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Fighting to Keep Mariupol; No Major Gains for Russia; Russia May Target Weapons Shipments; Mayor of Irpin on War; Ending Disney's Special Status. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 20, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:34]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Refusing to surrender. Ukrainian troops surrounded in the besieged port city of Mariupol, ignoring Russia's new deadline to give up. This as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the situation in that city remains severe.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

And right now the mayor of Mariupol is urging all residents there to evacuate today along an agreed upon humanitarian corridor as the fate of the city rests on the heavily bombarded steel plant where Ukrainian forces say they will not lay down their weapons. Ukraine claims these intercepted communications involving a Russian commander purportedly show exactly what Russia was planning to do at that facility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Will there be some kind of an explosion?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They said to level everything to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are being bombed and bombed. They are knocking them out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Knocking them out.

And in the east, a significant escalation in fighting. Officials in Zaporizhzhia say Russian forces there are attempting to push toward the city. In Donbas, Ukrainian forces have repelled numerous advances as U.S. advancements sees no major territorial gains for Russia in that region since the start of this new offensive.

All this as sources say the U.S. is set to announce yet another $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, focused this time on artillery and ammunition.

We're covering every angle of this war across Ukraine.

So, let's begin this morning with CNN correspondent Matt Rivers. He is reporting in western Ukraine, from Lviv.

Matt, what more are we learning from those intercepted communications involving a Russian commander?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was some unique insight, I think, into what we're seeing on the ground from Russian forces. This is not the first time that the Ukraine security service has released what they call unencrypted communication between Russian forces on the ground, but this is the first time we've heard from Russian soldiers, Russian forces about what's going on in Mariupol.

You played a little bit off the top there when the Russian ground commander talked about how they're going to, quote, level everything. We can play you another bit of that conversation in which they talk about how they're going to do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSIAN COMMANDER (through translator): We are expecting surprises from Russia here.

WOMAN (through translator): What kind of surprises?

RUSSIAN COMMANDER: Three ton ones from the sky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: So, of course, referencing bombs dropped from potentially Russian warplanes. And what we have been seeing over the past few days is just a consistent shelling, a consistent bombardment of that steel complex, the Azovstal steel plant complex, which is a massive complex that has really become the focal point of Ukrainian resistance in that city. That is where Ukrainian marines are. That is where members of the Azov Battalion are. Those are fighting units, obviously. And that's also where hundreds of civilians have now been sheltering for weeks. It's really kind of a microcosm of what we're seeing across Mariupol where you have fighting alongside, you know, just ordinary civilians in Mariupol that can't get out.

The headline today that we're watching very closely is a humanitarian corridor that may or may not be open at this point. It was supposed to start around 2:00 p.m. local time. So about two hours ago now. And the mayor of Mariupol is urging residents to use this humanitarian corridor so they can safely evacuate the city. He's urging people to do that in a public way, obviously, because people in that city do not trust the Russians to hold up their end of this humanitarian bargain. There is a lot of skepticism given Russian actions all across this country blatantly targeting civilians. Why would these civilians in Mariupol want to trust the Russians when they say they're going to respect this humanitarian corridor?

Obviously getting verifiable, independent information out of that city for CNN is very difficult. We can't have teams on the ground. There's very little infrastructure for communications. It's just tough to get in contact with people. But that's going to be what we're watching through the afternoon here, Bianna, is this humanitarian corridor, giving people the opportunity to leave.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, can those hundreds of civilians finally get a way out of that besieged city.

Matt Rivers, thank you.

Well, in Donbas, U.S. officials say there has been no major territorial gain for Russia so far since the start of this new push. But new video shows parts of Rubeshnin (ph) and Suskencha (ph) severely damaged by recent strikes. We're told U.S. officials believe Russia is probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses.

[09:05:02]

CNN international correspondent Phil Black filed this report from Kyiv.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, the Ukrainian government says that it believes Russia's new offensive operations in the east of the country, the Donbas region, that that operation is already underway.

