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Ukraine Marks One Year of the Russian Invasion, President Zelenskyy Delivers a Speech; Extreme Weather in Large Parts of the U.S; Alex Murdaugh Takes the Stand in His Own Trial; Ukraine Marks One Year Anniversary of Russian Military Invasion; Homeless in Syria and Turkey Increased; NATO Secretary General and European Commission Join Estonia for its Independence Day Celebration. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 24, 2023 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead on "CNN Newsroom," the world marks a year since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine with shows of solidarity, as China releases a 12-point plan to help end the conflict. We'll have a live report from Kyiv.

Millions of people in the U.S. are under winter weather alerts. A winter storm is hitting large parts of the country. At one point, nearly a million of power outages were reported.

And, Alec Murdaugh takes a stand in his own murder trial. He admits he lied to investigators who were looking into the killings of his wife and son.

Ukraine's president is marking a year since Russia's military invasion with a message of strength and resilience. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 2023 will be the year of victory against Russia and he is promising to hold those accountable who brought war to Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): A year ago on this day, from the same place around 7:00 in the morning, I addressed you with a brief statement, lasting only 67 seconds. We are strong, we are ready for anything, we will defeat everyone. This is how it began February 24th, 2022. The longest day of our lives, the most difficult day in our recent history. We woke up early and haven't slept since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Ukraine will be getting more help from the U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan made the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: The United States

announced a further $2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. All designed for a specific purpose, which is with our military looking hard at the set of problems, what can we do to give Ukraine the tools that it needs to win.

And we will keep working with them month by month to figure out if there are additional tools that they need, and that was the message that President Biden gave to President Zelenskyy, that we're going to continue to look at what is necessary and make sure that we provide what is necessary, that Ukraine has what it needs to succeed on the battlefield so that it is in the best possible position to secure its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The head of Ukraine's military intelligence is warning a possible missile attack from Russian forces on the first anniversary of the invasion. And China has released what, a 12-point position paper for ending the war, as it calls it. It calls for respecting the sovereignty of all countries, resuming peace talks, and stopping unilateral sanctions. CNN's Melissa Bell is live this hour in Kyiv. What's the atmosphere like Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a country very much preparing for what Ukrainian officials have been warning for for months, that there might be kind -- some kind of symbolic attack to coincide with this anniversary. You're just hearing from Jake Sullivan about that fresh package of military aid, an extra $2 billion. What we've seen over the course of the last year is that at every step of the way, the western allies, NATO, the United States in particular have been prepared to carry on ratcheting up the quality and the nature of the weapons they've been providing Ukraine.

And as you heard from Jake Sullivan, it is about seeing on the battlefield what's necessary and given the country what it needs to try and keep its defense going. That latest package involving drones, mine clearing equipment, HIMARS, exactly what the Ukrainians have been asking for.

The result of that of course, Max, is that they have been able to hold that frontline, to push back in those very successful counteroffensives that we saw begin at the end of August, from large parts of the Kharkiv region, large parts of Kherson, the city of Kherson itself.

Of course, from the point of view of the Russian forces, they are keeping a very close eye as well on what that means on the battlefield. For the time being, we don't know whether the measures they'll be taking here in Ukraine to protect civilians, children being kept home from school for instance, people being allowed to work from home over the coming days, will be needed.

What do we do know is that for the last few days and weeks there has been an intensification of Russian efforts both in terms of their manpower and firepower around that city of Bakhmut. What Ukrainian officials believe is that their aim for the anniversary is to try and make a push that will be symbolic, but also strategically extremely important for them.

[03:05:04]

More broadly, this is of course a day about remembering the dead. All of those -- many -- tens of thousands of Ukrainians who lost their lives, both civilian and military casualties, that will be at the heart of some of the remembrance ceremonies going on in Kyiv today, and certainly in the hearts and minds of many Ukrainians as they mark this grim anniversary, Max.

We're also seeing an important push for solidarity, a show of force on the part of the G7. There will be a meeting between Zelenskyy and the heads of state of the G7, and the idea here is once again for the international community to show its unwavering support for Kyiv today.

FOSTER: This time last year, no one really believe the war would last or the invasion would last more than a few days, did they? It's extraordinary to think we are a year on now. President Zelenskyy has been making speeches of course recently, but a big moment for him today when it goes in front of the cameras and speaks to the world on this momentous occasion.

