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Zelenskyy Delivers Powerful Address To U.S. Congress; U.S. Announces It's Sending Patriot System To Ukraine; Netanyahu Announces Controversial New Government; House Committee To Release Final Report Thursday; Long Lines At U.S.-Mexico Border As Title 42 In Limbo; Female Students Turned Away At Kabul University. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 22, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to all of you watching us all around the world. Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
Ahead this hour, a standing ovation for the President of Ukraine on his first trip overseas since the war began. His message for the U.S. Congress and how he thinks next year will be different from darkness to light.
We could be hours away from the release of texts and e-mails that Trump officials never wanted anyone to see. And we're tracking the situation on both sides of the U.S. southern border as we wait for the Supreme Court's decision on Title 42.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: And we begin this hour with a powerful and pivotal moment in Ukraine's battle against Russia as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels to Washington 10 months after Russia launched its invasion. The Ukrainian leader met with President Joe Biden and delivered a historic address to joint meeting of Congress.
There, Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle before making it clear Ukraine will never surrender. Here he is.
Against all odds and doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn't fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.
The Ukrainian President expressed his gratitude to the U.S. for its continued support and said the battle now raging in his country is a battle that should be a concern for all nations around the world. Here he is again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Against all odds and doom and gloom scenarios, Ukraine didn't fall. Ukraine is alive and kicking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The Ukrainian President expressed his gratitude to the U.S. for its continued support and said the battle now raging in his country is a battle that should be a concern for all nations around the world. Here he is again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: This battle cannot be frozen or postponed. It cannot be ignored, hoping that the ocean or something else will provide a protection from the United States to China, from Europe to Latin America and from Africa to Australia. The world is too interconnected and interdependent to allow someone to stay aside and at the same time to feel safe when such a battle continues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Zelensky had just visited the frontline city of Bakhmut on Tuesday and he presented a Ukrainian flag signed by soldiers as a gift to Congress to thank them for the weapons that were sent. He said he believes next year will be a turning point in the war, but that more critical U.S. aid is needed to win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: Your money is not charity, it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. And your support is crucial not just to stand in such fight, but to get to the turning point to win on the battlefield. We have artillery. Yes, thank you. We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: President Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the Patriot missile defense system the U.S. is sending to Ukraine. He says it's crucial to securing Ukraine's airspace. The Patriot is part of nearly $2 billion of new aid package for the Ukraine. Ukrainian government has been requesting the highly advanced system for months. Russia argues it will only further escalate the conflict, a claim disputed by President Biden. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Defensive system. It's a defensive weapon system. It's not escalatory. It's defensive. And it's easy to not and we'd love to not have to have them use it. Just stop the attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: A senior us. Defense official tells CNN it'll take several months to properly train Ukrainian forces on how to use the Patriot system. Our Pentagon Correspondent, Oren Liebermann has details on its capability.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Patriot missile is the U.S. military's most advanced missile defense system, capable of shooting down a variety of targets, from ballistic missiles to aircraft. The system will bolster Ukraine's air defenses, which have had to contend with repeated Russian barrages of drones, missiles, and more.
[01:05:06]
The Patriot batteries will fit like an extended dome over Ukraine's current systems. Patriots can have a range of 40 miles or more, and the radar can detect threats even farther away. A long range air defense capability, which Ukraine has requested for months.
Below that are systems like the U.S. provided NASAMS with a range of 25 miles, a medium range system that's proven very effective. And there are the short-range options like Stingers that Ukraine has used as well.
MARK CANCIAN, SENIOR ADVISER, CSIS INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PROGRAM: Patriots are significant politically and useful militarily, but they're not a game changer.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): This is a high-end system. Missile experts say a Patriot battery with missiles costs about $1 billions, so Ukraine shouldn't use these to take out relatively inexpensive Iranian drones. The system itself has six major parts, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a control station, a
radar set, a generator, an antenna, and, of course, the launcher and missiles takes about 100 personnel to operate a full system.
Nearly 20 countries have Patriot missile batteries. Israel has used them to intercept drones and even Syrian aircraft. Saudi Arabia has effectively used Patriots to intercept ballistic missiles and more from Yemen.
CANCIAN: I think the system will work against a wide variety of Russian threats. This is by far the most complicated system that we have given to the Ukrainians.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): But complete training on Patriot batteries takes weeks, if not more. Time is one luxury Ukraine does not have.
