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Interview with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY): GOP-Led House Committee Holds Hearing on Covid-19 Origins; Zelenskyy: Ukrainian Forces Will Not Retreat from Bakhmut; Emotional Testimony on U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan; Markets Waver as Fed Chair Indicates More Rate Hikes Likely. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired March 08, 2023 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00]

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): He believes it was the Department of Defense. So when you talk about cutting foreign aid, that's an area were we should not be funding labs in communist countries that are adversaries to be doing data function research that could have developed this virus.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Well, Congresswoman let me say this, Dr. Fauci has said that U.S. does not -- has not funded gain of function research, but that's for him to answer. And speaking of answers, I read this memo --

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, he said it --

BLACKWELL: Let me finish because I'll give you a chance to answer. You all released this memo just a couple days before this first hearing and it's all about Dr. Fauci. You did not invite Dr. Fauci to answer these questions. Will you do that, and why not today?

MALLIOTAKIS: Oh, I would love to. It's not my decision. It's the chairman's. I believe Dr. Fauci should be coming to the committee. I think the goal here is to question those around him first and follow those answers and facts to where they lead. If it leads to Dr. Fauci he should be coming forward before the committee as should Peter Daszak of Eco Health Alliance which is where the money was funneled from NIH to Eco Health, then to the Wuhan lab.

But Dr. Fauci did deny that NIH funding went. But in an e-mail we were able to produce through foil request we were able to show the connection here that he was informed, quite frankly, of that funding, that NIH money through NIH went to the Wuhan lab. And then I think he's later backtracked on that. And by the way we have the proof to show it. So, there's no doubt that money did make its way to the Wuhan lab, and that is something where we should be not be seeing that money ever going to a communist country's lab that developed this gain of function research that may have then produced this virus.

BLACKWELL: All right, so we know that the Energy Department, several of their agencies -- well the FBI has varied degrees of confidence in the report -- or the conclusion that this was started in a lab leak. There are four agencies have low confidence that it was naturally developed and spread.

I know that the hearings will continue and we'll see if you get Dr. Fauci to come and answer some questions. Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis representing Staten Island and a little bit of Brooklyn, thanks so much.

MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: As the fighting in Bakhmut intensifies NATO's chief now warns the Ukrainian city may fall to Russia in the coming days. We'll have more on that up next.

[15:35:00]

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GOLODRYGA: Turning now to the war in Ukraine and the grinding battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukraine says Russian troops are still advancing but insists that its forces are still repelling attacks and holding off the enemy in Bakhmut and towns nearby.

BLACKWELL: Meantime Ukraine's defense minister is pleading for 1 million rounds of ammunition as soon as possible to deter Russian forces and continue their counter offensive. I

n an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, President Zelenskyy defended the decision to keep troops in Bakhmut that might be needed elsewhere. He insists a withdrawal would create an open road for Russia to capture other cities.

GOLODRYGA: For more on that exclusive interview CNN's Wolf Blitzer, anchor of "THE SITUATION ROOM," joins us now. We're so lucky to have you here.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR THE SITUATION ROOM: Happy to be here.

GOLODRYGA: Fascinating interview and so timely because there are a lot of people including the U.S. Pentagon questioning the decision to keep fighting for Bakhmut when they've got a spring offensive to get ready for.

BLITZER: President Zelenskyy in this nearly one-hour interview that we did, he was so determined to make the case why Bakhmut is critically important. Not just symbolically important but strategically, tactically. And he kept repeating if Ukrainians were to lose this area in eastern Ukraine it would open the door for the Russians to move into all sorts of other vital areas.

Let me play a clip from the interview. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of the House of Representatives here in Washington, Kevin McCarthy says he supports Ukraine but doesn't support what he calls a blank check, a blank check for Ukraine. That criticism is being echoed by former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, possible leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. How worried are you, President Zelenskyy? How worried are you about this trend amongst some Republicans that it could threaten the flow of support to Ukraine?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Firstly, I would like to thank the bipartisan support of Ukraine. It's very important. Recently I had a meeting with the representatives of the Republican Party and I'm thankful to the Congressmen who visited Ukraine. They told me that they want to support Ukraine very much like the Democrats, we don't want to slow down. We have a different approach. We want to give more and now but not dragging it forever. That was their signal.

[15:40:00]

We don't care about the support as long as it's powerful and constant. I think that Speaker McCarthy, he never visited Kyiv or Ukraine. And I think it would help him with his position. When you come to us, when Democrats and Republicans come to us, they see the supply routes. Every shell, every bullet, every dollar of Mr. McCarthy, he has to come here to see how we work, what's happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting. And then after that, make your assumptions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (on camera): And I thought it was pretty extraordinary that President Zelenskyy decided to issue this invitation to the Speaker during the course of our interview. He wanted to make the case that the Speaker should actually come to Kyiv like President Biden did a few weeks ago and see first-hand what's going on.

