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CNN International: CNN Gets Rare Access to Surveillance Flight over South China Sea; NATO and EC Leaders Mark Anniversary of Russia's War; What's Next for Putin's "Special Military Operation"; Ukraine Marks One Year Since Russian Invasion; Inside Nablus, West Bank after Deadly Israeli Military Raid. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 24, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN "Newsroom", I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead the world marks a year since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine is Kyiv maintains it can and will win this war. And then tensions between China and the West continue to grow even after Beijing releases its plan to end the conflict. Plus, CNN speaks to witnesses of a deadly Israeli raid in Nablus this week that report just ahead.

Well, it's been a year since Russian tanks rolled across Ukrainian borders triggering a war that killed thousands of civilian's force millions to flee and upended countless lives. Tensions are high and extra security measures are in place in cities and towns throughout Ukraine as the country braces for potential Russian attacks.

World leaders, meanwhile, are expressing their solidarity with Kyiv. The Polish Prime Minister met with his counterpart in the capital city to mark the occasion. And the Ukrainian President visited a hospital there and awarded medals to injured soldiers. Earlier in an emotional address to his troops Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised victory in 2023.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: It is you who will decide whether we are all going to exist, whether Ukraine is going to exist. Every day, every hour it is you Ukrainian soldiers, which will decide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour joins me live in Kyiv. Much nervousness as I understand it this morning, as to what might unfold in Ukraine. But what's the mood like now Christiane?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Max, if you can imagine exactly a year ago, this time this capital was under attack surroundings were under attack. Tank columns were heading towards this capital from the North. Russia had landed paratroopers at an airport nearby this capital. The idea was to take this capital and decapitate the leadership. But as you can see, President Zelenskyy and his army are still standing. And he paid tribute to those very soldiers who have been maintaining the resistance defending and creating counter offensives over this past year, and also to the civilians who have by and large all turned into overnight soldiers all resisting this invasion by Russia, which yes, it is its first full scale year, but it's been going on in the East since 2014.

So this country has been suffering significant losses 15,000 before this war started, this current one, and now who knows tens of thousands of dead and wounded in support of this country. However, they remain, by and large, optimistic that with the support of their allies, who you just saw in vigils, and moments of remembrance, in Europe and other capitals. They remain optimistic here that with that continued support, their resistance will continue as well, Max.

FOSTER: And we saw Western leaders speaking today, showing unity behind Ukraine, also suggesting that NATO would be stronger than it is right now. How do you rate the state of the Western alliance?

AMANPOUR: Well, again, and just to say that as yet today, there has been no full frontal Russian attack on the cities. So let's just keep our fingers crossed. It's a very different situation than it was exactly a year ago. But over the last months, you know that the Russians have been using their missiles and their offensives against civilian targets, including infrastructure.

All of that to say that the Ukrainians have been expending a huge amount of the weaponry they've been receiving and of the ammunition they've been receiving and that needs to be stepped up. According to all the NATO leaders, they need to get much more ammunition here for the weapon systems that have already been delivered.

Very importantly and symbolically, when you mentioned and you showed the Polish Prime Minister coming here. He did come with the first of the Polish Leopard tanks. They're German tanks, but they've been released by Germany from third party countries to send them here and so symbolically the first has arrived.

But of course, the question now remains from President Zelenskyy who says that last year our watchword was weapons this year it is speed, speed, speed. We do not have time to waste every single moment we waste or more lives lost. He's framed this as a battle between David and Goliath.

[08:05:00]

AMANPOUR: And David needs all the help it can get to have a knockout punch in his sling and so that is what the message is for this second year of war.

FOSTER: CNN's Christiane Amanpour live for us in Kyiv from this one- year anniversary thank you so much. The Ukrainian military calling the anniversary a day that has become a symbolic for the whole world and Kyiv is preparing for what could be another massive round of Russian strikes to mark the occasion as we were saying. Meanwhile, a grinding war of attrition continues playing out along the Eastern front lines and Russian mercenaries are now claiming control of a village near the embattled City of Bakhmut an area where some of the fiercest fighting has been taking place. CNN's Alex Marquardt joins me now live in Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine. What is the state of the frontlines right now, Alex?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Max, as you say it is grinding the fight in the Eastern and in the South is very active, but those front lines are relatively stagnant.