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LIEBERMANN: Pentagon officials say it will take several months to train up the Ukrainians on how to operate the Patriots. They'll try to compress that timeline as much as they can, but it is a complex system. And I think we're about to find out if it's even possible to compress it beyond several months. I also wouldn't overlook the other capabilities in this $1.8 billion Ukraine assistance package. More of the HIMARS ammunition that they've used so effectively, more vehicles, precision guided bomb kits, JDAMs, and military terminology that it will allow the Ukrainians to carry out bombing missions from fighter jets.
They'll have some technical knowhow that they'll have to implement to make that work on their Soviet era fighters, but they've done that before, and I think there's no doubt they'll do it again. One final note on this package, there's a lot of non-NATO standard artillery ammunition in here.
Why is that significant? The U.S. doesn't produce that, so that's being sourced from elsewhere. That will go to the tubes and the artillery, the ammunition, the weapons that Ukraine already has that will help them on the systems with which they are already familiar for what is still a punishing ground battle.
Oren Liebermann, CNN in the Pentagon.
BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Brisbane is Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan. Thanks so much for being here with us. So I just want to start off big picture. Were you surprised by Zelenskyy's visit, because he maintained for a long time he wouldn't come here unless there were substantial development.
MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, hi. No, I wasn't really surprised by his visit. Sooner or later, he was going to come to Washington. The United States is Ukraine's largest backer with both military and economic assistance. So if he was going to make an overseas trip, it made all the sense in the world that the first one would be to Washington, D.C.
BRUNHUBER: All right, so one of his key messages was that this isn't just about Ukraine and Russia. The Ukraine's fight connects all free nations. Why was that message important, do you think?
RYAN: I think there's a couple of reasons that was an important message. Firstly, he was saying that, you know, we're fighting a threat, that if we don't face it now here in Ukraine, that you may have to face it elsewhere in Europe in the future. So now is the time to support Ukraine. Now is the time to provide support, to help Ukraine win.
But he's also saying that, you know, this should not be a conflict that's dragged out. He spoke about not freezing the conflict. It's not the time to negotiate. Now is the time to actually win.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, well, I want to ask you about that because he said that in the speech and then in a press conference, I want to quote him here. He said, just peace is no compromises as the sovereignty, freedom and territorial integrity of our country. And Russia has responded to all this saying, you know, his visit and everything he said is proof that either Ukraine nor the U.S. want peace.
How big is Zelenskyy's take on this? No compromise in terms of territorial integrity? How big of a problem is that for Biden, do you think?
RYAN: Well, it's a problem more for Russia because Ukraine has the initiative in this war. They're being beaten, and Ukraine have said, let's not stop. Let's keep going until the job is done. The Russians in the short term have very little options against Ukraine, and the more that the U.S. and Europe support them, the more likely the Ukrainians are to win this war.
At this point in time, it's not major problems for Biden because the Ukrainians are winning. But if there was some kind of battlefield reverse and the Russians were able to, you know, gain momentum in this war, that might be more of a political problem, particularly with the change in the House and Congress.
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BRUNHUBER: Yes, but that's exactly it, because there is a ticking clock here. They seem to be on a collision course. House Republicans in the U.S. say they don't want to issue a blank check. Vladimir Putin just said there would be, quote, no limits in financing the war.
So, you know, Moscow, obviously listening to the speech and the response from Russia's ambassador to the U.S. said, you know, Zelenskyy's visit showed that neither the U.S. nor Zelenskyy are ready for peace. So what do you think Moscow is taking from this visit and the messages that were put forth today?
RYAN: Well, Russia used today to make some military announcements of its own to try and overshadow Zelenskyy's visit. They announced an expansion of the Russian military to 1.5 million people, the formation of new divisions, about 17 new divisions, and a new command to face off the Baltic states.
None of these things are going to have an immediate impact. But in the medium and long term, these are things that, if the Russians are able to do, will have an impact. Not just on the war in Ukraine, but the European security situation more generally.
BRUNHUBER: I want to end with what we began with, which was the report on the Patriot system. We heard one source in that package say that they weren't a game changer. When you look at the enormous cost, when you look at the time involved in training the Ukrainian troops, we heard Zelenskyy saying he wants more of these. Is it actually worth it when you factor in all of those different things?
RYAN: Well, the Patriots will be just one air defense system among many. It'll be used for very high value targets. They're not going to be used for cheap Iranian drones. We need to give the Ukrainian some credit here. But he also spoke about other weapon systems he liked. He was very clear that we don't need Americans to drive American tanks and aircraft.
So, you know, Zelenskyy is not just after air defenses. He's after armored vehicles and other things that will help them in the offensives to come in 2023. BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there. We really
appreciate your analysis. Retired Australian Army Major General Mick Ryan, thank you so much.
