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Putin Vows Lighting Fast Response If Nations Interfere in Ukraine; Russia Intensifies Assaults on Eastern, Southern Fronts; Trevor Reed Reunites With Family in U.S. After Release From Russia. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 28, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, I'm Jim Sciutto reporting from Lviv, in Western Ukraine.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.

This hour, President Biden will speak from the White House about U.S. support for Ukraine. His remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened a lightning fast response if the west interferes in his war in Ukraine.

And right now, Russia is ramping up its attacks, making a slow but steady push through Ukraine's east, focusing efforts on the Donetsk region. These new images show the aftermath of shelling here. At least 27 homes, these are civilian homes, in one village were damaged.

SCIUTTO: Civilians as targets.

We're also learning that a bridge in Southern Ukraine was just destroyed, used by Russians to supply their territory in Crimea, potentially impactful strike there.

Soon, the U.N. secretary-general is set to meet with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Earlier, he toured damage in several areas of Ukraine, including just the awful scenes in Bucha.

This morning, Ukrainian officials have now named ten Russian soldiers suspected of war crimes in that city.

We are covering the latest across Ukraine this morning as only CNN can. Let's begin with Scott McLean. He is here in Lviv. And, Scott, the war goes on despite. Ukrainian success in the north, we are seeing intense fire by the Russian military in Eastern Ukraine. Are Ukrainian officials concerned by any progress they're seeing from Russian forces?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim. The problem on the ground seems to be in many places in the east that there are thousands and thousands of Russian troops that have been built up. And so that is why we're seeing some of the very heavy shelling on both sides and a lot of movement with Russians taking towns and villages in the east. We're also seeing those airstrikes in the southern part of the country as well, Jim.

But since the Russians retreated from the Kyiv area, we've gotten more and more evidence of the destruction that they have left behind. Officials in Kyiv releasing the latest death toll, they have discovered 1,150 bodies in the Kyiv region since the war began. And they stressed that these are not soldiers, these are not territorial defense, these are civilians. And they say that the majority have been found in the Bucha area and the majority also appear to have died from gunfire from automatic weapons.

Now, the Russians have long called those images coming out of Bucha of civilian casualties lying dead on the ground fake, but the secretary- general of the United Nations, he has been to that area. He has called for the Russians to cooperate with the International Criminal Court. He also visited a suburb of Borodyanka, and here's what he said there.

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ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL: I imagine my family in one of those houses that is now destroyed and black. I see my granddaughters running away in panic, part of the family eventually killed.

There is no way a war can be acceptable in the 21st century. Look at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Now, of course, we know that Guterres is expected to meet with President Zelenskyy and he's trying to come out of this trip with something tangible to show for it. Of course, he met with Putin on Tuesday. And out of that meeting, he managed to get an agreement at least in principle to help get people out of Mariupol with the help of the Red Cross and the United Nations.

And he's trying to turn that agreement in principle into something detailed that can actually work on the grounding. Obviously, that requires some discussions with the Ukrainians as well.

But Ukrainians may not be in that great a mood to talk with the Russians considering that officials in Mariupol are now saying the heaviest strikes yet were overnight on that steel plant that they say was hit 50 times, some of them on the part of the plant where some 600, they say, soldiers are now staying.

Now, CNN can't confirm the extent of the strikes overnight. Vladimir Putin has offered in the past the chance for the Ukrainians to surrender there. Ukrainians have not taken him up on his offer because they say they can't trust that those Ukrainians will be allowed to retreat further into Ukrainian territory, they're worried that they might end up in Russia.

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And so there's a lot of trust required on the ground to actually broker some kind of a deal, and right now, it seems like Guterres is trying his level best to get both sides to at least come to some kind of an agreement, but the devil here is in the details, Jim.

SCIUTTO: That's a good point. Some of the people who fled to safety from this country forced to go to Russia, some all the way to Siberia. It's, again, right out of the World War II era.

Scott McLean, thanks so much.

Well, as Russian troops do make incremental advances in Ukraine's east, they are bombarding innocent civilians with increasing intensity. It's a consistent factor of this war, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And they're also inching closer to capturing towns along the strategically important Donetsk region, river.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley reports from Severodonetsk on the struggle to survive under fire.

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Severodonetsk on the frontline with Russia. It's an artillery frontline.

Let's get into the basement.

Local police are delivering aid to civilians unable to leave. There's no time to wait out the bombardment. There's no likely end to the shelling either. Supplies need delivering and fast.