BELL: That's right. And what you're looking at there are pictures of what's happening just outside here. That is a ceremony to mark this one-year anniversary, a wreath laying ceremony. And what no one could have anticipated, Max, is that we'd be here to speak about this at all. That these extraordinary pictures would be unfolding just outside in the heart of Kyiv, one year on from an invasion.

Remember, Max, that was mean the very quick decapitation of the Ukrainian capital. Quite extraordinary, these images that we're seeing too coming from the heart of the Ukrainian capital. Now, the reason I'm speaking to you form inside is that security measures have been taken to allow this to happen.

And it is a ceremony that will be all about resilience, speaking to those who have fallen and calling on the country to achieve what Zelenskyy has been calling for. He tweeted this earlier today, that 2023, he says, will be the year of victory, Max.

FOSTER: In terms of the sort of things that you expect him to stay, I guess it's, you know, on one level, speaking to his own people saying we can continue this until the end. And he's talking about victory this year, but he's also speaking to the world saying the continued -- we need your continued support.

BELL: That's right. This is a war that has become, over the course of that year, about so much more than what's happening inside the borders or with the borders of Ukraine. This is a day and a year and a war that the entire world is looking at very carefully, so involved has it become militarily, morally (ph), with this fight.

And that is what will be at the heart of the meeting later today with the leaders. And of course, that is what we are seeing now. That show of strength, that show of resilience, of determination, in the very heart of Kyiv, aimed of course, at Ukrainians who need to dig deep to carry on, to be able to stand everything that this fight has meant the loss of their loved ones, their sons, fathers, husbands, on the front lines.

What it is meant for the ordinary lives of Ukrainians elsewhere, away from the front lines, Max, the war crimes left behind when Russian troops have retreated, the difficulties that the country is facing economically, the effects of the violence more broadly and away from the front line when there are attacks on other Ukrainian cities.

This has been a very difficult year for all Ukrainians, and this speech that he is making right now outside of St. Sophia's, of course, a highly symbolic part of Kyiv, at the very heart or the very foundation of not just of Ukraine but of course, what was to become Russia later on.

That cathedral that he is speaking in front of, highly symbolic to both Kyiv and of course Vladimir Putin himself. This is a speech about turning his country to hold firm and to make sure that this here is decisive, in favor of a victory, Max.

FOSTER: Okay, Melissa there in Kyiv. Thank you. Nic Robertson also looking at this extraordinary moment, isn't it? You were in Moscow when the war broke out, but no one really thought, and no one could imagine that he'd still be in power, speaking out in the open a year later.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: If you go back two days before now, a year ago, most people in Russia didn't believe that an invasion was going to happen. They thought that Ukrainians were a brother nation, they didn't believe their leadership was going to do this. Obviously, they did, and I think people are still coming to terms with that.

The fact that President Zelenskyy can be outside for so long on a square, in the center of Kyiv, with all of those troops when there is an awareness that today, you know, schools are closed across Ukraine. There is distance learning, there is a concern that Russia could mount, you now, substantial air raids again on the country.

[03:09:57]

So, this is a very, very defiant message irrespective of the words that are actually being used there. But it's a moment, if you go back that year, Ukraine, remember the images we were seeing? They were literally, ammunition for machine guns being handed out the back of a couple of trucks in Kyiv so that defenders of the city, men of the city could pick up a weapon and defend the city.

And that, of course, turned out to be what was required because Russia tried that decapitation. So, again it really speaks to Zelenskyy's persistence. And he, as a leader, I think some people are comparing where we are today and where Ukraine is today, with where Britain was in 1940 in World War II. It had withstood some losses, and it had withstood the (inaudible)

effort to take the skies, and therefore withstood a moment of a potential invasion. And it was then after that with allies it builds back up the fight to help liberate those allies in Europe. There is a sense about that in Ukraine today that has gone through a very hard part of the fight and now leans on its allies to unite and provide that support so that it can retake that territory that has been taken.

Though, tere is something of that moment, but there is also something in the air behind it, of that moment of magnitude of what could happen from this land war in Europe.