RYAN: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Well, dozens of well-known venues around the world went dark on Wednesday to show solidarity with Ukraine. The Ukrainian government said the goal was to raise funds through President Zelenskyy's, quote, United 24 initiative to buy generators for Ukrainian hospitals.
The Sydney Opera House was among the venues that shut off their lights. Others in Europe did so as well, including the E.U. Commission building in Brussels, along with London's Royal Albert Hall. Ukraine is struggling with widespread power outages because of relentless Russian strikes on its power grid.
Israel is one step closer to having its most right-wing government in history. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Designate Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he formed a new government coalition. The announcement came just minutes before his deadline to do so. The incoming Cabinet is set to include politicians who were once considered to be on the extreme fringes of Israeli politics.
Hadas Gold reports.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new Israeli government setting off alarm bells around the world even allies rarely eyeing Benjamin Netanyahu's new ministers who will make up the most right- wing government in Israeli history. A stark change from the last coalition now made up all of men and all Orthodox except for Netanyahu himself.
Most recognizable is Itamar Ben-Gvir, once convicted of anti-air of racism and supporting a Jewish terrorist group. Now, National Security Minister in charge of Israeli police. Eager to allow Jews to pray at Jerusalem's holiest site where only Muslims are now allowed to worship. A place that has sparked into fadas (ph) and even wars.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Danny Ayalon warning Washington will be on high alert.
DANNY AYALON, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: If they will perform what is conceived in Washington as provocations, for instance, change of status in Temple Mount or unchecked enlargement of new settlements. This could be a very, very big problem for Netanyahu and for the government.
GOLD (voice-over): Then there's Bezalel Smotrich, another far right settler lawyer turned politician has been named Minister of Finance and has also been given power to appoint the head of the Israeli body which controls border crossings and permits for Palestinians. Smotrich supports abolishing the Palestinian Authority and annexing the West Bank.
Israel's staunchest ally, the United States perhaps hoping the rhetoric won't match the actions.
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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: We will gauge the government by the policies it pursues rather than individual personalities.
GOLD (voice-over): Other appointments causing uproar include a gay rights opponent who has vowed to ban pride parades to a position in the Education Ministry and proposed changes to the law of return, further restricting who was considered Jewish enough to be permitted to immigrate to Israel.
Netanyahu, for his part, has repeatedly claimed that the buck will stop with him.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, INCOMING ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I've had such partners in the past and they didn't change an iota of my policies. I decide the policy with my party.
GOLD (voice-over): But as the government has taken shape, his critics, like this cartoonist, say he's creating a monster he won't be able to control.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Two of the former top lieutenants of the crypto exchange FTX are now charged with defrauding investors. And the former CEO of the now bankrupt company has been extradited from the Bahamas. So these images show Sam Bankman-Fried being taken to the United States to face charges. He's expected to appear before a judge in New York on Thursday.
Bankman-Fried was arrested last week on eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors accuse him of stealing money from FTX customers to support other investments and donate money to political campaigns.
All right, we have new developments in two big stories from Trump world. The first witnesses -- witness transcripts from the January 6 committee, plus revelations from the former president's tax returns. Plus, a fuel tank explodes in a Colombian port city. We'll look at how crews are responding to the deadly blast. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: We'll have a look at this. In Colombia, firefighter is dead after a fuel tank explosion. It happened in the port city of Barranquilla on Wednesday. The fire is being allowed to burn out, which could take several days. The area around the tank was evacuated, and all port activities have been suspended until the fire is fully controlled. The U.S. House Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is expected to publish its final report in the day ahead. On Wednesday, it released transcripts of interviews with more than two dozen witnesses, including some major players in Donald Trump's orbit. CNN's Sara Murray has details.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The January 6 committee failing to meet the deadline they set for themselves to release their full report on Wednesday, instead saying that full report is going to be available to the public on Thursday. We're expecting that to be eight chapters, hundreds of pages. Everyone is still waiting.
In the meantime, though, on Wednesday evening, the committee did release 34 transcripts. These are largely transcripts of people who didn't answer investigators questions. In most cases, they invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but they included big names. They include Trump's former National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, the former Trump lawyer John Eastman, who we know is under DOJ scrutiny, and one of Donald Trump's longtime allies, Roger Stone.
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And then they give you a look into how these folks kind of tried to stymie a congressional investigators, you know, in a two part interview, Jeffrey Clark, that former DOJ official was sort of combative. I mean, at one point, his attorneys presented a 12-page list of objections to why they didn't think he should be there.
