning some of these storms could certainly spit up a few tornadoes. Now, we've had about 19 reports of tornadoes in the past 24 hours. 120 plus related to significant wind gusts as well.

But if you think we've talked about tornadoes a lot in recent weeks, well it has been a historic month of it. 206 tornadoes have been reported in the first 31 days of the month of March which, of course, the average is around 80. This is a historic value among the highest we've ever seen for the month of March. And, of course, with these storms, tremendous power outages in place, as much as 200,000 customers spanning across six States underneath power -- that are experiencing power outages at this hour.

But notice, as the system pushes off towards the Eastern seaboard, we expect a severe weather to continue into areas as far South as Jacksonville, as far North as New York State where damaging winds become the primary threat, generally, looking at about a level two on a scale of one to five for the severe weather concerns. So, Rosemary, it is going to diminish quite a bit going into Thursday afternoon storms.

CHURCH: All right, some good news at the end there. But we'll be ever watchful. Pedram Javaheri, many thanks bringing us up to date on that.

And still to come, Chris Rock makes his first public comments about the infamous slap at the Oscars. Back with that in just a moment.

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JAMES ROBEY, GLOBAL HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY, CAPGEMINI: I'm James Robey. I'm the Global Head of Environmental Sustainability at Capgemini.

People often ask, why should businesses care about sustainability? Well, first of all, quite frankly, an unsustainable pathway is not going to be good for any business. Businesses are reliant from having consumers that will buy from them. They're reliant on having employees who want to work for them. You know, increasingly, all the stakeholders in the business are asking difficult questions So, businesses which aren't taking sustainability seriously, essentially are going to be out of business.

But in reality, it's never too late to start. A great way to start is by trying to understand your own impacts as an organization. Perhaps calculate your carbon footprint. Ultimately, we need everybody on this journey. So, why not start today?

CHURCH: In his first public comments since the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock says he is still processing what happened at Sunday night's ceremony. Rock performed a sold-out show in Boston, Wednesday. He said, at some point, he will talk about the slap he received from Will Smith for telling a joke about Smith's wife. Meantime, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has begun disciplinary proceedings against Smith. The Academy says, Smith was asked to leave the Oscar ceremony after slapping rock, but he refused.

And thank you so much for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. More of our breaking news coverage with Hala Gorani live in Ukraine in just a moment.

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KENDALL ALAIMO, ARTIST AND TRAFFICKING SURVIVOR: The red seats to me symbolized the survivors' voice. And having a seat at the table in really the anti-trafficking movement overall.

My name is Kendall Alaimo. I'm an artist, activist, and survivor of child trafficking.

As a child, I wasn't allowed to use my own name when I was trafficked and I wasn't allowed to go back to school and become the person I wanted to be. The university alliance on human trafficking was birthed, obviously, out of my really long journey to get back to school. And I thought, why don't we send chairs? Because we need seats in universities to be liberated.

CLAIR ASHLEY, SCHOOL OF THE ART INSTITUE OF CHICAGO: I am so impressed by Kendall. I knew she was going through something when I was her teacher over a decade ago but I didn't know exactly what. The students have been super invested in this project because it allows them to see that their own experiences are legitimate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be nice to make one.

ALAIMO: Yes.

For them to take on this dialogue and create 20 more seats in the world, honors my life, the lives we've lost, and the lives that are waiting for this freedom. So, it's really a big gift in my life.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. More people get their news from CNN than any other news source.

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