They haven't changed much since November when Ukrainians recaptured the City of Kherson that had been held by the Russians the fiercest fighting recently has been in the past few weeks and months around that City of Bakhmut where Ukrainian forces have been facing up against largely those mercenaries and convicts from the Wagner group.

There have been enormous losses on both sides' incremental gains by the Russian side including today they claim and we can't verify it, but they claim that they have taken a suburb of Bakhmut, to the Northwest of the city. We spent yesterday in Vuhledar to the south where Russians had been trying to push forward.

That would be a key launching off point for them to move deeper into Donbas. We know that the Russians are trying to mount their offensive they have been pushing forward in several areas, including Vuhledar and Bakhmut without much success. Of course, Max, the violence is not limited to those front lines.

We have seen missile attacks, drone attacks all across the country, including here in the City of the Dnipro over the past few weeks. So the fighting does continue very actively along those fronts. The attacks do continue in cities and towns all across the country from the air.

And then Max, in the coming weeks, we are expecting the Ukrainians to mount their own counter offensive to go on the attack to try to claw back territory from the Russians relatively soon, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Alex, thanks for joining us from Dnipro. Well, a year later, one of the world's largest economies is left economically weakened by the war. The U.S. and U.K. have announced fresh new sanctions on Moscow, targeting its economy, individuals and items used on the battlefield as well.

The group of seven nations is also preparing for a new volley of sanctions. The European Commission President says Russia seriously miscalculated when it invaded Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: One year on from the start of his brutal war, Putin has failed to achieve a single one of his strategic goals. Instead of dividing the European Union, he finds us united and determined to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. Instead of dominating the global energy market, he has seen his main source of revenue slashed. Instead of wiping Ukraine from the map, he is confronted with a nation more vigorous than ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So what's the mood like in Moscow today? And what's next for the Russian President? Putin's "Special Military Operation", CNN's Fred Pleitgen and joins us from the Russian capital. Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alright Max, well, I would say listening to what Ursula von der Leyen the EU Commission President was just saying there, all of that is surely true.

Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin is still very much firmly in the driver's seat here in Moscow. And this certainly is very little public pressure that would see him end to the Special Military Operation as the Russians put it, or even curtail it, or even come back from it.

Right now what we're seeing here on the ground is that the sanctions that have been levied on the Russian Federation on the economy. They've certainly hurt Russia's economy a great deal, but they certainly haven't crippled Russia's economy. I think a lot of people would be surprised if they go into shops here in Moscow, how many Western products are still available?

How easy card payments still is to you and also electronic payment with phones as well? So all of these things, you can see people have taken an economic hit. And there certainly are areas where for instance, there are more Chinese cars on the road than there had been before.

But by and large people are still getting by. And of course, as far as the war effort in itself is concerned. It's very difficult right now for the Russians. They certainly haven't made any big gains in the past couple of months. However, there as well Vladimir Putin vows to fight on. He has said in an address late the night before last that he would continue to inundate the forces that he has on the front line with weapons.

[08:10:00]

PLEITGEN: So certainly no signs that Vladimir Putin is backing down and also no signs that as far as Russian society is concerned. People are trying to make him back down. If there's any public pressure to make him back down what you don't see here, Max. Or what's very difficult to come by to see what exactly the way forward looks like for the Russian Military on the battlefield.

Right now very difficult for them to come by big gains on the battlefield. And at the same time, there are some who say that they're having a lot of trouble providing their forces with weapons and ammunition as well, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred, thank you. Well, in the face of growing international pressure over its relationship with Moscow, China, is making new calls for a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict. Following a visit by Beijing's top diplomats to the Kremlin, China's Foreign Ministry has said it's willing to play a constructive role in helping resolve issues but provided no details.

European leaders are urging a sense of caution. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who you heard from earlier, said China's proposal needs to be looked at in the context of its relationship with Russia, while Germany says Beijing should talk to both Moscow and Kyiv.