In his second deposition, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 120 times. The other thing that sticks out, though, is in the questioning. The investigators make clear in their questions for a number of these folks. They've still been able to obtain emails or text messages that even these witnesses who did not want to provide anything with the committee are listed on.
So it gives you some insight into just how much congressional investigators were able to obtain. They got emails, they got text messages, even from witnesses who did not believe that they wanted to hand anything over to the committee because of their Fifth Amendment rights.
We are, of course, waiting for the big report still to come. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
BRUNHUBER: Well, we're learning new details about Donald Trump's taxes. Thanks to a pair of reports from Congress. One shows the former president paid no federal income tax in 2020, his last year in the White House. It also shows he had a pattern of losing money, carrying forward tens millions of dollars in losses that helped reduce his tax bill. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to make public six years of Trump's tax returns within the next few days.
The lines of migrants are growing longer by the day at the U.S.-Mexico border, with the Trump era immigration policy known as Title 42 still in limbo. That policy, which allows border officials to quickly expel migrants to slow the spread of COVID was due to expire Wednesday before the Supreme Court's Chief Justice stepped in to put its termination on hold. Border cities, as well as the Biden administration are still preparing as if Title 42 will end sooner than later.
But until it does, uncertainty looms over the thousands of migrants trying to seek asylum. Now some migrants who are tired of waiting are crossing into the U.S. illegally, arriving daily in border cities now as a major arctic front sweeps across the country. Officials are worried asylum seekers will be left unprotected on the streets in the bitter cold.
CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Brownsville, Texas.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The anticipation building on the Mexican side of the border on the day Title 42 was set to be lifted. These videos, shot by a migrant and provided to CNN, show migrants in Matamoros using rafts to cross the Rio Grande. Some in the crowd provide commentary, saying they're tired of the long wait. And that U.S. immigration authorities are watching it all happen.
(on-camera): I'm in Brownsville, Texas. The river is right behind me are drone cameras capturing a similar scene. A large group of migrants on the Mexican side, a large law enforcement presence on the U.S. side. And our cameras were rolling as a group of migrants, including a child, crossed into the United States and turned themselves into authorities. All this contributing to what one law enforcement source says is up to 1,200 migrants turning themselves into border authorities every day in this part of South Texas.
(voice-over): Border Patrol is dropping off hundreds of them in respite centers, say advocates. Most of them travel out the same day. But local shelters are starting to see an uptick of migrants who can afford to.
(on-camera): So migrants from all over the world?
VICTOR MALDONADO, DIRECTOR, OZANAM CENTER: Yes, they're coming in from all over the world.
FLORES (voice-over): Like this family from Venezuela who say they sold everything they owned and borrowed money to migrate to the U.S. as a situation in their country became unbearable.
(on-camera): They say that about four months ago, words spread in Venezuela that the U.S. border was open. That's why you decided to come here.
(voice-over): Omar (ph) and Glenn (ph) want to go by their first names only because of fear it could impact their case. For 29 days, they braved the elements with their eight-year-old daughter Camilla (ph) in an encampment in Matamoros. (on-camera): Once you got to the border, you realized that the border
was closed.
(voice-over): They turned themselves into immigration at the port of entry this week.
(on-camera): What would you to tell migrants?
He says that it's not worth selling everything you own to come to the United States because the border is closed.
(voice-over): As evidenced by these videos showing migrants risking their lives, and the lives of their children to end their wait in Mexico and start life in the U.S.
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FLORES: The Venezuelan couple in our story says that their first appointment with the U.S. immigration court judge is set for November 2024. That's nearly two years away. But that speaks to the backlog in U.S. immigration court system right now.
According to analysis, a federal data by a group at Syracuse University, for the first time in history, the number of cases in U.S. immigration court now exceeds 2 million.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Brownsville, Texas.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.N. Security Council is calling on Myanmar's military rulers to release all political prisoners, including the country's president and state counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi. In its first ever resolution passed on Myanmar, the U.N. called for more humanitarian assistance for citizens and Rohingya refugees and express concern over the ongoing state of emergency imposed by the military.
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BARBARA WOODWARD, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Today, we've sent a firm message to the military that they should be in no doubt, we expect this resolution to be implemented in full. We've also sent a clear message to the people of Myanmar that we seek progress in line with their rights, their wishes, and their interests.
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BRUNHUBER: Now, this comes nearly two years after the coup in February of 2021, where military leaders overthrew Myanmar's democratically elected government.