She tells me there are three people next door including a granny of 92. Upstairs, a bedridden woman. She says that normally they stay in that flat and only use the basement when it's bad.

Thank you for not forgetting us, she adds.

The urgency of these sort of deliveries cannot be exaggerated. Just in this, flat there's mostly old people, one gentleman is dying of cancer in front of his wife. She's saying she's living in a double hell. Since we've been here, they have been five, six, eight impacts very, very close.

In almost every tree, every corner, every bit of this local neighborhood has got the signs of recent impact. And Russians are just a kilometer, maybe three away. Russian guns are so close you can hear the whole arc of their shells. From Kyiv to Mariupol, from Kharkiv to here, this is the Russian way of war, pound civilians, flatten cities, and maybe occupy the ashes.

Oleksander (ph) says we are in danger now. They are shelling us so it could come at any moment and shrapnel could hurt us. We try to hide there in the bomb shelter.

Two months of war has driven these people underground. And there's no end in sight. The fear, Oleksander (ph) confesses, he tries to keep inside but it creeps out.

There's one more delivery that the police have got to make. But every time we try to get out the front door of this building, there's another impact. There's another one now. They are saying that the hospital, which is nearby, is under heavy shelling. We were planning to go there. We can't get through, nor indeed at the moment can we even get out of this bunker.

The hospital was hit. Images of the damage done that morning posted online by the local administration. Officials said that one civilian was killed, others injured and several floors were badly damaged.

The humanitarian effort goes on. This woman asks only for the basics of existence, water and candles for light.

Good job. You do this every day?

Bogdan (ph) tells me that most people left here have nowhere else to go. They have lived here all their lives and don't want to abandon their homes.

Do you think the Russians are going to take some of Donetsk?

Never, he says. We will stand our ground to the last man. No one will leave here.

That maybe a dangerous claim. It's likely that Ukrainians will destroy this bridge to hold up the invasion. And anyone still here would then be trapped in Russian hands.

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KILEY (on camera): Now, Jim, that's what we're seeing there, dramatic though it might be, is in the estimation of the mayor of Kramatorsk, where I am now, which arguably is the main Russian prize in this campaign in the east, this is just the beginning. He believes that the buildup of Russian troops is not yet complete, that they expect a great deal more military activity from the Russians next week.

And, of course, that makes it all the more important and all the more of an explanation as to why the Ukrainians are so desperately calling for increased supplies of sophisticated weapons in particular and counter-artillery weapons from NATO and other western partners.

[10:10:09] Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLDRYGA: And, Sam, you know, just watching your report, you're reminded of why leaders in the Donbas region were desperately urging civilians to leave over the last two weeks, to get out as soon as they can. Clearly, some remain and their lives are day-to-day just full of fear. Thank you so much for that reporting, Sam.

And, again, President Biden will speak this hour on what the U.S. is doing to support Ukraine. We've learned he is sending a proposal to Congress today that would give the Justice Department more tools to crack down on Russian oligarchs. We'll bring you those comments live as soon as they begin.

SCIUTTO: Overnight, an ominous threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: If someone intends to intervene in what is happening from the outside and creates unacceptable strategic threats for us, then they should know that our response to oncoming strikes will be swift, lightning fast. We have all the tools for this, ones that no one can brag about, and we won't brag. We will use them if needed.

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SCIUTTO: What does he mean there?

Joining us now is CNN National Security Analyst Andrea Kendall-Taylor. Good to have you on.

I wonder, we focus a lot understandably on nuclear saber-rattling coming from Russia, but, increasingly, you hear Russian officials talk about this being a war not just against Ukraine but a war against NATO. And I wonder if you believe Putin and others are laying the groundwork for expanding this conflict beyond Ukraine.

ANDREA KENDALL-TAYLOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I don't think that's the case so far. And in my opinion, kind of this language about, you know, we're not just fighting Ukraine but we're fighting NATO is primarily intended for a domestic Russian audience.

So, there are now a lot of people inside Russia who are wondering why this, quote/unquote, special military operation is dragging on beyond two months now. And as you have pictures, like the sinking of the battleship, the Moskva, soldiers aren't coming home and casualties are rising, there's a lot of questions about Russia, which Putin has told Russians are a great power on the world stage, why they are having such trouble with the Ukrainians.