FOSTER: We're looking at President Zelenskyy addressing dignitaries and troops obviously. There is a moment of silence there, remembering all of those who've lost their lives, but a word on Zelenskyy himself and this war leader that he has become. Extraordinary sort of success in that role, if I can say that, in terms of getting the rest of the world to support him to the extent that they have.

ROBERTSON: And that really seemed to emerge in those opening days. Russia dropped forces as close as they could to the capital, to go and kill him. And when he had a phone call with President Biden the night of the invasion and was offered a route out. He said, "I don't need transport out of here. I need help to support in the fight.

And that's what President Biden said in his speech a couple of days ago, this landscape asked me to build a world coalition. From that get-go, from not being afraid in hunkering down, he told President Biden to build a coalition, a global coalition of support and that has been what's helped save Ukraine thus far.

FOSTER: Nic Robertson, we'll be speaking to you throughout the day to mark this extraordinary moment in modern European history. But coming up, from icing blizzard conditions, to record-breaking high temperatures, the usual weather across the U.S., just ahead.

And accused of murdering his wife and son, a South Carolina lawyer takes the stand in his own defense. Up next, the lie he admitted he has been telling since the night of the killings.

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[03:15:00]

FOSTER: From California to Maine, millions in the U.S. are being hit with ice, snow, and blizzard conditions. A multi-day weather event shut down roads, forced thousands of flight cancellations, and of course hundreds of thousands of power outages as well. And it's not over yet. Meteorologist Britley Ritz joins me now. How much longer (inaudible) this thing, Britley?

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLIGIST: Well, most of the snow, thankfully, across the great lakes, Max, has tapered back a little bit. So, holding on to some lake (inaudible) snow bands, but nowhere near of what we dealt with yesterday. Unfortunately, we do still have many without power across the state of Michigan, and back to Illinois, and New York as that whole system continues to track further eastward.

Still holding to still a little bit of freezing rain across Boston, so a few slick spots out there for a morning commute. Travel not advised across many of these areas. One slick spot can be enough to cause major damage.

All right, so, Michigan, these are preliminary freezing rain accumulation totals. Michigan into Wisconsin, some of these locations picking up three-quarters of an inch of ice. Again, part of the reason, one of the biggest reasons, I guess I should say for the power outages especially for Michigan, 800,000-plus between Michigan, Illinois, and New York, and California.

And once again, we are waiting for our next area of low pressure and that's what's coming in Friday and Saturday across the southwest part of the country triggering once more winter storm warnings, winter weather advisories, and yes, even blizzard warnings, rare blizzard warnings for southern California. The last time that was issued was back in 1989.

Some of these locations could pick up 8 feet of snowfall, and we are already tapping into that moisture. This is just round one, L.A. already dealing with showers this morning and then snowfall through the higher elevations, but this is going to really get nasty as we move into late Friday and into Saturday.

All that heavy moisture has been tracking further south into L.A., which is really going to be beneficial. But the problem is now we're dealing with the flooding threats. Some of these locations picking up 4 to 8 inches of rain. L.A., Long Beach, areas highlighted in red where we have that moderate risk for flooding.

Also, heavy snowfall. We talked about feet of snowfall, look at these darker colors, it doesn't even range through the legend here. Thirty- six plus inches, parts of northern L.A. and into Ventura County, talking about picking up 8 feet of snow and we can do the same thing through the Sierra Nevada's. Max?

FOSTER: Okay. Britley, thank you. Now, it's not very often that a man accused of murder testifies in his own defense, but a once prominent attorney accused of killing his wife and adult son did take the stand in South Carolina on Thursday. Alex Murdaugh spent hours answering questions and dropped a bombshell that could undermine his long-held alibi for the murders. Our Randi Kaye has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[03:19:56]

ALEX MURDAUGH, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE, SON: I am Alex Murdaugh. M- U-R-D-A-U-G-H. Good morning.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Murdaugh sharing his story from the witness stand, telling the jury that he didn't kill his wife and son.

UKNOWN: Just to be clear, where you anywhere in the vicinity when Paul and Maggie were shot?

MURDAUGH: I was nowhere near Paul and Maggie when they got shot.

KAYE (voice-over): And after more than a year and a half, Murdaugh finally came clean about this key piece of states evidence against him.

UNKNOWN: Mr. Murdoch, was that you on the kennel video at 8:44 p.m. on June 7th, the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

MURDAUGH: It is.