Despite swift international condemnation, the Taliban are moving ahead with their decision to suspend higher education for Afghan women. Female students walked out of Kabul University Wednesday after a professor said staffers were instructed to turn them away. The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, called the ban a grave step backwards tweeting, quote, "As a father to daughters, I cannot imagine a world in which they're denied an education." He also said, the world is watching, and the Taliban will be judged by their actions.
The crisis in Peru leading to finger pointing between Mexico and the U.S. Next, why the Mexican President believes Washington isn't walking the walk when it comes to supporting democracy in Peru. And in his green military fatigues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers an impassioned speech to both chambers of the U.S. Congress. His urgent plea for more support in the fight against Russian's invasion, next.
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ZELENSKYY: All of us, millions of Ukrainians, wish the same victory.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Kim Brunhuber.
A standing ovation for Ukraine's president from U.S. lawmakers as Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a historic and impassioned speech before a joint meeting of Congress. President Zelenskyy told lawmakers American support is crucial for Ukraine to defeat Russia's invasion.
And with Christmas just days away, he emphasized the resiliency and spirit of the Ukrainian people. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We will celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas. And even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out. And we don't have to know everyone's wish as we know that all of us, millions of Ukrainians wish the same -- victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: President Zelenskyy expressed not just his gratitude for American support but also the gratitude of the Ukrainian troops he visited on the front lines just a day earlier. He presented Congress with the Ukrainian flag he brought from the frontlines signed by troops defending the besieged city of Bakhmut.
And he spoke about the shared values of the American and Ukrainian people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZELENSKYY: Our two nations are allies in this battle. And next year, it will be a turning point. I know it's the point when the Ukraine encourage and American resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom. The freedom of people who stand for their values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Now, before his landmark speech to Congress, President Zelenskyy was welcomed at the White House by President Joe Biden who said it was particularly meaningful to speak to Zelenskyy in person. He praised the Ukrainian leader for his, quote, "strong stand against aggression" and said his leadership has inspired the world. Here he is.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Ukraine's freedom was threatened, the American people, and by generations the Americans before us did not hesitate. Because we understand in our bones that Ukraine's fight is part of something much bigger.
The American people know that if we standby in the face of such blatant attacks on liberty and democracy and the core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. The world will surely face worse consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN's Phil Mattingly is following all the developments and has more on Zelenskyy's visit from the White House.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For a leader that has become a beacon of, to some degree, freedom, hope, democracy for the western world over the course of the last 300-plus days there was no more dramatic and potentially consequential 78 hours. And the 78 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to run (ph) from the White House meeting with President Biden, up to Capitol Hill speaking to a joint session of Congress. All through the lens of a conflict that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
And that was one of the primary takeaways from his sprint through Washington D.C. His first trip out of Ukraine since Russia invaded at the end of February. The reality that as long as Vladimir Putin, as long as Russia continues to mount the invasion that they've had ongoing now for nearly ten months, there are no compromises to make. In the words of Zelenskyy, there is no change, there is no shift.
And this is not just a battle between two countries, an invader and the Ukrainian people. This is a battle really, to some degree, at least in the framing of Zelenskyy, for democracy, for many of the western values that President Biden has made clear are essential in this moment in time.
And that is why this visit, when you talk to White House officials was so critically important. Given the scale of the U.S. assistance over the course of the last nine or ten months and given the fact that while Zelenskyy was here Biden announced another $1.8 billion in security assistance including the most substantial addition of weapons capability in the Patriot missile defense system that has ever been put on the table, something that Zelenskyy made clear he wants more of.
They need lawmakers to continue to support that. They need the American public to continue to support that and Zelenskyy made clear that was, in part, why he was here and had a very, very clear message. Take a listen.
ZELENSKYY: Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.
[01:34:49]
ZELENSKYY: Russia. Russia could stop its aggression, really if it wanted to. But you can speed up our victory. I know it.
MATTINGLY: Now, officials familiar with Biden's closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy -- it lasted a little more than two hours. But the one- on-one meeting and the bilateral meeting between the two national security teams said there were no clear moves towards some type of peace pathway. That is simply not on the table so long as Vladimir Putin and the Russian military continue the pathway they've pursued.
But they all seem to agree that, next year starting in just a couple of days is a turning point, a critical year in a moment where the Ukrainian forces plan to make some type of breakthrough.
How they're going to do that though remain somewhat unclear. We talk to U.S. officials, they see this now more as a stalemate when it comes to the battle space than any type of progression forward on along one side or the other.
And that underscores another critical component, Zelenskyy making clear they would be asking for more assistance pretty much daily from here on out. Underscoring that while the U.S. has by far, given the most money, weapons, economic support up to this point, much more will be needed in the months and perhaps longer ahead.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Matthew Schmidt, associate professor of national security and political science at the University of New Haven. Thanks so much for being here with us.