Nic Robertson has been trying to make sense of all of this. Interesting here, what Fred was saying there about, you know where Russia goes from here, in terms of resources. I mean, there is talk about China providing military resources to Russia. We heard the head of NATO saying that there's intelligence to suggest that might happen.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the United States has been saying the same thing. It was interesting that the Ukrainian said to China's 12-point proposition, which isn't a peace plan, but its 12 aspirations, which was a positive response, which was, let's hear more about it.

I think Ukraine is in the business of not turning down opportunities for peace. But they have to be on Ukraine's terms. And there's nothing about that in the language that the Chinese have used so far. And it's interesting what the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had to say today about the Chinese proposal, which was, you know, this is, OK, we see this, but it doesn't really have much on it.

He said, look, China appears to be sort of putting a public face of neutrality, but actually they're not neutral in this. They're polite; they're giving non-lethal assistance to Russia. They're an important outlet for Russian goods, specifically, energy products. And they're the biggest country that's behind Russia at the moment, and there's the possibility that they may provide that lethal aid.

So I think what we're seeing around the China 12 points is a healthy dose of skepticism, but saying, OK, if you've got something, let's move forward with it, but it's got to be achieving what both countries want. And there's nothing in there about Russia's illegal invasion.

FOSTER: --there's no language around an invasion, which has offended many people in the West?

ROBERTSON: It has I mean, it's very clear. China's position here is a pro-Russian position. It's being talked about in diplomatic terms today, but it was very clear when Wang Yi, the Chief --Policy Adviser to the President Xi spoke at the weekend. He said, you know, genuine security issues must be addressed.

He was speaking about Russia's security issues. This is what Secretary State Antony Blinken says that Russia, that China rather is buying President Putin's narrative about the reason for the war, hook line and sinker. He is not challenging it and of course, everyone else is because they see it for what it is not an accurate reflection of what's happened?

FOSTER: OK, thank you, Nic. Let's just bring you up to speed with some other stories that we're following today. At least 106 children are still unidentified after the catastrophic earthquake that struck parts of Turkey earlier this month. The country's Family and Social Services Ministry says more than 1800 unaccompanied kids were pulled from the rubble.

1400 have been reunited with their families and another 380 remain in hospital. The South Carolina lawyer accused of murdering his wife and son expected back on the stand in the coming hours. Alex Murdaugh spent hours answering questions on Thursday. He admitted under oath that he previously lied about not being on the scene, and that he did visit the dog kennels where the bodies were found.

Nigerians head to the polls on Saturday to in Africa's biggest election a record 93 million registered voters will cast ballots for President is a tightly contested race between three main contenders as the country looks to fix a crumbling economy and rampant corruption. Still to come, reporters reflect one year on after covering this brutal war in Ukraine.

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[08:15:00]

FOSTER: As the War Thunders on Ukrainians and millions around the world. We will stop to reflect on the horrors of the past year. Many will remember that very first day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been an air raid siren just suddenly --.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Hearing there the harrowing sirens that rang out for the very first time. CNN's Matthew Chance was in Kyiv when the invasion began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: --of the Ukrainians who resist. Oh, I say well, I just heard a big bang right here behind me. I totally we shouldn't have done a live shot here. There are big explosions taking place in Kyiv right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Clarissa Ward was in Kharkiv at a subway station turn bunker with Ukrainian seeking shelter. On the first day of the invasion

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: McWhinney (ph) our cameraman and Brent Swails we're here. Just want to give you a sense of just the density of people who are here. And none of these people I want to say Jim, have any idea what's coming next. Where can they go next? What are they supposed to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Clarissa joins me now from Kyiv. What do you think about what do you feel when you watch that video a year on?

WARD: It's utterly surreal, Max, because I think like many people, we didn't necessarily expect the invasion to happen. But as it became clear that it was happening that very early morning and explosions were lighting up the night sky. We also understood that the world was fundamentally changed.

And now one year later, the City of Kyiv obviously, where I am now being still standing even though many intelligence services had predicted that it would fall. We've seen Ukraine launch a number of very successful counter offensives pushing the Russians back in different parts of the country.