KAYE (voice-over): Over and over, Murdaugh had told investigators he hadn't seen his family since dinner and was not at the dog kennels around the time of the murders. But that video extracted from his son's phone was recorded just a few minutes before prosecutors believe the killings happened.

Murdaugh told the jury he had left the kennels right after the video was recorded and drove in his golf cart to the main house on the property to take a nap.

MURDAUGH: There is no way that I had high velocity blood spatter on me.

KAYE (voice-over): During cross examination, Murdaugh clashed at times with the lead prosecutors.

MURDAUGH: Mr. Waters, just to try to get through this quicker, I admit --

CREIGHTON WATERS, LEAD PROSECUTOR: I know you want to get through it quicker, but we're not. So, answer the question.

KAYE (voice-over): Evidence presented in court also shows Murdaugh drove to his mother's house at 9:06 pm that night and paused briefly in her driveway. He explained that he was simply trying to locate his phone in his car.

UNKNOWN: Where do you during that minute, or however long it was, were you disposing of murder weapons?

MURDAUGH: No.

UNKNOWN: Were you disposing of bloody clothes?

MURDAUGH: No.

KAYE (voice-over): And what about that blue rain jacket recovered from his mother's house? One state's witness said it had a substantial amount of gunshot residue on the inside. The state suggested Murdaugh used it to ramp up and dispose of the murder weapons.

UNKNOWN: This blue rain jacket, have you ever seen that before?

MURDAUGH: I've never seen it before, never touched it, and don't know anything about it.

KAYE (voice-over): Several times during cross examination, the prosecutor accused Murdaugh of being a bit too rehearsed with his responses.

UNKNOWN: How many times have you practiced that answer before your testimony today because you've given the same one over and over again?

MURDAUGH: I've never practiced that answer.

KAYE (voice-over): Still, in between the evidence, Murdaugh found some openings to share how much he says he loved his wife and son and in gruesome detail he described for the jury how he says he found Maggie and Paul at the kennels after returning from his mother's home.

MURDAUGH: I was on the phone with 9-1-1, I was trying to tend to Paul. I was trying to tend to Maggie. And I just went back and forth between them. I know, I -- I mean, I know I tried to check them for a pulse. I know I tried to turn him over. I mean, my boy is lying face down, and he's down the way he's gone, head is way his head was. I could see his -- I can see his brain laying on the sidewalk.

KAYE (on camera): At the end of the day, the state's goal is to set Alex Murdaugh up as a liar and to show that he can't be trusted. That's why right away on cross-examination, the prosecution started going over those alleged financial crimes. It's to show the jury that if Alex Murdaugh could allegedly lied to all these people, well, guess what, he can look you in the eye and lie to you too. Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Actor Alec Baldwin is pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges related to the death of a crew member on the set of the movie "Rust." In 2021, Baldwin was holding the gun that went off firing a live round that struck the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. He's maintained that he didn't pull the gun's trigger.

Baldwin was released on his own recognizance as long as he stays away from alcohol, doesn't own a gun and doesn't speak with other witnesses of the shooting. CNN has reached out to Baldwin for comment.

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein now faces an additional 16 years in prison. The sentence follows his conviction in December on multiple charges of sexual assault after eight women testified against him in a California court. Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all the charges, calling the case a, quote, "set up." He's already been sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York for sexual assault and rape. He is appealing that conviction.

Russia's war in Ukraine is now a year old with no end in sight. Just ahead, we'll speak to a member of the Ukrainian parliament as the west continues to ramp up its military support for Kyiv.

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[03:25:00]

FOSTER: President Zelenskyy addressing troops marking one year since the the beginning of the war which many expected only to last a few days, but there he is, a year later in the open in central Kyiv with the troops. A huge day of remembrance, not just for Ukraine, but for Europe and the world in this big moment in modern history.

It was a year ago that Russia's brutal war against Ukraine began. The president is expected to address virtual G7 leaders at a meeting later today. He tweeted, this year will, quote, "be the year of our victory."

[03:30:02]

Russia's year-old military offensive is badly sold amid heavy losses an Ukraine's allies are more focused than ever on getting weapons and ammunition to Ukraine as quickly as possible.