So first I want to start with the symbolic significance of this visit. I mean a few days ago, Zelenskyy was, you know, on the front lines in Bakhmut. Yesterday addressing Congress in English in his trademark battle green. What is that for you? MATTHEW SCHMIT, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: This is a man in his moment
if there ever was one. He is authentic, he is empathic, and you know, he is just an amazing communicator in how he's able to take the Ukrainian experience and flip it into American lives. And look at his audience and say I wish for your kids to be able to do the things that our kids will do in the future. To go to college. And he's really bringing the war home in a way that I think few leaders can.
And as far as the trip out from Bakhmut I think that this is a thumb in the eye of Vladimir Putin directly. To say that he can go -- he can go to the front lines when Putin can't, and then he can leave from there and end up in the, you know, most powerful country in the world. It's saying a lot about who is on his team.
BRUNHUBER: So you call him an impressive communicator. Do you get the impression that Zelenskyy actually sold his message to his intended audience there?
SCHMIT: It is complicated. I think he is a pop culture icon also. And so a lot of what I think he is doing is playing to the American public in the hopes that that public will keep the pressure on their representatives to keep money and support going to Ukraine.
We have seen some of that slip in the last few days and (INAUDIBLE) post poll. But I have questions about the poll because of the way it was worded. So I think we have to wait and see.
He needed to do this trip. He needed to speak to the American public. He needed to speak to Congress. And we will find out in a few weeks how the new Republican Congress reacts.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, among the needs there is the Patriot missile system. I mean that was central to his ask. So practically speaking, why is getting more of them so crucial?
SCHMIDT: Russia's strategy right now is to use the Ukrainian public as a weapon, to use winter as a weapon as the president said, to drive people from their homes into the cold, to cut off electricity. And they're doing that with missiles that are hitting civilian infrastructure. And the Patriots have a good shot at stopping those missiles from doing that, in other words from blunting the key weapon that Putin is using right now.
BRUNHUBER: So the fear was that the Patriots might be seen as a serious escalation. Why do you think that the thinking on the U.S. side may have changed and are they responding to anything that they're perhaps learning from the Russians?
So this is a question in the press earlier on and the president basically dismissed it and said we discussed it and we feel fine.
I think the real answer is here is that Putin could find any reason to call this a proxy war between America and Russia. And so the fact is that there's a lot of reason that Putin doesn't want to do that because he doesn't want to draw NATO in. And so I'm not sure how this time is any different than previous escalatory periods in the war right now where Russia said things but didn't actually escalate.
BRUNHUBER: When it comes to President Biden, how aligned are he and Zelenskyy do you think? And where is the daylight still?
SCHMIDT: I think you have to take him at his word that he's in all the way. I think what's happened is that American policy has sort of -- has sort of gone, you know, step-by-step in this direction.
And now essentially, it is all in. Even though they did it, you know, very slowly over the course of the last year. But now we're there. And we can't back out, right.
[01:39:56]
SCHMIDT: The fact that we're in as deep as we are means we have to finish the war. We have to allow Ukraine to win this in the battle space which Biden said over and over again in order to create security for Ukraine.
The way out of this is security for Ukraine. If negotiations aren't going to get that for him then he has to win on the battle space. And I think that's what everybody is looking at now.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. We really appreciate your analysis Matthew Schmidt. Thanks so much.
SCHMIDT: My pleasure.
BRUNHUBER: So as President Zelenskyy speaks about the current war, Russian President Vladimir Putin is talking about a possible future one. On Wednesday, he announced Moscow will step up investment in its military to prepare for what he called, quote, "inevitable clashes" with its adversaries.
He made it clear the main adversary is NATO, which President Putin claims wants to weaken and split Russia. The Russian leader also said the war with Ukraine was bound to happen at some point. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP):
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It became obvious that clashes with these forces, including in Ukraine were inevitable. The only question was when it would happen. Of course, military operations are always associated with tragedy and loss to people. We understand this very well, and we are aware of this. But since it was inevitable, better today than tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The new investment includes increasing the size of Russia's military and stepping up work to deploy its latest intercontinental ballistic missile. The family of ousted Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, has arrived
in Mexico where they were granted asylum. Mexican officials tweeted these pictures of Peru's former first lady and her two children on Wednesday. Mexico's decision raised tensions between the two nations with Peru ordering the Mexican ambassador out of the country on Tuesday.