But the first attempted advances by Russian forces appear to be probing, testing. They are characterized by western officials as limited, a prelude of much greater operations to come. But they have been repelled many times by Ukrainian forces so far. The expectation is that at some point, imminently, Russia will attempt to use vast numbers to overwhelm Ukraine's defensive positions. It will apply and commit powerful force to a condensed area to drive through Ukrainian lines, to expand, and control a greater area of the so-called Donbas region.

Essentially, the idea is they will not repeat the mistakes they have made in other parts of the country, notably the north, at earlier points in this war. You will not see overstretched Russian lines that are vulnerable to attack, and ambush. Instead, consolidated, dense force in specific areas.

U.S. officials estimate that Russia has now committed a total of 78 battalion tactical groups to that front in the east. Each group has up to 1,000 troops.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Phil Black, thank you.

Well, the U.S. military is keeping a close watch on Russia's nuclear arsenal as this war progresses. Officials tell CNN that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is being briefed regularly by a top U.S. general who oversees U.S. nuclear weapons and defenses.

Now this as a defense official now believes Russia will target supply routes used for weapons shipments from the U.S. and its allies.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand are standing by.

Barbara, let's begin with you.

How concerned is the U.S. about these supplies reaching their final destination at this point?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, let me start briefly on the nuclear point you made a moment ago. We do want to emphasize that Pentagon officials tell us they see no evidence that Russia is moving its nuclear weapons around, but Vladimir Putin, always unpredictable, so, yes, indeed, a very sharp eye every day is kept on that Russian nuclear arsenal, even though they don't believe it's moving at this time.

Now, as for the conventional U.S. weapons moving into Ukraine, to support the Ukrainian forces, another $800 million package is being worked. President Biden saying yesterday that indeed more U.S. artillery will go into Ukraine. Right now the focus is in getting artillery, anti-armor weapons into eastern Ukraine for that fight in the Donbas.

And a U.S. official telling us they are concerned that Russia will start attacking the supply routes across Ukraine as the weapons come in through the Polish border and are taken east to Donbas. The worry is the Russians will attack those supply routes.

Now, the first question is, why haven't they done it already as far as we know, and we're told, you know, the Russians don't have the best intelligence on it and these are mobile targets, truck convoys, moving railcars, not something that the Russians are very good at targeting. But with this vast amount of new weaponry moving in, and now the fight for the Donbas on, there is concern that the Russians will move to try and hit these supply convoys to make the Ukrainians less successful in being able to challenge the Russians. This is going to be an armor and artillery fight out in the east to a very large extent.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And the Russians warned as much by sending that official letter to the U.S. last week telling them not to continue sending such weaponry.

Natasha, another issue is that the U.S. just doesn't have an accurate way of tracking the weapons that it's sending across the border into Ukraine. How big of a concern is this now for the administration as we expect yet another $800 million package?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, Bianna. So, it's not that big of a concern to U.S. officials right now because they are fairly confident that the weapons that are being sent over the border into Ukraine are ultimately making their way into the hands of Ukrainian forces. Of course, Ukrainian officials go over to Poland and they pick up some of these weapons, and so they are overseeing kind of that transport over to Ukraine and the U.S. officials are confident that they are getting where they need to go.

But a big reason for that so far has also been that the Russians, as Barbara had just discussed, have not been actively attacking those weapons convoy, those shipments that have been crossing the border. U.S. officials have been a bit curious as to why that has been. The reason that we have been given is primarily that, again, the Russians don't have great intelligence, they don't have air superiority, they don't have control over the western parts of the country, where those convoys are entering.

[09:10:01]

So, for now, the U.S. officials are fairly confident that because the Russians have not been successfully interfering with those convoys, with those shipments, that they are ultimately getting into the right hands here.

But, of course, a U.S. official did tell CNN last night that that could change, that they are concerned that the Russians could actually ramp up their attacks on these convoys as they try to impact the Ukrainians' ability, of course, to fight off this new offensive in the Donbas effectively.