Here is what U.S. Defense Chief, Lloyd Austen told our Kaitlan Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTEN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're training and equipping several brigades of mechanized infantry. That's a pretty substantial capability, and in addition to that, additional artillery. And so, they'll have the ability to breach Russian defenses and maneuver. And I think that will create a different dynamic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Austen anticipates that Ukraine will launch its own counter- offensive once it receives the battle tanks and other vast weapons that it's been promised.

We now want to take you to a perspective on the war in Ukraine from some people who didn't have to be there, but still chose to fight. CNN has been given exclusive access to Ukraine's International Legion as a group of international fighters who joined Ukraine's military to put their lives on the line for a country that's not theirs. Alex Marquardt has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the road as the sun comes up with American fighter Jason Mann at the wheel, driving into the devastated front line town of Vuhledar. Traveling in and out through a muddy field means being exposed, a direct line of sight from Russian artillery and tanks.

JASON MANN, UKRAINE'S INTERNATIONAL LEGION: This is not an early morning order, I think.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): first light means hopefully avoiding the endless Russian shelling raining down, including terrifying thermobaric missiles. Everyone aware that a shell could land at any moment.

(on camera): Even as Russian forces struggle to take any real ground here, they're inflicting massive damage on the town, which is largely made up of soviet era apartment blocks. You can see this one blackened by the fighting. Over here, a massive crater from a Russian missile. Ukrainian forces do have the higher ground here. They are able to use these buildings to defend this town, but it is getting absolutely pummeled.

(voice-over): Only a handful of hearty civilians left, their home now eerie apocalyptic ruins.

MANN: You don't want to get on this side.

MARQUARTD (voice-over): For months, Mann and his unit of foreign troops called the Phalanx group have fought alongside Ukraine's 72nd Brigade, keeping the Russians at bay.

MANN: This is redefining the global order as we speak. This is democracy versus autocracy. Do we want to let autocracy control more people's lives in the future or prevent it from ever doing that again, strictly (ph)?

MARQUARDT: And that's in your head when you head out there?

MANN: Absolutely. It's the only reason I'm here.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Waves of Russian forces advance in open fields. They've had enormous losses, but they keep coming and keep bombing. This strategic corner of Ukraine is where the southern and eastern fronts meet, making it a major priority for Russia's push deeper into Donbas.

Mann arrived in Ukraine at the very beginning of the war. He is a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, who went on to Columbia University and worked at Google as a software engineer. In the village house where the unit lives, a few miles from the front, Mann tells us he is now here for as long as it takes.

MANN: Ukrainians are very committed to having their country back. That is -- that is -- and that includes Crimea to most of them. As long as morale is high, I'm happy.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): And it is, he says, as the war enters its second year. New recruits have also just arrived from Canada and the U.K. The fight is so urgent that team leader, Turtle, from New Zealand only has a couple days to get them ready.

TURTLE, UKRAINE'S INTERNATIONAL LEGION: There is such a lot of emotion within these fights. Mainly because from a lot of what I've seen is I don't want to be there either. You know, I never thought I'd experience war in this kind of way, in this sort of capacity, because we're just fighting war and I don't know, like it's like fighting in a time warp.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Turtle has to head to a funeral for a Ukrainian teammate just killed by Russian mortar fire. There are so many losses and such little time to grieve.

TURTLE: Harder for us guys from the foreign militaries because ever since like Iraq and Afghanistan, we were losing dudes so fast all the time. It's always good to remember your friends, but it's sad sometimes when the next day you've got to go and do something. Sometimes even the same day.

MARQUARDT (voice-over): Both Turtle and Mann are very matter of fact that they could lose their lives fighting for a country that isn't theirs. One year into this war, neither is second guessing himself.

MANN: And not everyone gets that choice. For me it was more of a serendipitous like one of those moments in your life you don't have a choice actually.

[03:35:05]

MARQUARDT: No regrets?

MANN: No regrets, yeah.

MARQUARDT (on-camera): Jason Mann, who goes by Doc with his unit, told us it is the resilience and ingenuity of the Ukrainians over the past year that makes it hard not to believe in the Ukrainians at this point going forward.

Now, they are expecting some kind of action from the Russians around the anniversary of the invasion. They don't know what's coming. They are bracing for it, knowing how important Vuhledar is for the Russians and their push into Donbas.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, in Dnipro, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Joining me from Kyiv is Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine's parliament. Thank you so much for joining us today. What are your thoughts on this occasion when many people predicted this war would be over very much sooner?