Castillo was impeached and arrested earlier this month after he tried to dissolve Congress, which his opponents described as an attempted coup. Peru's former first lady is under investigation at home for allegedly, coordinating a criminal network run by her husband.
Peru's political crisis is also creating friction between Mexico and the U.S. Washington has supported Castillo's successor President Dina Boluarte. But Mexico's president responded by pointing a finger at the U.S. and accusing it of hypocrisy.
Rafael Romo has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, spoke at length about relations between the United States and Latin American countries. He stopped short of saying that the White House has been meddling in the domestic affairs of some nations.
He specifically focused on the U.S. response after former Peruvian president, Pedro Castillo, a fellow leftist was ousted after he attempted to dissolve his country's congress which, in turn, impeached him.
He criticized the recent meeting between U.S. ambassador to Peru Lisa Kenna, and current Peruvian president Dina Boluarte who succeeded Castillo as well as other meetings with officials in the new government.
He also criticize the fact that the White House recognizes Boluarte's presidency when Mexico still considers Castillo Peru's legitimate president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, MEXICAN PRESIDENT: And I, to be honest, am very sorry that the United States government which always talks about democracy, in this case, instead of asking that the will of the people be respected that the democratically-elected president be respected.
What they end up doing is endorsing all the shady maneuvers to remove the president.
ROMO: At one point, Lopez Obrador seemed to contradict himself when he said that there are no problems between Mexico and the United States, only minutes after saying that there are frictions. United States Next month, President Lopez Obrador will host the North American Leaders' summit in Mexico City and both U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are expected to attend.
Lopez Obrador says he wants to begin a new phase in relations between countries in the American continent. Peru's new government is furious about President Lopez Obrador's public support of former President Castillo, going as far as ordering the Mexican ambassador to Peru to leave the country and declaring him persona non grata.
President Lopez Obrador said Wednesday, his country will not respond in kind. Mexico is giving asylum to former President Castillo's wife and two minor children.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The World Health Organization says that it's concerned about the rise of COVID infections in China. The country is seeing an uptick in cases after dropping its harsh zero COVID restrictions earlier this month, the W.H.O. is urging China to share more information but praising the country's renewed strategy to get more people vaccinated and warns that it will be hard for China to curb COVID infections with just social measures.
[01:44:52]
All right. Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, surviving the worst drought in four decades, how Kenya's conservancies are answering "The Call to Earth".
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Throughout this week, "Call to Earth" is turning the spotlight on Kenya where parts of the east African country are experiencing the region's worst drought in 40 years, taking its toll on both humans and animals alike.
Today, guest editor Paula Kahumbu, the 2021 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year visits a pair of conservancies to learn how they're helping preserve Kenya's wild life heritage in the face of such extreme circumstances.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA KAHUMBU, 2021 ROLEX NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLOYER OF THE YEAR: Wildlife in (INAUDIBLE) in Kenya primarily is migrating. It needs to move, it needs to breed into the larger ecosystem. Elephants, wildebeest, they have to move over vast landscapes.
But the development in those landscapes now include, mega farms, avocado plantations, roads, railways, our cities being built. That is interfering with the ability of animals to move until the animals are becoming more and more constrained. So when you have a drought, they can't go anywhere.
This is the bull that died on Friday?
Even in southwestern Kenya around the Masai Mara (ph) where the drought has been left deadly, it is starting to reach breaking point.
So when the rains did come, they were greeted with joy.
Hi Dickson.
DICKSON KAELO, KENYA WILDLIFE CONSERVANCIES ASSOCIATION: Hello Paula. How are you doing?
KAHUMBU: How are you doing.
KAELO: good to see you? Welcome to Kenya.
KAHUMBU: Thank you.
KAELO: Yes, you brought us some rains. It's been so dry. We've had more than six months of a dry period and we are beginning to panic, the rest of the country is definitely very bad, animals are dying and the Mara was just getting at the brink.
KAHUMBU: Dixon Kaelo is the head of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association. As climate events like the droughts were more extreme, the conservancies will become increasingly important to the survival of Kenya's wildlife.
Unlike the national park, they're managed and protected by the people or communities who own the land.
KAELO: What a conservancy does is it tackles the underlying factors that are driving by the (INAUDIBLE). It's not even the poaching of elephant ivory. It is not bush trade. It's not all the other factors that we often told. It's actually the loss of space, because if wildlife are not able to move over large distances, they affect the environment in a way that negatively impacts them.
[01:49:59]
KAELO: If the territories of lions are much smaller and have a little prey, the lions fight and prides kill each other as a result. So the conservancy actually expands the area available for wildlife. And in the Mara now it has doubled by the creation of the 22 conservancies.