So, what we're seeing now is U.S. officials are just monitoring this. They say that it is not science, obviously, tracking these weapons over the border, but they do realize that the risk here of not arming the Ukrainians properly is much higher than the risk of these weapons perhaps falling into the wrong hands.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, especially now, as Barbara mentioned, we're entering this new phase of the war, right, where you're going to have tank on tank kind of battle scenes from -- reminiscent from World War II.

Barbara Starr, Natasha Bertrand, thank you.

I want to bring in our Jim Sciutto. He's live in Lviv, in Ukraine.

And, Jim, you have new details on what exactly is in this aid package.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Two U.S. officials -- senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the draft plan, which is still being considered, is that it will be focused on artillery. Heavy weapons. In particular, U.S. made 155 millimeter howitzers, as well as ammo, ammunition, for those howitzers. And to get the Ukrainians what they need, I'm told that the U.S. is calling upon many NATO allies to see what they can contribute to this weapons shipment in that category, again, with that focus on artillery. And the reason for this is because they are expecting heavy, heavy

combat there with a dependence on heavy weapons. So they want to make sure the Ukrainians can stand up to whatever the Russians throw at them. And we're already seeing some of that happen as well.

I also speak with the mayor of Irpin, who tells me just harrowing stories about what Russian forces left behind as they left that suburb of Kyiv, including, Bianna, booby trapped toys. Toys booby trapped to injure and kill children. It's just a remarkable and harrowing account from him. That's coming up.

GOLODRYGA: More images and examples of war crimes committed and perpetrated by the hands of the Russians.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: All right, also ahead, an American doctor heads to the front lines in Ukraine, having served before during the war in Syria. What he's seeing as the Russians attack hospitals and other civilian targets.

And we're following a developing story in Florida. Republican lawmakers are now proposing two bills that would strip Disney of its special status. This as the governor criticizes the company for being too, quote, woke.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:02]

GOLODRYGA: Ukraine appears to be holding its ground in the east. Multiple senior U.S. officials tell CNN that Russia has made no major territorial gains since the start of this new push into the Donbas region.

Jim Sciutto's back on the ground there in Lviv.

Jim, this is your reporting. More frustration on the side of the Russian military there. What more are you learning?

SCIUTTO: Well, a couple of headlines here. The first being that it's early in this new Russian offensive and concentration of its forces in the east, but so far the U.S. has not observed big territorial gains by the Russians. Really any territorial gains. The battlefield remaining static as it's been described to me by one official. What the U.S. has observed, what may be probing attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian defenses. But they are watching that battlefield very closely.

The other headline is that we're get something details about what the focus of this latest U.S. weapons package to Ukraine will be. You'll remember there was $800 million last week. A lot of heavy weapons. Another $800 million planned this week with a focus on artillery. And that includes U.S. made artillery, particularly the 155 millimeter howitzers going in as well as ammunition. And the U.S., to get enough into those Ukrainian forces, is calling upon several NATO allies in effect to say, what do you got, right, so that we can gather what we have and send it in there to the battlefield as quickly as possible. There's great urgency here because of the scale of the Russian force now mounted in the east and the kind of fighting that U.S. officials expect on that battlefield. Heavy fighting, open battlefields, not forested terrain, means a lot of artillery, a lot of tanks, a lot of things that are going to be reminiscent, I've been told, of World War II battles. It's going to be bloody.

Well, there's already been a lot of blood witnessed in this war, and the president of the European Council says that, quote, history will not forget Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

I recently spoke to the mayor of Irpin, that is a suburb outside the capital Kyiv, who told me that they are finding additional evidence of war crimes every day, some of them just alarming.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Mayor, what is the situation in Irpin now and have you found further evidence of Russian war crimes there?

OLEKSANDR MARKUSHYN, MAYOR OF IRPIN, UKRAINE (through translator): The situation in Irpin is under control. At the moment, we have almost finished clearing the rubble. We are finishing mine clearing.

Unfortunately, just an hour ago, we had an unpleasant incident. A truck was coming in with supplies and it blew up on a mine. Unfortunately, the driver died. So, we're having these unpleasant surprises that the Russians have left behind.

Every day we find booby trapped children's toys, booby trapped bicycles. We just found a sand box that was booby trapped. Children's things. A children's (INAUDIBLE). So a child would come and try to pick something up and would die.