INNA SOVSUN, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: But it is not, and we are still fighting. And actually, we are still winning. Of course, Russians have taken over large portions of our territory. But they are not progressing any further for the last couple of months. And we have actually kicked them out of the territories around Kyiv, on the north of the country, in Kharkiv region from Kherson (ph).

So I think that despite all the losses of the last year, what we also learned is we have very strong army, very strong people, and we can fight back. And what we need is more weapons to fight and to win sooner so that we do not prolong the suffering of the whole nation.

FOSTER: There has been lots of speculation that Russia may use today's anniversary for a specific attack of some sort. Is there any intelligence that you think would back that up or do you think the Russians will avoid that because everyone is expecting it? SOVSUN: I tell you the truth, on a very personal level, going to bed

last night, it was a bit anxious moment for me. But waking up today in the morning, everything was very quiet. And I do think that Russians would have made a big attack, they would have tried to launch big missiles attack into our cities.

But the truth is they're running out of their own missiles. And I think that they do not have more potential to launch a very effective, efficient counter-offensive in the east of the country. They want to do that. They've actually been claiming for last 10 days that they have started the counter-offensive on the east, but they haven't taken over any -- even the villages, not just think about towns.

So, I think Russian army is not nearly as strong as it was a year ago. So they wish they could do the counter -- the big counter offensive. I really don't think at this point they have the capacity to do so. It doesn't mean they can't arrange for some provocations. We're hearing lots of rumors about (inaudible) in neighboring Moldova. So things can happen over there. We are anxiously waiting the use (ph) figure out if something is actually going to happen there. But in Kyiv, everything is calm for the moment.

FOSTER: In terms of what happens next, you've obviously asked for tanks and other weaponry from the west. It's on its way to you. But at what point do you think you'll be in a position to really push back hard if there is a counter-offensive or an attack from the Russians?

SOVSUN: Well, it truly depends on the weapons being supplied to Ukrainian Army. Look, again, we have proven our army can fight back, that we have one of the most efficient armies in the world. And giving weapons to this army is a safe choice.

A year ago, you remember, everybody is saying we cannot give this modern weapon to Ukraine because they wouldn't know how to use them. But we have been using them extremely efficiency. And the more of that we get, the sooner we become a modern army, the sooner we would be able to win against the old style Russian soviet army, basically.

So, the counter-offensive moment, there are different speculations about that, that it could over the spring or by the summer. I don't know. It's very difficult to predict. The situation is, of course, very unstable as in any war. But I know for sure that we can do this. And our army is just waiting for more weapons to be delivered so that they can launch a big counter-offensive and liberate our entire country (ph).

FOSTER: We're looking at these extraordinary images from a few moments ago with President Zelenskyy throughout in the main square in front of the troops, you know, with this fear of missiles coming in all the time, quite extraordinary to see him in that position. What did you make of his speech? And what do you expect from him later today?

SOVSUN: Well, I think what he is saying that to the whole world, but mainly to the Ukrainians, that we've managed to survive this year of big intensive war. And we've grown stronger rather than weaker, as everybody expected. Within the fall, we actually became a strong country. And that is the message to all of us here. Plus everybody here in Ukraine is really emotional right now.

[03:40:01]

But we also add jubilance because we survived over the last year. And that is the message of Ukrainians -- of the -- of President Zelenskyy to the Ukrainians.

FOSTER: Okay.

SOVSUN: We proved to the world that we can survive this.

FOSTER: You really have. It's been extraordinary to see the past year. And I know that he is talking about victory this year as well.

Inna Sovsun in Kyiv, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Still ahead, in Turkey's quake zone, the dire need for shelter weeks after the disaster, many survivors are still left out in the cold and the rain. A live report from Turkey when we return.