Our own Manu Raju had a chance to catch up with the Speaker. Listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you going to continue to give (INAUDIBLE) Ukraine until the end.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: My point has always been we won't provide a blank check.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He basically made the point, guys, that he doesn't have to go there. He knows what's going on. You know, he repeated his line that there should be no U.S. blank check for Ukraine. And President Zelenskyy in the course of our interview, he was upset when he heard that because he thinks that every dollar that the U.S. is providing whether in military assistance or economic assistance is used properly and there's no, you know, there's no bad things happening with the U.S. support.

GOLODRYGA: He called an investment when he spoke to Congress a few months ago. BLACKWELL: So, nearly an hour conversation. We hear the political

element. What else did you learn from the president?

BLITZER: He was very determined to make the case that if Ukraine were to fall -- and he doesn't think it will. He thinks Ukraine will eventually win because of the determination of the Ukrainian people. But if it were, it wouldn't just be a loss for Ukraine, it would be a loss for the whole West, a loss for the whole world. Because it would simply encourage countries like Russia to go ahead and take advantage and try to achieve more through aggression and invasion and stuff like that.

So, he thinks that the stakes are enormous, and he was very forceful and deeply appreciative of what the United States and other Western countries have done. But he says if the Ukrainians are going to win the U.S. has to start providing F-16 fighter jets, other advanced weapons to Ukraine. They need it, they need it to win. Longer range ground to ground missiles, for example. He says there's no great interest in Ukraine attacking targets inside Russia. He says that's not going to happen.

But to stop the Russians -- because the Russians are willing to throw thousands of troops in there, he said the Russians don't care how many people they lose, how many men and women die in the course of this. The only thing they want to do is destroy Ukraine. But the Ukrainians -- he says we know every name of every Ukrainian soldier who's killed, and it's so painful to us. And he was really blistering in his attack of what Putin is doing.

BLACKWELL: Looks like a fascinating conversation. Looking forward to it. Wolf Blitzer, good to see you in person. Thank you so much.

BLITZER: Guys, thank you.

All right, be sure to join Wolf for that interview. It airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, the veterans are delivering emotional and at times scathing testimony about the chaotic troop withdrawal out of Afghanistan. The big take-aways from today's hearing, that's ahead.

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BLACKWELL: This morning on Capitol Hill the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman read the names of the 13 U.S. service members killed during the pull out of Afghanistan. One of their surviving comrades Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews was seen with tears rolling down his cheeks there. Vargas Andrews who sustained serious injuries in that attack offered searing criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. TYLER VARGAS-ANDREWS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The withdrawal -- the withdrawal was a catastrophe in my opinion and there was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence. The 11 marines, one sailor and one soldier that were murdered that day have not been answered for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kylie Atwood is here with more. Kylie, that was really difficult to listen to. What more was learned?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, an incredibly emotional story there from that Marine who was on the ground when there was that suicide bomb attack on the Kabul airport. And he told a pretty incredible story about the hours leading up to that attack. He actually spotted through his sniper gun a man in the field of -- you know, in the group of thousands that were outside that gate that actually looked exactly like the person that intelligence officials had warned was in the vicinity and could be a suicide bomber.

He asked his team leader if he could shoot that man. The team leader said he didn't have the authority to give him the go ahead. He asked who did. The team leader said he wasn't sure he'd get back to him. But that team leader never got back to him and hours later of course we know what happened. 13 dead U.S. service members, and that Marine who spoke to lawmakers today is now a double amputee.

It was a very, very moving story that he told clearly trying to articulate that he felt there wasn't an effective and working chain of command around what was happening as the United States evacuated that country.

We also heard from others who were involved in trying to get out those other Afghans who were stuck in the country, U.S. veterans, and they talked about how humbling and stupefying it was that government officials were asking them for help instead of them asking the U.S. government for help.

[15:50:03]

GOLODRYGA: Yes, that was a dark tragic day in our history. And Kylie Atwood, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Fed Chair Jerome Powell was back on Capitol Hill today and it sounds like more radar aches are coming. We'll get into that next.

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GOLODRYGA: Fed Chair Jerome Powell was back on Capitol Hill today talking to House lawmakers about interest rates and of course, inflation.

BLACKWELL: CNN business correspondent Rahel Solomon is with us now. What did he say?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, so this is the last time we'll probably going to hear from Chairman Powell before the next meeting in about two weeks. And the takeaway that investors certainly got the message was that rates will likely have to be higher for longer than previously expected.

[15:55:03]

The reason why is because inflation data and jobs data that we've gotten so far this year has quite simply just not what the Federal Reserve expected. So, what happens now? Well, we get a really important jobs report on Friday. They are going to be looking at that. If in fact, we see 200,000 jobs being added -- which is the expectation -- guys, that would be the lowest level we have seen in years. So, they're going to be watching that really closely.

We've got two key inflation reports next week. They're going to be watching really closely in retail sales. And what they're looking for in all of these reports are signs of cooling. Are we on a path to 2 percent inflation. Some say you already done enough, take a beat and watch and see. Others like the Fed say they're not seeing it in the data yet and so they have to do more in terms of rate hikes.

GOLODRYGA: Still a healthy jobs market. that's for sure. Rahel Solomon, thank you.

BLACKWELL: And "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPER" starts after this short break.

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