And so I think they are trying to downplay what looks like significant incompetence of Putin and other Russian leaders who are responsible for planning this military operation.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. But I have to say when you watch the Russian media there, the state-run media and their propaganda machine, they are just ratcheting up the rhetoric, saying, don't stop in the east, take the whole country, I mean, genocidal language almost on a daily basis at this point.

And I was curious to get your thoughts on when, if Vladimir Putin would ever come to the negotiating table. President Zelenskyy said that, as difficult as it may be, he is open to that. But there have been a few reports that I have read now of Vladimir Putin leaving that door open until the Bucha genocide and war crimes accusation came to light. Obviously, many of those soldiers who were affiliated with that have been decorated and promoted.

But now that you hear the Ukrainian general prosecutor naming ten Russian soldiers suspected of war crimes in Bucha, do you think that there's ever a possibility in the next few weeks or months of Vladimir Putin meeting face-to-face with Zelenskyy?

KENDALL-TAYLOR: No. I think that's become, as you said, after Bucha, much more difficult to imagine, and I think in large part because it's an important turning point for Ukrainians, right?

So, the Russian tactic of targeting civilians is intended to try to break the will of Ukrainians, but it's having the exact opposite effect. And, in fact, it's hardening Ukrainians and making it more difficult for them to get to the negotiating table.

So, kind of given where we are and the fact that actually Russia is pushing forward with a second major offensive in the east and the south, I think President Putin thinks that things are going at least reasonably well in the second phase of the conflict. And so it's very difficult for me to imagine him wanting to sit down at this stage, while I think they still believe they have an advantage to push in the east and the south.

SCIUTTO: May 9th is Victory Day. It's the U.S. view that Putin wants to have some sort of victory to advertise on Victory Day. Is it your view that it's more likely he satisfies himself with what's ever achieved to that point or a risk that May 9th becomes a call for a broader offensive here, maybe a national mobilization to do so?

KENDALL-TAYLOR: That's a big question that President Putin will have to make a decision on, about whether or not to mobilize the Russian public.

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If he doesn't, I think the resources they will have to throw at this conflict are dwindling, and in my opinion, the balance of forces is slowly beginning to favor the Ukrainians as the west continues to supply weapons. So, that's going to be a crucial decision that he'll have to make.

I haven't seen any indication and I'm hearing from U.S. government officials there's no evidence that Putin is preparing to mobilize the public on that May 9th Victory Day. I think for Putin, because there haven't been any big gains that he can display on that day, it's going to be a time for him to remind Russians about the great patriotic war, de-Nazification, I think try to put Ukraine into this historical arc again to get Russians invested in what could be a prolonged war in Ukraine.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and reminding Russians that he can Weaponize their resources, right, like oil and gas, just like we saw yesterday, cutting off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, thank you.

And still to come, an emotional reunion, Trevor Reed back in the United States with his family. We're joined by a man who played a key role in his release from Russian detention, up next.

SCIUTTO: Plus, a single church here in Lviv that is offering some 200 refugees a chance not to flee the country but stay in Ukraine despite having to flee their homes here. I speak to the father and families staying in Ukraine as an act of hope and defiance.

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GOLODRYGA: Right now, American Trevor Reed is finally back in the U.S. with his family. Overnight, the former Marine saw his mom and dad for the first time in more than two years. You see that photo there. This was after he was released in a prisoner swap for a Russian national convicted of drug smuggling here in the U.S.

Joining me now to discuss is Jonathan Franks, who worked behind the scenes to get Trevor Reed released. He serves as the Reed family spokesperson.

And you saw him reunite with his parents for the first time, Jonathan, last night. It was the first time that you had met Trevor and you had seen him in person. Talk about that moment.

JONATHAN FRANK, WORKED TO GET TREVOR REED RELEASED FROM RUSSIA: Well, thanks for having me, Bianna. And this is now my fourth release. I work primarily on cases of wrongfully detained veterans, so it was an honor to get to meet Trevor last night, to see him walk off that airplane and greet his family, something that's been almost a thousand days in the making. I'll be honest, releases never get old for me.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. You know, there have been so much attention and so much focus, and a large part driven by people like you and his parents, making sure that the world never forgot Trevor Reed's name and making sure that he needed to come home as soon as possible. When that moment happened, when he got off that plane yesterday, what was that like for you?

FRANK: Just a sort of a reaffirmation of everything that his parents have done. And I'm just reminded what a courageous family this is, all of them. They have been through hell. And, you know, to get to see them back together yesterday, I wouldn't trade it for anything. It was absolutely heartwarming.

GOLODRYGA: What did he say to you?