Plus, protests in the Palestinian territories as the Israeli prime minister defends a lethal military raid. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Eighteen days after a powerful earthquake, survivors in Syria and Turkey are still struggling to get the care that they desperately need. Emergency teams rushed a 9-year-old Syrian girl and her brother from Syria across the border to Turkey for treatment. They are among the first survivors rescued in rebel-held parts of Syria to be given authorization to enter Turkey for treatment. The siblings were reportedly trapped under the rubble for 40 hours. Their father gave this update on their injuries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SHEIKH MOHAMMED, FATHER OF INJURED CHILDREN (through translator): Sham (ph) is suffering from crush syndrome from the knee down to the bottom due to the earthquake. She is in critical condition. Her legs are in bad shape, and she is being transferred to Turkey. We hope that god will heal her, God willing, and for all the injured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now from Adana. It does raise the question of how many other Syrians in desperate need of hospital treatment are stuck there.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, absolutely. There is a significant amount of concern for those in northwest area where the aid program, the response there has been far less robust than here in Turkey. And in fact, here in Turkey, we've seen many people who are struggling, including Syrian families who moved over to Turkey years ago as a result of the war, displaced not only once by the conflict, but now multiple times.

Many have lost their homes, have lost absolutely everything in the earthquake. And we've been visiting some of those families who are now being put up in refugee camps, or IDP camps rather in Antakya and in Iskenderun which is in the Hatay Province, which was among the hardest hit of the provinces here in Southeast Turkey by that earthquake a little over two weeks ago.

And while so many are now living in these tents, there are still families who have registered their names, waiting to be offered a tent or a container where they can be housed temporarily. And they're still waiting more than two weeks on sleeping on the street. They've lost absolutely everything.

Many have been telling us there is such little clarity over when they'll get a tent, when they'll be given that temporary accommodation. Some families are being put up in cruise ships now, which have opened their doors to those that have been displaced. And according to the authorities, there are at least 900,000 people in Southeast Turkey now living in these tents.

Now, we have heard from the authorities they do say they are sending more tents over. In fact, we've been watching the authorities rapidly building these tents. One small encampment in Iskenderun went from just a couple of dozen tents to more than 200 overnight. So, this is an ongoing process. But there is a growing sense of frustration amongst some even anger over the government's response. They're saying not enough has been done.

And look, these are families that have already been through so much. They've already been through so much trauma. They are going through aftershocks, of course, and that is difficult for them to relive, more than 8,000 aftershocks in the last 17 days. That's the amount of aftershocks this region would anticipate to see in about four months.

So, people are still living in fear. So not only is this a difficult situation in terms of the humanitarian response, but this is a difficult time for those who are dealing with the emotional trauma of that earthquake. Max?

FOSTER: Okay, Nada, thank you.

Tensions remain high in Israel in the Palestinian territories after the -- after one of the deadliest Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank in years, which has killed 11 Palestinians on Wednesday. A day later, demonstrators in Gaza burned tires near the border with Israel following back and forth cross-border attacks.

The Israeli military says it's struck key targets in Gaza belonging to the Hamas militant group after a series of rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Meanwhile, many Palestinians shops and schools across the region were closed on Thursday to protest against the recent raid. But the Israeli prime minister defended it and said Israel will, quote, "settle accounts with those who attack its citizens and soldiers."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will continue to take our actions on all fronts near and far in order to thwart our enemy's efforts to attack us. Whoever tries to harm us, will pay the price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Benjamin Netanyahu there who leads the cabinet, considered the most far right and religious in Israeli history.

Still ahead, some of the world's most iconic landmarks lighting up in blue and yellow as cities across Europe are showing their support for Ukraine next on "CNN Newsroom."

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[03:50:00]

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FOSTER: Let's take you to the capital of Estonia where the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine happens to coincide with Estonia's Independence Day. Heads of both the E.U. and NATO on hand for this year's ceremonies in the former soviet state. Let's listen in.

UNKNOWN: -- translation in Estonian. First, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the floor is yours.

KAJA KALLAS, ESTONIAN PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Dear journalists, it is my great pleasure to see so many of you here today as it is our Independence Day. Jens (ph), dear Ursula, I'm so-so glad that you accepted invitation to join us here on our Independence Day when we celebrate our 105th anniversary of Estonia. This means a lot to me, and it also means a lot to Estonian people. So, thank you for being here.

Let me start by sharing a thought by Diocedes (ph), the secret to happiness is freedom and the secret to freedom is courage. Estonia had the courage to fight for our freedom. The same applies to our Ukrainian friends. Their fight for freedom today is a reminder that freedom is not given and it needs constant care.