But I think there's also a kind of clear eyed realism about the real challenges that lie ahead, because at the moment the fighting in Eastern Ukraine and Donbas, particularly in the City of Bakhmut, is just becoming a sort of grinding, protracted stalemate with a very high rate of attrition on the Russian side, but also many Ukrainian casualties as well, and no clear end in sight.

And I think that's why you're hearing this renewed push from Ukraine's leadership saying, listen, we want to get the job done. We want to finish this war this year. But we really can't do that without heavier weaponry, without long range artillery, without fighter jets.

[08:20:00]

WARD: And I think there has been some frustration that despite the support from the U.S. and NATO that it does take so long to extract this promise of heavier weapons. They get them in the end, but it takes a long time to get them. And for everybody who's living here, and has been through the hellish last 12 months and has lost so much and experienced so much trauma. I think there is a genuine will to try to bring this to an end, but also a grim realization that might take some time, Max.

FOSTER: Clarissa Ward in Kyiv thank you. And Clarissa has a remarkable special report the will to win Ukraine at war that airs on Sunday night 8 pm in New York, that's Monday at 1 am here in London. Now still ahead protests in Gaza a day after a deadly Israeli Military raid in the occupied West Bank a report on what led to the latest unrest, just ahead.

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FOSTER: Tensions remain high across Israel and the Palestinian territories after deadly Israeli Military raid targeting militants in the occupied West Bank. 11 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday and nearly 500 were wounded. CNN spoke to witnesses. Hadas Gold, walk us through what happened?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The winding narrow streets of the Casbah, Nablus looks like a warzone. Bullet holes, - doorways, cars, rubble on the street, bloodstains on the ground aftermath of a rare daytime Israeli Military operation to target three militants these really say we're about to carry out imminent attacks.

Soldiers surrounding this home where militants were holed up, refusing to give themselves up massive firefight the Israelis launching shoulder fired rockets. This woman lives right next door still trembling, so afraid she didn't want to show her face, saying soldiers warn people to go home. She entered her house where soldiers questioned her and warned her she'd hear explosions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the explosions and when to hide under our beds. We covered our ears with blankets. I can't even describe how shocking it was. We saw death with our own eyes and we didn't expect to get out of this alive.

GOLD (voice over): The battle spilling out into the surrounding streets as locals and militants clashed with the soldiers. Ahmad Jibril the Head of the Red Crescent in Nablus, said hundreds were injured many by live ammunition seemingly falling from the sky, including unarmed non-combatants.

AHMAD JIBRIL, HEAD OF RED CRESCENT SOCIETY NABLUS: This is the first time they invaded this time of the day. We consider a trash hour at a densely populated area at the main market in the city.

GOLD (voice over): That includes the father of Elias al-Ashqar, a nurse at An-Najah hospital, who says he was treating the wounded when he was called into another room. I mean, was dying from a bullet. But then, Father, Father, he cries out when he recognizes the body.

ELIAS AL ASHQAR, NURSE: I came back to check on the two injuries. I asked the doctor and he said both died. I found a very strange feeling that something belongs to me is between the beds.

[08:25:00]

ASHQAR: I opened the second curtain and it was my father. In the beginning I didn't believe it then I came closer.

GOLD (voice over): Israeli Military acknowledging the situation was chaotic and messy; saying was looking into reports of unarmed civilians shot by their forces. Carnage like this not seen since the days of the Second Intifada, as residents here have lost faith in the Palestinian Authority, saying only God can protect them. Hadas Gold, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: That was Hadas Gold reporting there. Back to our top story this hour around the world tributes being held to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led a one-minute silence outside 10 Downing Street a little earlier, joined by the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.K. as well as members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces there.

In Estonia where it's also Estonian Independence Day NATO's Secretary General and the European Commission President joined the Prime Minister for a minute of silence, and for a wreath laying the War of Independence Monument in Tallinn. And also in the U.K., King Charles is honoring the people of Ukraine on the first anniversary of the conflict.

In a tweet, the King commended Ukrainians for their "Truly remarkable courage and resilience in the face of such human tragedy". He also reaffirmed his support for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN "Newsroom". "World Sport" with Amanda is up next. We want to leave you though with these pictures of cities around the world lighting up their monuments in support of Ukraine.

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