KAHUMBU: The success of the conservancies' movement relies in the fact that it not only helps the wildlife but also the local community, diversifying their income streams with the addition of tourism.
In all (INAUDIBLE) and the neighboring Nabosha (ph) conservancy, 90 percent of the camp workers are from the local community. With more students being trained each year.
MICHAEL KAHIGA, INSTRUCTOR: These are young men and women who have grown with the wild life around here. They are quite familiar with the animals but all they need now is the technical part. How to interpret that one to the guests. A lot of them have transformed their livelihood from their employment
they have gotten from the tourism industry within the Mara.
KIMBERLEY SAKIAN NTUTU, FORMER STUDENT: When I was a young child we used to come here for trips, like when all my classmates used to go back to school, I always used to cry and say that I don't want to leave the animals. I don't want to leave the lions. I don't want to leave the antelopes.
I just want to stay here. So when I had a chance of being with all the animals like it is in my heart, like it's not something I'm forcing like even right now being a tour guide, it is just for my passion.
KAELO: What we have seen is when the community begin to see wildlife as their own asset, and they begin to feel that the decisions that are being made around wildlife conservation has their voice and their faith, and they are actually the benefit that approves actually also flowing into them. We have seen stewardship coming in back to what it was a few decades back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: You can watch the special half hour program "CALL TO EARTH: VOICE OF THE WILD" airing this Saturday and Sunday on CNN only.
You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This guy has it him to his very soul is who he says he is. It's clear who he is. He is willing to give his life for his country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, that was U.S. President Joe Biden welcoming his Ukrainian counterpart to the White House. Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington is helping to cement his role as a defender of democracy in the face of Russian aggression. And it all started with a career as a comedian.
CNN's Will Ripley reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): I remain in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine. My children are in Ukraine.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From that moment on February 24th, Volodymyr Zelenskyy became the symbol of Ukrainian resistance even as Russian forces poured into Ukraine.
Amid speculation he would be evacuated, Zelenskyy said he didn't need a ride, he needed ammunition. A week into the conflict, in his bunker in Kyiv, Zelenskyy told CNN it was about much more than Ukraine.
[01:54:50]
ZELENSKYY: It's very important for people in the United States to understand, that despite the fact that the war is taking place in Ukraine, it's essentially for values in life, for democracy and for freedom.
RIPLEY: A message he has repeated in dozens of video appearances at the U.N., NATO, the U.S. Congress and countless parliaments around the world.
From the early days of the war, Zelenskyy told his visitors Ukraine cannot fight Russia alone. It needs money and, above all, weapons. Whenever one type of weapon arise from western supporters, he asks for another. A 100 percent air shield for Ukraine, he says will be one of the most successful steps against Russian aggression.
His resolve and that of Ukrainians was hardened by atrocities committed by Russian forces, especially north of Kyiv in March. Even as the city of Lysychansk was about to fall this summer, he went there to award soldiers medals.
Slowly, the tide of the conflict turned thanks to advanced U.S. and NATO weapons and some brilliant generalship. Last month, Zelenskyy went to the only regional capital the Russians had taken, Kherson, hours after its liberation.
ZELENSKYY: People waited for the Ukrainian army, for our soldiers, for all of us. And so what can I say? When they're ready, great job.
RIPLEY: Zelenskyy's spontaneous and relaxed presence around Ukrainians, in sharp contrast to Vladimir Putin's staged and grim- faced appearances.
After his election in 2019, Zelenskyy is in some ways the ideal leader to rally his country in wartime, a former comedian with a gift for finding the right words.
Also, youthful stamina and resolution to resist when the odds and casualties have been so great. Zelenskyy has a well honed popular touch. He has welcomed Hollywood to his office, posed for selfies with wounded soldiers, met children under fire.
But Zelenskyy is keenly aware, nothing is won yet. He and his generals expect a new Russian offensive early next year. At real personal risk, he continues visiting the frontlines.
ZELENSKYY: First of, all I would like us to thank those who are not with us with a moment of silence. Let us honor all heroes who died.
RIPLEY: That was Tuesday in Bakhmut, where soldiers signed a flag thanking the United States for its weapons. Within hours, Zelenskyy was crossing the Atlantic to present that flag to President Biden. Another example of his flair for selling the need to defend Ukraine as the war against Russia passes 300 days. Will Ripley, CNN -- Kyiv, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
The news continues next with Kristie Lu Stout, live from Hong Kong.
[01:57:47]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Africa; Animals; Volodymyr Zelenskyy>