Freedom also needs friends and partners. Thirty-one years ago, when Estonia restored its independence after the soviet occupation, we set as our foreign and defense policy motto, we are never alone again. Yes, Ursula, your presence here today is its embodiment. Estonia is a proud member of the European Union and NATO.

NATO and the European Union are the cornerstones of not only our freedom and security but that of the whole Europe. Gray areas, however, create instability and lead to -- lead to war. They must become the thing in the past. That is why Ukraine's place is in the European Union and after the end of the war also in NATO.

For Estonian, the 24th of February has always been about celebrating freedom. We know that freedom comes at a price. You need to fight for it. A light presence here in Estonia contributes (ph) every day to the security of our country and to the alliance as a whole. But Estonia takes its own part of the burden increasingly seriously.

We have been significantly boosting our defense spending. It's nearly 3% now. The will of the Estonian people to defend our country is unwavering. The number of volunteers who wish to contribute to national defense has considerably increased.

Today, Ukrainians are showing unprecedented courage and commitment in defending their country. The free world needs to show the same courage and support to Ukraine until the last Russian soldier has left Ukraine. Ukraine must win and the aggressor must push -- must be pushed back.

For this, we must also believe in Ukraine's victory. Ukraine needs enough weapons and ammunition to win the war. That is why I propose that E.U. member states jointly procure ammunition for Ukraine. During the pandemic, we were able to react quickly to jointly procure vaccines. Let us act quickly now and send more ammunition to Ukraine.

We must keep in mind that the threat Russia poses is a long-term one. In addition to the conventional war, they are also waging a hybrid war to create chaos and divide us. All European countries need to invest more in their own defense and resilience. We cannot be afraid of Russia terror tactics. If we fall for Russia's threats, we will wake up in much more dangerous world.

[03:55:09]

Ukraine and Russia's other neighbors are not afraid. So why should those countries who are further from Ukraine be afraid? The way this war against Ukraine ends will define peace for generations to come. For any peace to last, there needs to be accountability. Russian crimes against Ukraine and its people must not go unpunished, and no Russian leader can be immune from responsibility.

As team Europe and team NATO, we have shown significant unity and resolve over the past year. Looking ahead, these are key words we must take with us, courage, belief, accountability, and leave no room for fear. Thank you.

UNKNOWN: Thank you. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, please.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you. Prime Minister, Secretary General, dear Kaja, thank you very much for hosting us on such a special day (inaudible), dear Kaja, thank you very much for hosting us in Tallinn on such a special day. Indeed, the day when 105 years ago, Estonia declared its independence. Estonia's determination to remain a free and independent country has been put to the test time and again. But independence was finally restored on the 20th of August, 1991. And I also want to share a thought or quote of a famous Estonian, the former president, Lennart Meri, who said, "Europe is not geography. Europe is a unity of principles and an allegiance to principles. Principles shape geography. Geography does not shape principles," end of quote.

And this is a truth that Putin has never understood. 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 has confronted with a nation more vigorous than ever.

Ukraine has become a testament to the bravery of a nation which will never relent in its quest for freedom. We have seen that in every single day of the 365 days since the beginning of this atrocious war. And just as Estonia stands proudly as a free and independent state, Ukraine will prevail. Ukraine will prevail because Ukrainians will neither flinch nor step back. And Ukraine will prevail because Europe and its partners and allies will stand firm.

But one year on, the fight rages on, and Putin has upped the stakes. He is sending hundreds of thousands of young Russians as cannon fodder in the trenches in Ukraine. What we saw and heard earlier this week from Moscow tells us that as the losses mount on the battlefield, so does the desperation, the delusion, and the disinformation. And that shows the strain Putin's regime is under.

But it also comes with real and renewed danger for Ukraine. So, now is the time to double down. We must keep giving Ukraine the means to defend itself until the Russians end this war and leave Ukraine. And this is why we stand firmly by Ukraine, as determined as ever to support Ukraine financially, economically, and militarily, to increase our own defense capabilities, and to increase the pressure on Russia and hold it accountable.

Russia is increasingly isolated. I think very telling was the vote yesterday in the United Nations, 141 countries that voted in favor of the resolution condemning Russia. Russia is falling backwards towards an autocratic (ph) economy, cut away from the world. Our sanctions are eroding sharply its economic base, slashing any prospect to modernize it.