[09:20:03]

So, I believe this is a war crime.

SCIUTTO: Do you have any teams there, Ukrainian or foreign teams, that are able to clear any of these mines and booby traps?

MARKUSHYN: Yes, we are clearing these mines. It was unfortunate for the truck I mentioned earlier. It went off into an uncleared area. We're finding these things. We have our local team of mine clearers. But we're also helped by the military. They're giving us their mine clearing teams, and, unfortunately, we're finding these surprises all the time, in private areas, in private houses, on the roofs of buildings, in apartments, on children's playgrounds. But, yes, we are working on it. We are working on clearing it all. SCIUTTO: There's a lot of talk now about war crimes investigations.

You have people in the international community even accusing Vladimir Putin of being a war criminal. Do you have any confidence that the people behind these alleged crimes will face justice?

MARKUSHYN: I absolutely believe that Putin is a war criminal. And he must face justice in The Hague. But also the people following orders. How can you follow such an order to kill children? To kill women? And they did kill children and women. We have evidence that a couple of women and children were trying to leave Irpin, in their own vehicles, and two to four vehicles were shot. The people following these orders, they are war criminals and they must face justice.

SCIUTTO: Russian forces have now withdrawn from the Kyiv area, many of them moving to the east. Do you fear that they'll come back if they make gains in the east, that they'll come back and try to attack Irpin, the Kyiv region again?

MARKUSHYN: We are always facing this threat, but there could be troops coming from Belarus, from that direction, and we are prepared for it. Now, Irpin is a city that held on and stopped the enemy from advancing on Kyiv. We fought a battle, and as a result of this battle, the city is 50 percent destroyed, but we are building up our defenses. We were victorious over the second largest army in the world. We stopped their advance, and we will continue defending it. And I am sure with our military, on our land, we will be victorious.

SCIUTTO: Mayor, thanks very much for joining us.

MARKUSHYN: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: You know, Bianna, you see patterns in this war, right? You look to see if these allegations are isolated. And they're not. Across multiple cities here you hear accounts of one -- we see them, right, shelling residential houses, shooting civilians in the street, and you hear, right, leaving mines and booby traps behind in toys, sometimes in corpses, right? There's a reason for that. That's to go after children and civilians.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's the hallmarks of the Russian military throughout this war. We've seen President Zelenskyy talk about bobby traps and mines all around Mariupol. And there you hear from the mayor as well around his city and again targeting areas where they know that children will come play, right, around their toys, sand lots.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: It is unbelievable to hear these details.

SCIUTTO: No question.

GOLODRYGA: Well, still to come, Disney World in Orlando is one of the top tourist spots in the world. But it could soon lose out on special perks that first lured the theme park to Florida half a century ago. We'll tell you why coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:26]

GOLODRYGA: In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is seeking to strip Disney of its 55-year-old special status that allows the company to operate as an independent government around its Orlando area theme park. It's just the latest fallout in the escalating feud that stems from what opponents call the don't say gay law, which bans Florida schools from teaching children in kindergarten through third grade about sexual orientation or gender identity.

CNN's Leyla Santiago joins me from Miami.

So, Leyla, what more can you tell us about this latest threat?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, I think you described it pretty well. This is the latest fallout because, remember, Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney, Florida's largest employer, they have been at this in a public feud for quite a while now. Democrats now questioning the motive behind the governor's latest move.

So let's break down what's at play here in this latest development.

Yesterday, the governor called on lawmakers to review those special districts that you mentioned, like the one that essentially allows Walt Disney World Resort to operate as an independent government around its Orlando area theme park. So now we have two bills at play here that really essentially target Disney, this state's largest private employer. One that could get rid of that unique status and the other that could subject Disney to estate law that allows people to sue big tech companies for censorship by taking away an exemption that was in that law.

Now, mentioning this law, I should also mention that a federal judge has blocked it, but Florida is making it very clear that they are appealing these.

So, these bills, they're expecting to pass and by the end of the week.

[09:30:03]