FRANK: You know, I don't really want to go into that. It was the middle of the night and he's got a lot to do and think about right now. So, you know, it was -- he thanked me. He was very gracious and just so excited for his family. I think the Reeds -- they have become like surrogate parents to me over the last almost three years that we've been working together. And to get to see that moment is just amazing.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And, understandably, the next few weeks and months are going to be very difficult for him, both emotionally and physically. We know that he had been in weaker health, that his health had been a big factor in his parents wanting to expedite his release. Do you view that as one of the driving forces behind getting him home this week?

FRANK: Absolutely. I think there were several driving forces, one of which being his health, the second of which being that his parents were extremely effective in getting President Biden's attention. And we had always said in the campaign from the very beginning, if we could just get his parents in front of President Biden, we were confident that President Biden would make the deal that he did.

GOLODRYGA: And President Biden called them yesterday and gave them the great news that he was coming home. And, listen, this is a club no parent wants to be in but he's not the only American that was detained in Russia. There are two other Americans that are currently still there, another retired Marine, Paul Whelan, and Brittney Griner as well.

And you heard Paula Reed say that her heart still goes out to those parents because she knows what they're going through.

I want to play sound from Paul's brother this morning.

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DAVID WHELAN, BROTHER OF PAUL WHELAN: He spoke to my parents yesterday. He had heard on the Russian news, had it translated by the prisoners, that he was being left behind. And that was his question, why am I being left behind? And that's a very hard question for any adult to have to answer to their child, and we don't have an answer for why that happened.

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GOLODRYGA: So, you've become an expert in these situations. What do you say to those families?

FRANKS: My heart is broken because, I mean, I've gotten to know the Whelans. I've learned a lot from the Whelans. As I think you mentioned last hour, the families are very close. And to see Paul still there is really hard. And I want to re-emphasize to everybody, we have the ability to bring Paul Whelan home. We have the ability to bring Brittney Griner home and I think 14 to 15 other Americans who are wrongfully held who could benefit from the same kind of tactic that the president employed here, and rightly so, to bring Trevor Reed home.

And I just don't think American voters care at all about hanging on to the last three years of Konstantin Yaroshenko's ten-plus-year sentence. I similarly don't think that they care that much about retaining Viktor Bout at a cost of half a million dollars a year for the next three years, right? And we have nearly 60 Americans wrongfully held or held hostage around the world and we've got to stop talking about bringing them home and start bringing them home.

So, the concerns I've heard on your show and others about whether this will be a one-off or whether the administration will continue to use the full set of tools available to it in the toolbox to bring people home, it remains to be seen. But we certainly hope that they are going to build on this experience and release more folks.

GOLODRYGA: Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer, do you really think that the U.S. would exchange him?

FRANKS: I don't know. But what I do know that is Viktor Bout goes home in 2029, whether anybody likes him or not, and Paul Whelan doesn't, and it's that simple. I'm not saying Viktor Bout is a good guy. I said publicly yesterday, I think Konstantin Yaroshenko is a bad guy who never took any responsibility for the crime that he committed, and he did commit it, it's on tape, right? So, they are bad guys, there's no question.

But we've got to look at what came out better in yesterday's deal, the Russians or the United States, right? We got far more time off of Trevor's sentence than they got off of Yaroshenko's and the same would be true for trading Viktor Bout or anyone else for Paul Whelan, but he needs to come home. He's been there way too long. He too has health issues. And we're just encouraging everybody, right?

Trevor Reed is not going to be able to talk to anybody for a long time and we really want folks to focus on the Whelan case right now and the cases of the other wrongfully detained Americans around the world.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Well, listen, we hope that it's not going to be until 2029.

FRANKS: If I could get in one last thing, the Reeds have obviously encouraged an exorbitant amount of expenses from this ordeal, and anybody that would like to help, we're trying to offset that. You can go to gofundme.com/free-trevor-reed.

GOLODRYGA: Jonathan Franks, in the break, you told me that Trevor Reed was one tough Marine. Well, we know where he got it from. It's from his parents. They have been tough, they have been relentless and they finally got their son home. Thank you so much for your work and effort.

FRANKS: And some of the nicest people I have ever met. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Jonathan Franks, thank you. Thank you so much. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, I visit a Lviv church that is taking in hundreds of Ukrainians forced to leave their homes in this country due to the war, many of them women and children. They don't want to leave the country. They want to stay.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They must have some community and a kind of society, conditions to forget about the war.

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